Category: Tiki Bar

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The Reef Palm Springs Remains Relaxing

Mrs. Mai Tai and I spent the morning doing antique shopping and decided to visit The Reef nearby for lunch. We were pleased to see that the place fairly busy with groups and couples, all enjoying the tropical ambiance either indoors or for others out on the patio. The music was set to Jimmy Buffett Radio, which stuck me as just fine for daylight hours near the Caliente Tropics pool.

Our server Alex was prompt and friendly, and we enjoyed our lunch including a gigantic Caliente Burger for me. Mrs. Mai Tai’s tasty Singapore Sling was very well prepared and balanced, though my Mai Tai unfortunately was too limey and didn’t have particularly bold rums. This is in line with previous visits where cocktails can be hit or miss.

The lack of pretension is a plus for The Reef and we saw several hotel guests roll in and our for drinks to bring out to the pool, so this remains a great daytime option for those staying at the resort or even day guests. It is just a lot of fun being here and looking at all the decor elements and even the retro video montage on the TV by the bar. We also peeked into the bar at the adjoining Sancho’s restaurant and saw several folks doing some drinking in the cantina which has its own retro charm.

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Tonga Hut Palm Springs for the Holidays

We had a nice visit to Tonga Hut in downtown Palm Springs, decorated nicely for the holidays including some festive music and holiday cocktail list. We were able to get a table in the lounge portion of the venue and were able to admire activity within the space that continues to be a great option for tiki veterans and newbies alike.

The cocktail menu has something for everyone and our cocktails were pretty good. I went with the Mojave Punch, which remains one of my favorites from their original cocktail list and features hibiscus syrup. Mrs Mai Tai ordered the Chai Tai which has a delightful Chai syrup and is very well-balanced with a great color as part of the presentation. I also ordered some chicken skewers that were well prepared and were served with a tangy glaze sauce.

Our service was super prompt and friendly, including a great job dealing with a mixup on my order (mutual issue with me and the server). We also spotted the replica Tiki Bob mugs for sale and found that they had a few of these left, so I took one of them home.

Chai Tai
Mojave Punch
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The Last Mai Tai: Kon-Tiki’s Mai Tai was Unbeaten

Twenty six hundred and one days ago a man walked into a bar in Oakland and ordered an off menu Mai Tai at a tiki bar during their soft open.

the first Mai Tai

Since then I’ve had probably hundreds of Mai Tai there. Thanks to a stellar rum collection, high quality ingredients, and a professional crew they’ve nearly aways very good, sometimes stellar or mind-blowing. It was the first bar to serve the Ultimate Mai Tai and it is the venue where I’ve had the best Mai Tai of my life.

It was the Kon-Tiki Oakland.

The Kon-Tiki closed last night but I had to have one final Mai Tai. The circumstances were terrible but the Mai Tai was nearly perfect, a rum forward concoction with sweet and savory notes.

Despite being a supposedly simple drink to make, there are plenty of bars (even good bars) that can’t make a Mai Tai that’s balanced or tasty or without weird flavors. But the Kon-Tiki never let me down and the Mai Tai was unbeaten.

Thank you to every bartender who’s ever shaken one up. Thank you to the Kon-Tiki for ever existing.

The Kon-Tiki Oakland
First Mai Tai: Nov. 8, 2017
Last Mai Tai: Dec. 21, 2024

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Last Visit to Kon-Tiki

I got word that yesterday was going to be the last night for the Kon-Tiki and made it up to Oakland to snag a table with the family at opening.

Kon-Tiki Closing Night Checklist

_ Complete the DIY cocktail checklist by having the Pantera Rosa (lovely fruity tequila cocktail) and the Ma Kua for two (a bold sharable drink)
_ Order a last Uma Uma for Mrs. Mai Tai, her favorite
_ Eat the legendary Kon-Tiki Burger for the last time, the best thing in the building that has 200 rums
_ Order a Mai Tai
_ One last toast with Christ
_ Order Kon-Tiki merch (a t-shirt)
_ Say thank you to the crew
_ Leave an extra generous tip
_ Enjoy Yacht Rock in a tiki bar
_ Say aloha to the Oakhana
_ Enjoy eclectic tunes from the DJ
_ Leave with my Expedition plaque
_ Take group photo with the family
_ One last photo of the neon sign
_ Fail at trying not to cry
_ Regret not visiting more often

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Final Ohana Night at The Kon-Tiki

The Kon-Tiki is closing after service on Sunday but the place is going out with a bang as patrons from far and wide and coming for one final cheeseburger or cocktail. Wednesday was the last Ohana night, the day of the week when local tikiphiles have come to hang out on what is generally a slower night than the weekends. But this Wednesday was anything but slow, with a persistent full room and a wait out the door.

The Kon-Tiki staff were in full force, with all three service wells going at the same time to pump our drinks in a timely manner. There were several wait staff, several kitchen runners, and nice to see Jeanie Grant back in the house serving as the maître d’. We want to specifically call out Chris Parker and Kriss Cucuy for exceptional service for me personally this evening.

I’m working to complete another homemade “Kon-Tiki cocktail checklist” and knocked out a few cocktails and am ready to close it out on Sunday with Mrs. Mai Tai’s help. It’d been forever since I had the Zombie and found it to be pretty great – both potent and fruity, with a touch of spice. The Virgin’s Sacrifice was far too spicy for my mild tongue so I passed it over to Jeff as a bonus. Lastly, I had the Leviathan for Two (but just for me this evening) which I’d never had before and immediately liked. The cocktail has rum, bourbon, tangerine, and spices and was nice and rich and balanced. I’m going to miss the consistently high quality of cocktails here.

If you’re trying to get to Kon-Tiki in the next couple days, prepare for waits and treat the staff with kindness. It was so fantastic last night to see the crew working so efficiently on such a busy night – all to the sound of Yacht Rock that the Kon-Tiki used to play religiously and was a welcome return for me.

The Leviathan came in a nice Moai Mug that had a little tear-like drip that was all the more poignant as I left Ohana night for the last time.

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Forbidden Island Mug Swap

We had a great time for the annual tiki mug swap at Forbidden Island last night. Thanks to Chad for organizing and hosting this, we put our wrapped mugs into the pile and ended up with some new ones. Mrs Mai Tai really loved hers, and while I thought the mini bowl was nice I was thankful for a trade.

There’s a nice holiday cocktail menu and Mrs Mai Tai loved the Tropical Hot Coder. Meanwhile I drank a couple rums from the rum list and gladly accepted the suggestion for a premium Mai Tai made with Monymusk 10 yr Jamaica rum. Very good Mai Tai with additional depth.

Lots of good cheer in Alameda.

Mug Draw
Traded Mug
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Dr Funk’s The Grinch Takeover

After a successful Beetlejuice overlay for Halloween, Dr. Funk has a Grinch theme for Christmas. The big guy is there to welcome you and there are fun thematic elements sprinkled about. Not quite as much of a “Christmas explosion” as some of the Miracle/Sippin’ Santa pop-up locations for better or worse, but it is nice that you can still this is a tiki bar.

We attended the Third Anniversary event that included an official launch of Dr Funk’s nice mug and a fantastic bundle with their formidable Grog that we think is a fantastic version of a Navy Grog. They were also doing a raffle to support Family Giving Tree, plus DJ Ship Rex spinning tunes. Lots of fun and nice to see the venue embracing a little bit of history and building traditions.

The special Grinch cocktail menu is overall a lot better than the one for Beetlejuice. The Mean One is similar to the aforementioned Grog and the wonderfully creamy and decadent Whobilation Libation features chocolate notes from the Kōloa Kauaʻi Cacao rum and dark chocolate coconut cream. The Cindy Lou-Apple has several overproof rums and it leans lighter than you might expect because the spirit focus is from the Laird’s Apple Brandy, nonetheless there’s still plenty of flavor and this should be really appealing to the diverse downtown San Jose audience.

Cindy Lou-Apple

While you’re in downtown you can also check out Nuvo Hospitality’s other bars for more festive holiday pop-ups. O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub next door to Dr. Funk is themed to Home Alone and Five Points around the corner is doing everyone’s favorite Christmas movie – Die Hard.