We ventured to downtown San Jose to check out DJ Otto von Stroheim‘s holiday tunes for “Traditional Tiki” Tuesday at Dr. Funk. The place is decked out quite nicely for the holidays and Otto’s tunes were upbeat and festive. A great set from Otto, like always.
DJ Otto
It does seem that there’s been some regression in the quality of the cocktails here, thanks in part to a great deal of turnover of the bar staff during 2023. We saw bartenders free-pouring ingredients, which might explain why the balance of my Mai Tai was just a bit off. Not terrible but more limey than in my past visits. When Dr. Funk opened in 2021 their Mai Tai rum blend was Appleton 12 and Smith & Cross, but last year Appleton 12 had supply issues and they replaced it with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve rum that is less expensive but doesn’t work as well (the Dr. Funk website still lists Appleton 12, even after a certain lifestyle blogger informed them of the error months ago). We’re hoping for better results on our next visit.
Mai Tai
The Tropical Itch we ordered was really off track. It supposedly contains Wild Turkey 101 along with Coruba and Lemon Hart 151 rums, plus Dry Curacao and “caramelized pineapple.” I couldn’t taste the bourbon at all, and there was a flavor that neither Mrs. Mai Tai or I found pleasant. Probably the caramelized pineapple, but in either case the cocktail was not good.
Tropical Itch
Thankfully, Mrs. Mai Tai found her Thai-Chi to be made well. This rich and creamy cocktail has a host of ingredients including Allspice dram, milk syrup, and falernum. Perhaps this is one of Dr. Funk’s batched cocktails.
Dr. Funk is still pretty good in downtown San Jose, but the corporate ownership isn’t doing any favors to elevate the experience for fans of the genre and the constant shuffling of crew members also does not bode well. I hope they can right the ship.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is the mug swap at Alameda’s Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge. You bring a mug that’s boxed or bagged and then when your name is called you take one from the pile. You trade in a mug maybe you don’t love and you might end up with something better, it’s just that simple. No stealing in this swap.
The event was organized and hosted by Chad Martens. This year there were three categories of mugs based on resale value, which worked well so that you don’t trade something super rare for a garbage mug.
As it turns out, Mrs Mai Tai actually picked the mug I brought 😂. I showed her the mug before we left but I forgot to show her the bag! But, we ended up trading for something else with one of the other event attendees after the picking of bags was over. It was a Christmas miracle.
FI was super packed, needless to say. So thanks to Sara Rivas for keeping up with the bar orders and making some fab cocktails, and the entire staff working well together. Fun times.
Everyone’s favorite Mai Tai inventor was born on this day in 1902. Victor Jules Bergeron had a difficult childhood, losing a leg to tuberculosis when just six year old. Early adulthood was no better until he scrapped some money together to open a small restaurant and bar at named Hinky Dinks at 65th and San Pablo avenue in Oakland in 1934.
A visit Don the Beachcomber’s convinced Bergeron to adjust the theme of his venue. The Bamboo Room at “Trader Vic at Hinky Dinks” opened as initially as an exclusive ladies’ lounge. Later, it became a co-ed destination and eventually the Trapper Lodge theme of Hinky Dinks gave way entirely to a Polynesian theme. The venue eventually got a shorter name, simply Trader Vic’s in 1938.
This photo shows Bergeron in the midst of that transition, sporting a Pith Helmet that never became his trademark and was soon forgotten. One guesses that Bergeron thought a hat would add character to his persona, as it did for Donn Beach. One also guesses that Bergeron got fed up wearing such head-ware and might have even thrown it into the trash accompanied by colorful profanity.
Bergeron’s fame soon spread as a restaurateur and cocktail developer, a celebrity chef of sorts. That fame as the Gordon Ramsay of his day was one reason he was asked to develop a cocktail menu for the Matson hotel properties in Waikiki where the Mai Tai became a viral sensation starting in 1953.
Bergeron died in 1984 at the age of 81, but today let’s remember the young man who was about to shake up the restaurant and cocktail world. Raise a glass of rum or brandy, or maybe a famous Trader Vic’s cocktail such as the Fogcutter, Eastern Sour, or a Mai Tai. Cheers and happy birthday to Trader Vic Bergeron.
We had a great time at Forbidden Island last Saturday taking one of Mrs. Mai Tai’s work colleagues for their first tiki bar experience. Nicely busy but not too crazy until a party bus full of revelers showed up wearing holiday costumes (we think we even saw Buddy the Elf), though thankfully they were seated in the patio. We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere inside in our booth, thank you very much.
I’ve decided to start another Kill-Devil Club 1.0 rum list at Forbidden Island. We’ll see how long it takes without the to-go option that helped me accelerate the exploration of rum in 2020-2021, but I’m looking forward to trying some new rums and old favorites. Nice to be able to try these rums in a Daiquiri or Mai Tai for a nominal upcharge.
I really enjoyed the Mai Tai with Smith & Cross Jamaica rum. The bold and boozy rum really played well with this finely prepared cocktail, definitely one of the best of 2023.
Thanks to Michael for always appreciated hospitality and also to Justin for a great suggestions for a nearby Sushi restaurant.
Heads turned when San Francisco’s Trad’r Sam bar closed mysteriously in late summer. The legendary bamboo bar has been in operation in the Richmond district since 1937, the oldest continuously operating tiki bar in the world. The closure was due in part to a complicated and multifaceted ownership dispute among a brother and sister/niece, along with lease issues. The dust settled with John Munguia taking over operational duties for the first time in many years and the venue reopening in early November.
Aside from settling the lease and operational disputes, the downtime resulted in noticeable updates to the seating and decor inside the neighborhood hangout that in true dive bar fashion still only accepts cash. The bamboo booths named for tropical islands were long in disrepair and have been removed, replaced by new tables and chairs. The blenders and barstools are all new with the bar surface and floor refurbished as well. We noticed there was a greater emphasis on some cheap but well-placed tikis, which I think accented the many historic bamboo elements still in place inside. The previously graffiti-filled men’s restroom has been completely repainted, perhaps the first time in history where white walls were welcome in a tiki bar.
In the previous regime the hours were notoriously inconsistent, but after last week’s SF Standard article that said that bar opens early on Mondays I took advantage of a “wellness day” at work and decided to see how things are before noon in the Richmond. We saw Munguia tending bar with a few regulars who were drinking shots and beer and not the Polynesian Drinks referenced on the iconic sign outside. These regulars were already in party mode when we walked in and soon were treated to a whiskey shot bought by a customer for everyone in the bar. Another regular knew the inside of the venue better than Munguia, running behind the bar to find the remotes for the jukebox and TVs.
Which left it up to this writer to keep up the tradition of Polynesian Drinks at the Polynesian Drinks bar, ordering a Mai Tai. Trad’r Sam features a vast cocktail menu, though on a previous visit it wasn’t clear there was a substantial difference between a Mai Tai and Zombie aside from the garnish. But most the cocktails are just $9, indicating this is a place for inexpensive imbibing and not for refined reflection of craft cocktails. Indeed my island Mai Tai was prepared exactly like the one on my last trip in early 2022 and was so similar it evoked the “they’re the same picture” meme from NBC’s The Office.
But I come to praise Trad’r Sam, not to bury it. The Mai Tai wasn’t too bad, and I had even better luck when I ordered a Singapore Sling from bartender JJ who had recently arrived and really began the bar setup. The Sling contained a mix of rum, sloe gin, a couple cherry liqueurs, and a bit of juice and honestly was the best Singapore Sling I’ve had in a while. Meanwhile, a group of young men came in for some socializing and a couple rounds of tequila shots. I wandered over to the jukebox and immediately found some Gerry Rafferty and Gary Wright songs that tickled JJ and the group of young men. I kept looking and eventually found some Ventures and even a few Martin Denny tunes.
Sitting in the world’s oldest tiki bar listening to “Quiet Village” while sipping a tropical cocktail at 2:00 in the afternoon wasn’t a bad way to spend my “wellness day” after all.
Hardcore tikiphiles certainly have better options in The City, home to at least half a dozen top-tier destination tiki bars. But I think Trad’r Sam is worth visiting as well. True, one minute you might be relaxing with a drink and the next an inebriated regular will be hugging you while sliding over a whiskey shot. It’s that kind of place. It isn’t unsafe, though, and I’d have trusted those regulars to have my back in the event of any trouble. We can only hope that continued upgrades to the interior and maybe the cocktail program will follow with a resurgence of business and the ability to focus on hospitality rather than the judiciary.
We had a pre-dinner visit to Tiki Tom’s on Wednesday. We were surprised it wasn’t overflowing busy like it always seems to be but was quite mellow and about halfway full during the 5:00 hour when we rolled in. We ordered some coconut shrimp and enjoyed fast service and knowledgeable suggestions from the bartender.
You can’t always have the Ultimate Mai Tai at Tiki Tom’s (well, you could, but..) so I went deeper into the menu and had a Captain Cleo from the Beachbum Berry section. This is a Rum Runner variant that’s shaken rather than blended and leans more into the blackberry than banana, a good choice in my view. Rather delicious.
Meanwhile they were out of Mrs. Mai Tai’s favorite, the Ohana Punch, so she went for the Banana Hammock with light rum, banana liqueur, falernum, and juices. Definitely a lighter style drink that’s pretty good with only subtle banana notes.
I finished with a Tropical Itch, Harry Yee’s all-time classic dating back to the Hawaiian Village in the 1950s. This version was pretty good and even comes with a backscratcher with the Tiki Tom’s logo!
On the way home around 9:30 it was totally packed at Tiki Tom’s, just like we usually experience. Seemed like the place to be in Walnut Creek on Thanksgiving Eve.
It was a beautiful day for a drive over the hill to Santa Cruz for lunch at Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery for Thanksgiving. We did this a couple years ago and had a great time with the family and thought we’d try again this year. Last time it wasn’t overly busy but the secret seems to be out since they were quite busy today.
At first blush, Makai seems like just another tiki-leaning Hawaiian place located at a tourist location. Sure there are great views of the ocean from Makai’s Santa Cruz Wharf location, but some of Makai’s special feature really elevate the experience. We asked to be seated in the rotating bar section, which we think is a kick and also means that every table gets a window view (it also means you’re not in the blinding sun all the time either). We also like the clear floor sections where you can see the ocean and even some sea lions underneath the restaurant.
Our food was pretty good, burgers for the boys and fish dishes for the adult. And some wonderful Crab Rangoon and Spam Musubi appetizers. Service here is friendly and pretty good.
It is nice to see Makai continuing with a heavy lean towards originals on their cocktail menu. Sure, the Mai Tai or Saturn are classics that do well but the originals I today were quite good and far better than you might expect if this was just a “tourist place”. They also have a bunch of nice mugs and glassware to collect if that’s your thing.
The surf-inspired original cocktal called The Bonzer has Lemon Hart Rum, allspice liqueur, Velvet Falernum, coconut cream, cinnamon, and lime. This was quite well-balanced; creamy but not too much so. Meanwhile, the Punch to the Skull was a great capper for me. I dug the cocktail made with Denizen white rum, Aperol, Velvet Falernum, Dry Curacao, and lemon juice. Just enough Aperol to not overwhelm the rest of the ingredients.
