Category: Tiki Bar

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New Cocktails at San Francisco’s Tonga Room are a Hit

San Francisco’s Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel has a long history and a well-earned reputation for fine food and incredible Polynesian decor, but the cocktails have been poorly regarded by many. The Tonga Room has quietly completely revamped their cocktail menu and friends I’m here to tell you that the new cocktails are really good.

While Mrs. Mai Tai misses the old Tonga Kong, we did find all five cocktails that we tried to be good to great. The Zombie and Mai Tai from the old menu have even been redone with different spirits and ingredients. The price for cocktails at the Tonga Room remain high, functioning as a sort of cover charge for the venue’s amazing decor, but at least you’ll be impressed by the cocktails in a good way now.

The previous Mai Tai was very limey but the new Mai Tai leans more in the sweet direction and uses Bacardi 8 and Don Q. These aren’t bold Jamaican rums but most certainly the drink is better balanced and perfectly approachable for the Tonga audience. If you’re looking for something more complex, the Tiki Hunter will be more your speed, a delicious and complex punch made with Jägermeister, coconut rum, Wray Overproof , spices, juices, and an edible pinecone. The Banana Bread Old Fashioned blends Jamaica rum, bourbon, and banana into a satisfying twist on the classic.

Banana Bread Old Fashioned

There’s a healthy mix of cocktail styles, including a blue Margarita with salt inside the cocktail rather than on the rim. Mrs. Mai Tai loved the Seafoam Espresso Martini that includes spiced rum, orgeat, and topping of sea foam cream and black lava salt. Really great. The Tiny Bubbles is a fun tropical Mimosa featuring sparking rosé and Tonga POG juice. There are a couple of alcohol free options and the focus on glassware means the cocktails are made to be seen and appreciated rather than hidden in a mug or pineapple.

If it’s been a while, now is the time to revisit the Tonga Room and experience their wonderful new cocktail menu.

Tiki Hunter
Mai Tai
Seafoam Espresso Martini
Tiny Bubbles
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Rum is Still a Thing at Kon-Tiki in Oakland

Tried some new (to me) rums at The Kon-Tiki the other day. Their Expedition Rum list is still going, and after 100 you get your name on the wall. And for folks like me who’ve already done this I’m doing a second list and just picking from the myriad options from the back bar. They do have a printed rum list that you can peruse with pricing, etc. Prices are quite reasonable.

So many choices are available at Kon-Tiki but honestly space is becoming an issue so come on down to Kon-Tiki to help kill some of these bottles! I tried to do my part on Wednesday.

First rum was Ron Colón which is a blend of column still Salvadorian rum and pot still Jamaican rums. A very pleasant taste in a Mai Tai, not too assertive. This style of blended rum might work better in a Daiquiri where the general lightness and a bit of the Jamaican flavor would be a little bit more forward and present.

Next, I tried the Diamond Dark rum. This is a Demerara rum and is part of Diamond Distiller’s (El Dorado rum) entry level rum line. This is heavily colored and this has a caramel/maple syrup flavor – not nearly as overbearing as something like Cruzan Blackstrap but still more in that direction than Goslings or Myers’s. Not bad in a Mai Tai.

Last rum was Plantation’s Extreme series Long Pond 25 year rum from Jamaica. Very fragrant and completely delicious, Jamaica rum continues to be my absolute favorite.

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October Funday at Kon-Tiki

Downtown Oakland’s Kon-Tiki is looking great for Halloween, thanks to a very cohesive set of Beetlejuice-related decor. It really looks great and festive for the best season of the year.

Some fun times last night hanging out with a Jeff and Dave, a couple Oakhana regulars, and Kon-Tiki owner Christ. Carlos, Kriss, and Daniel were efficient and helpful with drink orders and rum suggestions.

The amazing Kon-Tiki Burger only seems to be tasting better lately (change in beef supplier) and plenty of great vintage 70s and Yacht Rock tunes playing in the venue. Love you, Kon-Tiki.

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Our New Vegas Tradition: Brunch at Red Dwarf

The Sunday Surf Brunch at Red Dwarf is our new tradition. We enjoyed this on our last trip and made sure to do this again. Red Dwarf is a dive-leaning tiki bar that’s off strip in Vegas. They serve Detroit-style pizza (crust, toppings, cheese, sauce) that is fantastic, along with a small cocktail menu and a large beer selection. Don’t overlook the light Dwarf Piss beer for only $4.

Dwarf Piss

Our pizza was really great, but the cocktails here are pretty good too. Not exactly craft in orientation, nonetheless I’ve felt the Red Dwarf cocktails are better balanced than at Golden Tiki and Frankie’s Tiki Room in my experience. The standard Mai Tai here is quite good with a lighter leaning rum blend that is not assertive and probably really good for the average Vegas resident or tourist. But there are some truly outstanding rums behind the bar that can elevate your Mai Tai experience.

Mai Tai

I also enjoyed the Trinidad, Not Your Dad that has Bourbon, Angostura Amaro, Lime, Lemon, Orgeat, Ginger Beer, Ango, and Absinthe. It leads sweet, in a good way, and is a good example of the kind of complete cocktail you wouldn’t necessarily expect in a dive bar. Similarly, Mrs. Mai Tai loved her I Just Blew Myself with Rumhaven coconut rum, Blue Curacao, cinnamon, coconut, pineapple, and lime. It’s really great.

There’s a TV above the bar that was showing classic Twilight Zone episodes, plus a screen showing surf footage including a surf-oriented episode of The Flintstones and the classic Hawaii Trilogy of Brady Bunch episodes. Music today was from Generic Surf Band, a tight trio of Vegas locals. Locals are friendly here and the staff are super friendly and work hard to serve everyone.

I Blew Myself
Trinidad, Not My Dad
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Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale

Great day on the patio in Alameda for the annual Parking Lot Sale at Forbidden Island. There were some really great vendors on Sunday for our visit, and I came away with a lantern from Relic Vintage and a Disney aloha shirt and a fish float from Tiki Tacky Tu. Mrs. Mai Tai bought a necklace from Match Accessories. We look forward to this event every year. DJ Tanoa Stewart provided some great garage rock-leaning vintage tunes.

My lantern worked out really great. Besides looking nice on our patio, it matched the cocktail I’d already ordered: the Port Light. Serendipity! Forbidden Island’s Port Light cocktail is perfectly balanced with just the right amount of bourbon. We also enjoyed the Spam Musubi.

Port Light Cocktail
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New Cocktails at Oakland’s Kon-Tiki

Mrs. Mai Tai and ventured to Oakland to check out the new cocktail menu at The Kon-Tiki. This is a major overhaul and we wanted to try some of the new cocktails. We also saw that the interior of Kon-Tiki is receiving a “space” themed overhaul to coincide with the new menu’s theme. This is not really to our taste, especially when accompanied by some sleepy 60s jazz songs. Things felt a lot better once a selection of 70’s-80s deep cut space-rock songs were being played (Alan Parsons, Neu!, Japan), which at least had a bit of pep and reminded us of the Kon-Tiki’s heyday as a Yacht Rock place.

We tried four of the new cocktails.

Heyerdahl Maneuver and Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot
This Blue Hawaiian riff features St. Lucian and Jamaica Rums, Blue Curacao, Coconut, Pineapple, Lime, Orange, and Peychauds Bitters. We both felt this needed more coconut. Just so-so.

Heyerdahl Maneuver
Better was this cocktail with Aquavit as a base, along with Pisco, Charanda, Lavender, Banana, Honey, Grapefruit, and Lemon. Tastes lighter than the blend of ingredients might indicate and features a really interesting and unique taste. Totally worth trying – it might be your favorite.

Lunar Camel and Event Horizon

Event Horizon
This was an absolutely fabulous cocktail. Using aged Charanda, Coffee Liqueur, Vanilla, Angostura and Cacao Bitters, this has a wonderful taste and a perfect blend of bitter and sweet along with a very approachable Mexican rum base. We both thought this was truly excellent.

Lunar Camel
Far and away my personal favorite and Mrs. Mai Tai thought it was great as well. The Lunar Camel has Barbados Rum, Apple Brandy, Tamarind, Lemon, Amaro, and Angostura Bitters. This felt like an alien version of a rum barrel and features a truly satisfying blend of ingredients. Perfect mouthfeel. I can’t wait to try this again, it’s that good.

UFO coming soon