Category: Tiki Bar

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Bamboo Club Halloween / Hardcore Tiki Marketplace

We had free time on Saturday and Bamboo Club was already on our short-list but after seeing that the Hardcore Tiki Marketplace was happening we made sure to visit for lunch and some shopping. It is a nice vibe for the marketplace, including a DJ and about 15 vendors, and is set up on the first Saturday of the month. I ended up purchasing a small PNG mask and a Tiki Tolteca mug.

Nightmare in Anaheim Street

Bamboo Club is decorated for Halloween under the moniker Tremble Club and we felt the overall aesthetic was pretty good. The immersive feeling is best if you’re seated in the booths like we were, though the decor on the patio is pretty nice as well.

There’s also a special cocktail menu and I really enjoyed the Nightmare on Anaheim Street, a nod to the horror classic and Bamboo Club’s street address, which is a whiskey sour with amaro and Campari. Our cocktails were balanced very well and I also had burger that was fantastic.

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Killer Klown Halloween Overlay at Dr. Funk

Dr. Funk did a Beetlejuice overlay last October and the tiki bar is back with a new theme this year: Killer Klowns from Outer Space. If you’re not familiar, this is based on the “cult classic” film from 1988 – and there are few things scarier than aliens that resemble clowns! The decorating committee certainly did a fantastic job, including a circus themed light display outside, plus decorated booths, giant mutant popcorn kernels, and a few Killer Klown figures.

There’s a special menu available including a deep fried Twinkie that I wanted to hate but I can’t lie – it’s amazing. There are also four speciality cocktails:

Peanut Gallery – if you’re looking for something that’s more traditional for a tiki bar, this is the item to choose. It has a balanced approach including rum you can taste plus banana flavors from the liqueur and the “circus peanut elixir.” This was my favorite, though regular readers know I’m a nut for circus peanut flavor.

Peanut Gallery

Chubby’s Fix – this clarified cocktail has mild rum flavors and a bright blue passionfruit float. It tastes great and the foam sort of melted into the cocktail to make the whole thing blue, making this another standout.

Chubby’s Fix

Cotton Candy Cocoon – Coconut leaning and not particularly spirit-forward, and very heavy on the matcha-pandan milk syrup. Mrs. Mai Tai likes pandan and appreciated it much more than I did.

Cotton Candy Cocoon

Human Puppet – a lighter cocktail featuring Cocchi Americano, so a wine-forward taste, and includes a flashing cube inside. Again, not very rummy.

Human Puppet

Dr. Funk is getting pretty good at the pop-up/overlay thing and Killer Klowns is no exception. The theme is interesting and unique, something to seek out this month in downtown San Jose.

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Mai Tai by Firelight

Dr. Funk has been doing “traditional tiki Tuesday’s” for a couple years now, featuring a rotating set of DJs and all day happy hour. This week brought Doc Parks down to the South Bay for his last Tuesday slot of the year, so we made sure to come out for dinner and drinks.

There was an indoor buyout until 8:30, so we found a cozy spot on the patio by one of the heaters. The wind was higher than normal and we noticed that the planes are flying in the opposite direction from the airport, but it was still pretty pleasant outside and the drinks and food certainly helped. I went with the Mai Tai of course – always delicious- plus the Dark ‘n Stormy riff called Myers’s Storm due to the use of Myers’s single barrel rum. Even with “easy ginger beer” this was still a bit much for me, so maybe I should just ask for “just a splash” next time.

DJ Doc Parks

Doc’s DJ set was pretty eclectic, including a crowd pleasing set of surf songs but also some 70s leaning songs that included a funky Beastie Boys instrumental. Doc even pulled out some organic percussion instruments to keep the crowd on their toes. Definitely not “traditional tiki” but Doc’s set was still really great and not modern.

We caught a peek at Dr. Funk’s Killer Klowns decor for Halloween, which starts today, and was pretty impressed. Be sure to make reservations or arrive early, there are going to be heavy crowds all this month.

Myers’s Storm and Killer Clown
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Tiki Tropics Radiance by Orrede

If you’re looking for something bright and orange to celebrate Hulaween this season, you might consider this Tiki Tropics Radiance shirt by Orrede. It’s 100% cotton with matching pockets and plackets, which I appreciate. That’s me at Forbidden Island yesterday and I’m pretty sure I was hard to miss in the crowd.

Tiki Tropics Radiance shirt by Orrede

You can learn more at orredeocean.com, and you’ll save 15% with the code ALOHA15.

Thanks to Orrede for providing the shirt.

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Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale

We had a fun afternoon in Alameda for the 19th annual Parking Lot Sale at Forbidden Island. There are multiple vendors surrounding FI’s still thriving outdoor patio, with a couple drinks available in the outdoor bar and a full menu available for order inside. The vendors are mostly different on Sunday, offering an opportunity to review additional offerings during the weekend.

Mrs. Mai Tai picked up this cute Candy Corn Tiki Bob and a tiki hut pin. Meanwhile, I had a pretty good Mai Tai and a surprisingly good non-alcoholic Mai Tai that’s tangy and refreshing.

Classic Mai Tai and NA Classic Mai Tai

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Dr. Funk Rum Asylum September Meeting

We had a nice treat Sunday afternoon at the latest quarterly meeting of Dr. Funk’s rum club, the Rum Asylum. These meetings are open to anyone, including a bunch of folks who joined during Sunday’s session. The Rum Asylum is a self-guided journey through rum, where your purchased rum pours are tracked on a checklist.

The focus this time was on Barbados rums from the Foursquare Distillery, including the Probitas blended white rum, the aged R.L. Seale’s finest Barbados rum, and the flagship Foursquare 2011 Exceptional Cask Series. Chris from Altamar walked us through details of the distillery and production methods, and then provided guided tasting notes to compare and contrast. The session completed with a raffle of some bottles for those in attendance, including the 2011 ECS release.

There was also a speciality cocktail using these rums called Aster and Primrose, said to be “a rum lovers cocktail” and priced at just $11. I stuck with the poured rums since I was driving.

Several Rum Asylum members reached their next levels. Greg completed Level I’s 20 rums and had to pledge an oath to get the Level II list and a pin. Meanwhile, Nik finished Level III and received a pin and pith helmet along with the Level III list.

The next Rum Asylum meeting is December 21st at 3 pm. There’s additional info about the Rum Asylum on Dr. Funk’s website.