We landed at the Disneyland Hotel on Friday evening and got some seats outside at the Tangaroa Terrace after a short wait. A pretty nice dinner, as always, and I enjoy the ambiance at night with the torches and live Hawaiian music.
I don’t love the Bacardi in their standard issue HippopotoMai-Tai so I looked at the rums on the backbar and ordered one with Hamilton 86 Demerara rum. The taste was lovely, richer than their standard.
We also got the new orange mug, which Mrs Mai Tai says is her favorite of the releases so far (I prefer the blue glaze from Trader Sam’s in Florida). The staff worked with us to adjust the level on the propane heaters. The skipper even threw in a few zingers.
When I got the bill it listed Hamilton 151 as the called rum. So that might explain why I found the cocktail so intoxicating.
Dropped by Dr. Funk on Monday before the Surfrajettes show for dinner and some cocktails. Aside from continued “product testing” of Dr. Funk’s still awesome Mai Tai, I tried the Jamaican Highball this time.
More than just a “Wray and Ting”, the Jamaican Highball features Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, lime, turbinado, grapefruit soda, and Bitter Truth Grapefruit Bitters. Those additional ingredients and flavors help to enhance the the rum and soda base. I was looking for a slightly lower ABV and asked for Rum-Bar Silver to sub for the Wray. This still provided that classic unaged Jamaican rum flavor and worked great in this cocktail.
We skipped Frankie’s Tiki Room on our last trip but made a point of visiting this time. Knowing that it can be crowded and extra smoky during the evenings, we visited right after a late breakfast on Friday morning around 11:00. Only two other people inside and it still smelled like smoke.
The inside of Frankie’s is a delight, with so many pieces of art and some really excellent tikis and decor. I like how there are different sections to hang out in, from the booths to the bar to the tables in between.
Service is from the bar, and obviously with a light crowd was super efficient and friendly. There is a jukebox where you can select some songs, but we sat underneath their loud air purifier so couldn’t hear the exotica very clearly (but, air purifiers are nice). It is super dark inside, one of Frankie’s charms.
Our drinks were… okay. They were prepared via free-pour so your mileage will vary. The Mai Tai is unbalanced and leans sweet, but I ordered the off-menu Rum Rum Rudolf (from the Liquid Vacation book) that was really great. Mrs. Mai Tai thought one of her drinks was okay but the other wasn’t very flavorful.
Being a dark tiki bar where the outside world is completely shut off, it is easy to see why people love this place. It feels surprisingly large inside and there are video poker machines at the bar if that’s your thing. We did have a good time at Frankie’s.
Red Dwarf is a newish dive bar with tiki leanings. This differs from Frankie’s which is a tiki bar with dive leanings. We were told to check this place out as friendly bar that also serves Detroit-style pizza (crust, cheese, then sauce). Their Sunday brunch starting at 11:00 am was perfect for us.
Inside, there are quite a few tiki elements, but certainly is not as immersive as Frankie’s or Golden Tiki. We tried to sit in one of the booths but it was super tight so we switched to the bar, which actually worked out for us better. Service was friendly and prompt at the large center bar with two sides. Warsaw Poland Bros played live surf and Slavic American Ska and really were fabulous. They even had groovy ska number about the Red Dwarf bar! Sound was at a perfect level – we could easily hear the music but we could also hear ourselves.
Red Dwarf has a large beer selection, including the option to do the “Dungeon Master Challenge” where you roll a D20 to see what beer and shot you’ll get. We tried the Dwarf Piss, a very nice $4 lager that’s exclusive to this venue.
Mai TaiI Just Blew Myself
A small cocktail menu is also available. They are prepared via free pour but overall were pretty decent. The Mai Tai is credible and includes a small portion of Falernum as a little twist, and I enjoyed a second made with Appleton Reserve 8 rum from their collection. Mrs. Mai Tai had the very good Blue Hawaiian riff called “I Just Blew Myself” because it is served flaming.
The pizza is fantastic here, but sometimes sells out by late evening especially on the weekends. Brunch is really an awesome option here – really relaxing and with well-mannered regulars, but be sure to get there early. No smoking, except outside on their small patio.
Plenty of seats at the large two-section barDetroit Style PizzaDwarf PissEntrance with ringer Side PatioTight boothsNice Lounge Section
We made reservations at The Golden Tiki for 7 pm Friday and had a pretty good time at this Chinatown destination. About the same experience for us as last time: good (but not great) cocktails, some good food, interesting decor, and mostly lots of good smoke-free energy. We arrived a little early and got to span the transition from Happy Hour to regular service, so we took advantage of some of the Happy Hour specials.
We were seated back in the far lounge (right next to where we sat last time), which isolated us from the energy of the main room but also avoided some of the crowd. There was a band playing when we arrived but after they ended there wasn’t music playing in the back and that brought the energy down.
PupusSweet Mai Tai
Food was pretty good, including the Fried Rice and I especially liked their Crab Rangoon. Service overall was on point and the waitress did do a good job explaining things about the cocktails. One of our party felt a “2 skull” cocktail didn’t have any taste of alcohol and the server said that cocktails were batched and so it would be impossible for booze to not be present.
Which of course lends the question about the quality of this and other cocktails, when batching is a factor. Just so you know.
My Mai Tai was fine, and would be great if you love a very orgeat-forward and sweet Mai Tai. I did enjoy the Lemba Lemba Akulapu cocktail with three rums, juices, and spices – and this four skull cocktail definitely had some booze! We’ll make more of an effort to try and sit in the main room at the bar, where maybe we can possibly work with the bartenders, but cocktails here overall are fine as is.
We’re flying to Vegas for the weekend and stopped by Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport for dinner. The Mai Tais tonight were totally on point, and the best so far in all my visits to this airport location of Trader Vic’s. Everything came together in perfect balance and an early leader for Mai Tai of the year.
The view tonight wasn’t bad either. Look at the sunset! We enjoy watching the air ships from within the tiki bar.
I had the Teriyaki Salmon bowl and it too was really great. Lots of things to love including edamame, carrots, rice and more. Service was super helpful and prompt too. It bums me out when we have to fly out of SFO or OAK instead of SJC.
