Trader Vic’s Emeryville is bringing back this vintage cocktail as a special fundraiser this month (this version is from the 1972 Trader Vic’s Bartenders Guide). The Tonga Punch is “a refreshing and fruity combination of light rum, curacao and grenadine mixed with orange and lemon juices” and is a very sweet cocktail that is easy to drink. Mine tasted very cherry-forward, so I wonder if maybe they used the Trader Vic’s Maraschino Cherry syrup in place of the grenadine.
For the month of February, Trader Vic’s will donate $10 for each Tonga Punch sold to the Fraternal Order of Moai, benefitting the country of Tonga for the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption.
The new issue of Exotica Moderne arrived, with my article about the Disco Banana cocktail by Jeanie Grant. Haven’t heard of this amazing cocktail? That’s why I wrote the article! It is one of my all-time favorites.
The article includes Jeanie’s original sketch for the cocktail, so check out the article to learn more about how this cocktail got its name. Thanks to Jeanie for telling me the origin story!
The typo in the captions for the two photos came from me. Minor dyslexia.
I’m still in take-out mode post-Omicron, and with Mrs Mai Tai out of town I decided to drive up to Emeryville for lunch. It is a beautiful day in the Bay Area, and my bay view of takeout from Trader Vic’s was super picturesque.
Lunch was really great. Crab Rangoon and the San Francisco Mai Tai were as excellent as they always are. I tried the Salmon Sliders and thought they were pretty great, too.
When we started planning our SoCal trip we decided that we should make this a priority. We’d never visited in the past, since most SoCal trips were centered in Orange County (and almost always with the kids). But we knew this place wouldn’t last forever.
Unfortunately, they closed just a few weeks before we got there. A missed opportunity, and a lesson learned: you’ve got to visit these places while they’re still around.
I’m really looking forward to the book about Oceanic Arts that I’ve already ordered and is coming soon.
The app-based reservation system I mentioned for Oga’s Cantina worked even better getting inside at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar last Wednesday afternoon. Once I got onto the Disneyland Hotel property I tapped on Sam’s and added myself to the waiting list. The app said the estimated wait was 30 minutes. But just seconds after receiving the first “you’re on the list” text message, I got another one that said my table was ready.
Inside, the bar was not busy so it was a perfect time to cool down inside with a cocktail. Skipper Nate was working behind the bar and I ordered a Mai Tai with Appleton Reserve rum. Nate checked the order, “classic style?” which I took to mean no Agave Syrup that they use in their standard house Mai Tai. “Yes, sir,” I said. That Appleton Reserve Mai Tai was faaantastic, and I was more than happy to compliment the Skipper when he asked how it was. Very rummy, but also a wonderful flavor profile – not too sweet, not too sour. Great mouthfeel.
Classic Mai Tai with Appleton 8 Reserve Rum
Second Round, Better than the First
For the second round, I asked Skipper Nate if they had something a little more funky, and he suggested Hamilton Pot Still Blonde rum. I said that would be great – a half Appleton Reserve and half Hamilton Blonde Mai Tai.
It was one of the best Mai Tais I’ve ever had.
The funkier rum really added a nice punch to the cocktail, and elevated what was already an amazing Mai Tai. On this day it was damn near perfect.
Nearly Perfect Mai Tai with Appleton Reserve and Hamilton Pot Still Blonde rums
Thank you Skipper Nate! I will follow you into battle anytime.
That day it really came together at Trader Sam’s: relaxing in the immersive space, exotica music playing, and the light hum of conversations and laughter.
This is the location of the original Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, the forebear tiki bar that opened in Hollywood in 1934. A couple years later Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened a larger place across the street called Don the Beachcomber, then subsequently changed his name to Donn Beach.
There’s nothing to see really, and as far as I can tell there’s nothing technically at 1722 anymore. There is a condo sitting over location of the second location.
Had a nice lunch on the patio at the Tangaroa Terrace at the Disneyland Hotel when we arrived in Anaheim.
This included an off-menu Planter’s Punch that was really quite good. I really like how off-menu orders are usually accommodated at Trader Sam’s/Tangaroa, and typically executed very well.
