The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
Quick drive up to Oakland for a Mai Tai on the patio and a peek at the indoor dining situation at The Kon-Tiki. Man, the Mai Tai was really good on the patio, listening to Yacht Rock that the Kon-Tiki is famous for.
Nice to see Chris Day and Chris Parker and of course some of the Oakhana who were doing the indoor thing. After my second shot in a couple weeks, we’ll be indoors too.
So nice to see Brian and Mary Rechenmacher Trader Vic’s mini-Bazaar on Sunday. So many nice products, but I had to purchase the Collins glass set inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room and also the cool new Camp Mug. Those are still available from the B-Rex store, so check it out and get those cool glasses and other items before they sell out.
It was so nice to have a quick toe-dip for indoor conversations and to check in with life changes and where everyone is heading. Thank goodness for the vaccines.
Two of the treasures we picked up at the mini-bazaar at Trader Vic’s yesterday. These are from Woody Miller including a wood piece in his signature style. I really love the Moai-inspired mug with a wood style glaze.
Be sure to check out more of Woody’s art in the forthcoming issue of Exotica Moderne magazine, now available for pre-order at www.houseoftabu.com. Woody is the cover artist and I had the pleasure of interviewing Woody for the article. Some surprises inside.
Looks like we’ll be able to see more of Woody’s work at The Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto in Oakland, opening very soon. Can’t wait.
With The Kon-Tiki Room opening in the same window as Woody’s cover story, everything is working out as Woody and I planned when we did the interview back in December. Yep, we totally planned this. No luck involved at all.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I took our adult sons to get their first COVID vaccine shots in the morning and then we arrived after noon for the Trader Vic’s Sunday Brunch and Mini-Bazaar. We had planned to just do shopping (more on that later) but we spotting a small table out on the patio and out of the sun and the staff was able to seat us without a reservation.
We enjoyed a light brunch, but what I really enjoyed was a freshly prepared Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. So frosty and refreshing. This is the best one so far in 2021.
Mrs Mai Tai enjoyed her Guava Mimosa, and it made a nice bubble bath for the Menehune!
So nice to see so many familiar faces at Vic’s today, some of which I know are toe-dipping back into group indoor dining. We will be in that place soon.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I spent Friday checking out antique and retro-modern stores in the Palm Springs area. We saw a lot of great stuff and further posts will detail the treasures we came home with.
For dinner we went to Lulu just around the corner from where we were staying downtown. We loved our meal and set the evening in motion with a couple cocktails (a Raspberry Lemon Drop for her and a Sidecar and Daiquiri for me). We like this restaurant and the patio dining was working very well.
We then took a stroll up the street for round at Tonga Hut. Knowing their house Mai Tai is a combo of Coruba and a light rum, I ordered it “with just Coruba and extra orgeat.” That was a fantastic Mai Tai, the best so far of 2021. Meanwhile Julie went with one of her favorites, the Macadamia Nut Chi-Chi. Very fast service at Tonga Hut this evening.
Our second round at Tonga Hut was taken to-go. Julie had the classic Bees Knees cocktail, quite well prepared. I wanted to try something different and tried the Mojave Punch that features Hibiscus syrup. That proved to be a good choice because I thought it was wonderful, leaning to the tart side but with a good flavor that worked great over ice.
Tonga Hut remains our recommended choice for Tiki Newbies in Palm Springs as it has a little bit of everything and the cocktails are usually pretty good. I didn’t love the heavy use of Beach Boys for the music being played, but that was our only gripe as our short visit was otherwise quite lovely.
We had a great time cooling down from a hot (for us) day in Palm Springs with dinner and cocktails at The Reef at the Caliente Tropics Resort. We arrived shortly after 6 pm with the party in full swing and ended up being seated inside near the door (our first indoor dining in months). I’ve got a vaccine appointment for Monday, so somewhat looser considering the circumstances and the indoor seating was quite socially distant.
DJ Baz aka “Steely Cruise” was spinning a great selection of Yacht Rock tunes and put on a great show with retro audio clips, some additional percussion, and witty repartee. Unfortunately, he didn’t have my requested song, “Miracles” by Jefferson Starship, because the internet wasn’t around in the late 70s to early 80s and wasn’t able to download it, but still played some great songs. A couple regulars were prepared wearing “captain” hats and there was a great deal of revelry that we haven’t experienced in over a year.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I did salads and lighter fare for dinner, but we enjoyed our cocktails. Julie had the Macadamia Nut Chi-Chi and I started with a Mai Tai (ordered with “heavy orgeat) that was truly fabulous; the best so far of 2021. I followed with the Planter’s Punch that I also found to be excellent.
Such a great time at the Reef!
Mrs. Mai Tai and I had a great time at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park but we put in more than a days worth of exercise walking up and down the hills. So we chose the easy option for dinner, which was to walk over to Bali Hai.
We again went with the outdoor option, and there was a young man playing soft rock hits on an acoustic guitar (he seemed quite popular with the group of older ladies celebrating a birthday with Mai Tais). We had a great meal, including a delightful peanut shrimp plate that Julie said was amazing. I went with a smattering of apps, including the grilled Caesar salad and beef skewers again.
After nearly killing myself the previous day, I avoided the infamous Bali Hai Mai Tai and instead went with their signature Mr. Bali Hai cocktail. This isn’t the classic recipe with coffee liqueur but is made with light rum, blackberry brandy, juices, and a Demerara 151 float. I quite enjoyed it, and wish more people had the pleasure of drinking the balanced cocktails like this one or the Goof Punch rather than the glass of rums they call their Mai Tai.
Julie chose the Lava Slide, with Kahlua, Bailey’s, vodka, and chocolate syrup. Desert in a glass! And quite decadent.
I finished the meal with a pour from Bali Hai’s modest but well considered rum tasting list. They were out of Appleton 21, so my backup was the El Dorado Single Barrel PM Marque. Only $18 and quite a steal since I loved it. I saw some reviews bemoan the low 40% ABV and I appreciate where those heads are at. But the rich pot-still flavor really came through in this bold rum (it actually tastes similar to Mount Gay’s Pot Still release). I’m so glad I tried it.
We had a great time at two meals at Bali Hai. Such a wonderful place to be and while indoors would be better we still enjoyed our outdoor dining there.
