Category: Tiki Bar

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Bali Hai Mai Tai

Our first full day in San Diego was a lazy morning for Mrs. Mai Tai. Meanwhile, I crossed town to Quality Liquor to pickup a bottle of the Hamilton Florida Rum Society blend.

We walked over to Bali Hai for lunch and had a relaxed time outdoors under an umbrella, listening to Hawaiian music while glancing at San Diego bay. Our service was fast and friendly, and we enjoyed our meal. I stated with the beef skewers and had the kalua pork bowl as my main course while Julie had a tasty salad and finished with the poke bowl.

Julie had the Big B’s Bri-to, an original cocktail with vodka, soda, and juices. Meanwhile, I ordered the infamous Bali Hai Mai Tai, a drink that can barely be called that due to the minute portions of orgeat, triple sec, and sweet and sour mix. It’s mostly about five ounces of rum with ice and it honestly isn’t great except for getting you super drunk (I didn’t even finish mine). To be fair, the waitress was warning patrons about the strength of the cocktail and redirecting to other cocktails such as the Mr. Bali Hai instead. And, the Bali Hai Mai Tai is only $9.25, which is pretty cheap for such a boozy cocktail sold in California.

I took a chance on a second cocktail and tried the Goof Punch with Hamilton Demerara Rum, Coruba Jamaican Dark Rum, Cruzan Aged Light, Trader Vic’s Orgeat Syrup and a blend of fruit juices. I ordered this with “heavy orgeat” thanks to the light hand I experienced with the Mai Tai and was rewarded with a very tasty cocktail. I really loved the Goof Punch, with heavier rums and just the right amount of pineapple juice.

We enjoyed our visit and took the rest of the afternoon for a drive to various locales. Well, Mrs. Mai Tai drove, not me. I’m writing this after dinner and I’m still inebriated.

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Hardcore Tiki Marketplace at Bamboo Club

Mrs. Mai Tai has spring break from teaching so we are taking a trip to Southern California. Our first day was to get us as far as Anaheim for some socially distant gazes at Mickey’s house. We did arrive locally early enough for us to check out the last hour of the Hardcore Tiki Marketplace taking place at Bamboo Club in Long Beach.

This was a nice tiki marketplace with about 10 vendors. We picked up this painting by Ken Ruzic that will go great in our bedroom.

The Bamboo Club was open indoors and also with their very large covered outdoor space, so we opted for an early dinner. The DJ was playing garage rock which I didn’t love at first (it was pretty loud), though the ecclectic set of patrons demonstrating their retro rock sensibilities seemd to be loving it. I liked it more after my Mai Tai.

The cocktails at Bamboo Club were pretty good. My Mai Tai was good, not great, but more than passable. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai loved her Fluffy Banana (which I agreed was excellent). We enjoyed the food, too. I had Spam & Eggs and Julie had a veggie curry which she said was outstanding.

We took a peek at the indoor portion and this place seems like a dark, dirty and retro tiki bar. Very cool, and glad we made it this time.

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Formidable Dragon with Wray & Nephew Swag

Smuggler’s Cove is running a special on their Formidable Dragon to-go cocktail. There is Wray & Nephew Swag available with purchase, a promotion to celebrate the use of Wray Overproof and sister brand Appleton 8 Reserve in the cocktail. It’s a delicious cocktail and the merch makes it extra fun.

I chose these fine W&N beach slippers, which will come in handy next week on vacation.

The promotion is available for a limited times, is get thee to The Cove before it is too late.

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Smuggler’s Cove To-Go Cocktails

Mrs. Mai Tai and I took a drive to SF and got some fab cocktails from Smuggler’s Cove.

I’ve been impressed with the quality of the take-out cocktails from Smuggler’s Cove, which have been consistently excellent throughout their to-go period. These cocktails aren’t the cheapest, but man they’ve been fantastic and importantly better than I could make at home. Remember that post a few weeks ago where Mrs. Mai Tai and I tried three different Painkillers made with fresh ingredients? Not as good as the Painkiller we had from the Cove, and not even close.

The Tradewinds was my order, pictured with some take-out sushi from another restaurant. I’ve never had this amazing cocktail made with coconut creme and apricot liqueur before and now I have serious FOMO. So good.

Now, if only Smuggler’s Cove would offer a to-go Mai Tai!

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Forbidden Island Kill Devil 1.0 Rum List

I completed the Kill Devil list on the patio at Forbidden Island today. I started the list in early 2018, but got probably 75% of the 106 rums purchased via take-out orders in the last few months. So, I’m pleased to be part of the “Quaranteam” who did this largely under lockdown.

My final rum was my favorite, Appleton 12, in a Mai Tai of course. This was our first baby step back to dining in person with table service on the patio at a table with Mrs. Mai Tai (who said the Chi-Chi’s were especially delicious today).

Thanks to some of the members of the “Forbidden Ohana” Facebook group for coming out to celebrate today, some of which were at conversation distance away at their own tables. Thank you to Dean Koenig for the pour of Foursquare 2008, a fantastic rum. I was at FI when Dean completed his Kill Devil list, so it’s very nice to see him today for mine. Cheers!

And thank you John and Michael and all the FI staff for support doing the list. I’ll look forward to seeing my plaque up on the bar someday when I’m patronizing inside again (FI opens for indoor dining starting tomorrow). I’ll start working on FI’s Kill Devil 2.0 rum list soon, though for a while I’ll be sticking to cocktails on my next few visits.

These rum clubs are a great way to try our some new rums. And while they aren’t all “winners” it is a great experience to talk with fellow patrons and the FI staff about the rums. For my 106 rums I kept short tasting notes and did rate the rums. I grade on the curve so there were lots of 3 star rums, but here are the top rums from the list.

5 Star

  • English Harbor 5 yr
  • Ron Barcelo Imperial
  • Appleton 21 yr
  • Appleton 12
  • Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still
  • Hamilton 86
  • British Royal Navy Imperial
  • Pampero Anniversario

4 Star

  • Mount Gay Extra Old
  • Real McCoy 12 yr
  • St. Paul Dark Rum
  • El Dorado 15 yr
  • Skipper Rum
  • Appleton Reserve
  • Coruba
  • Plantation Rum Jamaica
  • Smith & Cross
  • Clement Creole Shrubb
  • Kuleana Hui Hui

Should come as no surprise to regular readers that my tastes favor Jamaica/Barbados/Guyana rums.

And now on to the next adventure of spreading the good word of rum.

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Friday Mai Tai

Mrs. Mai Tai got her second vaccine today, a super fast experience in Oakland with plenty of time for lunch to-go from Trader Vic’s. I’m really loving their Kahlua Pork Sandwich, which thankfully isn’t bathed in BBQ sauce. So tender and tasty.

The Mai Tai was made fresh with ice for nearby parked lunch experience. Gotta love that great Trader Vic’s crushed ice and fresh lime to make the Mai Tai extra special.

Vic’s is now open for indoor dining. Here’s a peek at the table spacing, if you’re so inclined.

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Last Photo

This was taken a year ago at The Kon-Tiki at a celebration for Terra Fritch and Alex Fritch completing the Kon-Tiki Expedition Rum list. It was such a great time but that’s where we heard about Tom Hanks and the NBA shutdown, and well, you know the rest of the story.

Perhaps if I had been sitting on the couch when all of this went down I might be taking the one year anniversary less hard. That event was such a memorable gathering and the rapid shutdown thereafter is something I’ve thought about almost daily; heck, I wrote a whole essay about this for Exotica Moderne magazine a few months ago.

Mrs. Mai Tai is getting her second vaccination tomorrow and hopefully our sons and I can get vaccinated soon as well. That will make us feel safe for private gatherings of vaccinated people, and is a step to getting transmission rates so far down that we’ll feel safe doing indoor dining again.

Someday we’ll be able to do this again.