Excellent rum old fashioned from The Kon-Tiki, featuring Denizen Vatted Dark Rum, house Falernum, and bitters.
Perfect for patio cocktails in downtown Oakland.
Saturn from Kon-Tiki
As the cocktail menu at Oakland’s The Kon-Tiki evolves to feature new frozen cocktails, warm holiday drinks, and cocktails that lean into some non-tiki styles, there has been the addition of some classic tiki cocktails to the menu as well. This includes some old favorites such as the Jet Pilot and the Jungle Bird. Today we’re sampling their Saturn.
The Saturn is a Gin-based cocktail with Lemon Juice, Passionfruit syrup, Orgeat, and Falernum. The Kon-Tiki’s version is quite good and presented pretty much to the standard recipe. When I make it at home I do add more Orgeat, but the Kon-Tiki version was still quite good. I did feel that shaking the drink with crushed ice and then straining into a Coupe glass with a wide stainer did allow for small ice crystals enhanced the drink’s experience. Delightful.
Frozen Grasshopper and Kon-Tiki Burger
I usually don’t feel too much guilt calling myself a cocktail snob at this point, which means that I have fairly high standards for how I taste and rate cocktails. In this respect, I haven’t done a lot of exploring of the drinks made famous during the “cocktail wasteland” of the 1970s and 1980s. As such, I’ve never head a Grasshopper before.
Enter The Kon-Tiki’s new Frozen Grasshopper, another cocktail that leans a bit more into classic cocktail territory than classic tiki/topical cocktails. Well, the Grasshopper is served frozen and this is simply delightful. Another hit from Oakland’s Kon-Tiki, the Tiki Bar that leaned so far into 1970s Yacht Rock that they had a whole section on their cocktail menu to drinks named after Yacht Rock songs. Pair this with their signature coconut-forward Uma Uma and you’ve got a couple amazing frozen cocktails.
The Grasshopper is paired with the amazing Kon-Tiki Burger, still the only cheeseburger that Mrs. Mai Tai will eat regularly. And even with a longer-than-normal travel time back home the burger and fries were still quite ready to be devoured by the entire household.
Last note, Mrs. Mai Tai had the Kon-Tiki’s new Spiced Rum Toddy, a warm cocktail with three rums, tawny port, lemon, honey, allspice, and clove spices. She loved it, and it fits right in to the holiday season. Be sure to check it out if you’re dining on Kon-Tiki’s heated patio that now includes music.
Hula’s Island Grill, Monterey
Mrs Mai Tai and I had a great lunch at Hula’s Island Grill in their newly expanded back patio. We have enjoyed our visits to the Hula’s locations here in Monterey but also in Santa Cruz and at the Hula’s Modern in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
The back patio has a nice tropical vibe and I enjoyed my Trader Vic’s fish sandwich while Julie loved her Tofu Jungle Bowl. Service was very friendly and super efficient.
Cocktails at Hula’s can be hit or miss but I really enjoyed my Pele’s Punch (first picture). This normally comes with Firewater Bitters and since they are VERY spicy I asked for Angostura Bitters instead. It was a delicious punch with some great Blood Orange flavors. Mrs Mai Tai had her requisite Pink Bikini Martini and loved it as always.
Hulas has two cocktail sections and it is nice to see them trying to elevate the cocktails with their Premium Cocktails menu. For our second round Julie had the POG Punch, which she liked okay and which I thought was pretty good. More tart than sweet but overall quality was right up there. I also tried the Reverend Stiggins, a Mojito riff using the Plantation Fancy Stiggins Pineapple Rum. When I was here a couple years ago I thought there was too much mint. This time it was balanced quite well. The soda adds a lightness that made this cocktail super refreshing.
We had a great time at Hula’s.
This was tiki bar number 15 for me in 2020. Compare to 2018 when tiki bar 15 was April 21, and last year when tiki bar 15 was March 21. This year has really sucked for visiting tiki bars.
Cocktails at the Jungle Bird
Mrs Mai Tai was a good sport indulging me for Saturday’s four-Mai Tai day in Tahoe-Reno, but the weekend was capped with some fine cocktails on the way home at Sacramento’s Jungle Bird tiki bar.
Our cocktails were on point, starting with a great Saturn. Jungle Bird serves this with crushed ice, which is a good option for this cocktail. I also had their Mai Tai, which is good and only $10 even with the very good Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum. Mrs Mai Tai had her favorite, the Lava Flow, which always looks pretty at the Jungle Bird. The cocktails here are quite good and the staff does a great job working with the guests (me: “heavier orgeat”). So nice to have the cocktails freshly prepared too.
COVID Accommodations at Jungle Bird
Sunday’s travels from Reno down to Sacramento was pleasant, and we visited Sacramento’s best antique mall – Midway Antique Mall. This places has some great midcentury displays and we always find great stuff there. I picked up a great vintage Aloha Shirt from Hawaii.
We stopped at The Jungle Bird for a cocktail and some food before the final trek home. The outside seating out front is nice and we really liked the updated back patio. Plenty of outdoor space for cocktails and tables of various sizes.
Our food at Jungle Bird was good, but as always seems a bit hit or miss. The Crab Rangoon and Coconut Shrimp were pretty good, but the Pork Belly Sliders were pretty tough. Mrs Mai Tai liked her Chicken Katsu.
Service during our visit was excellent, and we felt welcomed and safely accommodated. We’re looking forward to returning after Thanksgiving to see how the decorations and cocktails for Sippin Santa turn out.
Tiki in Oakland / Not My Presidente
I had short but fun visit saying hello to some of the Oakhana regulars at The Kon-Tiki last night. It was so cool, Neil even brought a little record player to play some vintage LPs. So nice to see some of the regulars, plus an active Wednesday night crowd at The Kon-Tiki. I also finally got to try one of 2020’s seminal cocktails, Best Fronds (tropical Negroni) and to check out the newly expanded outdoor patio.
There are now ten big outdoor booths, plus a few 2-top tables for “in person” dining and cocktailing at Kon-Tiki. Check the number on your table, include that with your online order, and then they bring out your drinks and food. Hopefully some roofing to come soon for rainy season.
It’s a pretty good setup and the drinks came out fast. I enjoyed the Best Fronds, with Pineapple Rum, Sweet Vermouth, Campari, and Mole Bitters. I’m not still not a Campari lover but I did like this. Definitely a nice change of pace from the usual tropical cocktail merriment. Good job Chris Day and nice to see Kon-Tiki crew.
Not My Presidente
This cocktail was part of this past weekend’s @bartenders4change celebration. Lots of great content going into the @thekontikioakland Instagram feed, plus some topical interviews. @samson_miller did a great job with the content and interviews, and I learned a lot. And credit to The Kon-Tiki for providing the platform.
This cocktail was still on the menu last night, and getting ready for the debate I’d be lying if the name of this cocktail didn’t strike a chord.
Not My Presidente: American Gin, Overproof Rum, Manzanilla Sherry, Hibiscus Grenadine, and Pufferfish Bitters. Definitely in the classic cocktail style, and boy was this plenty boozy. Just enough to forget my troubles for a few hours. And tasted fine after a day in my fridge.
The Kon-Tiki has a nice setup for online order, to-go orders, delivery, and now an opportunity for in-place outdoor consumption. I shall return.
