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Eleven Twenty Two Speakeasy in Paso Robles

Even though Paso Robles is a wine town, there are some great cocktail options including the speakeasy Eleven Twenty Two Cocktail Lounge, located behind the rear patio of Pappy McGregor’s Pub. Entrance is on Railroad Street, with a convenient alley next to Pappy’s being a convenient cut-through. This small classic cocktail bar doesn’t take reservations, so we joined the line hoping to get in.

There are no cell phones allowed to be used inside, and once you step through front door into a library style foyer they drop the phone into a bag that you keep with you. Next, you enter the space and are seated at the bar or one of the cozy booths. Inside there are many bottles of whiskey in all forms, with just a few other spirits, so this is a great option for bourbon and scotch fans. Music was jazzy including a number of tunes from Nouvelle Vague, a French group that does Bossa Nova versions of New Wave tunes.

There’s a non-alcoholic Orange Julius on the menu, available optionally with spirit added. We opted for the straight version and while it was reminiscent of the real thing it wasn’t nearly cold or sweet enough.

For our two cocktails we were both completely blown away at the flavors and complexity on display from very different formats. I had the Strawberry Coconut Daiquiri that exploded with flavor even from a tiny sip. Not too much strawberry or coconut, but just enough to elevate this perfectly balanced cocktail.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai had the Clarified Grasshopper with vodka, menthe pastille, creme de cacao, Coco Puff cereal milk, and ringed with a Chocolate Dipped Rim. This too had so many layers and the chocolate rim provided a long finish as well. I’m not always a fan of clarified cocktails but this would get me to switch teams, it was just that good. Mrs. Mai Tai was inspired and drew a photo since we couldn’t take photos.

The service inside was serious but with the requisite wink and nod to provide the indication to the customer that they are supposed to be here for a good time. Eleven Twenty Two is a must visit if you’re in the area and a perfect nightcap if you’re in town for the Cane Tiki Room like we were.

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Honest Review of The Cane Tiki Room

Most of the things posted to this feed aren’t reviews per se, but trip reports of my experience. There’s certainly some overlap in material but a review to me adds editorial content that is usually not present in my posts.

Mrs. Mai Tai and I stopped overnight in Paso Robles and had a later dinner at Cane Tiki Room which we visited once before. We enjoy the clean but well-done Polynesian decor, and the staff was just as friendly as last time and worked with us when we arrived early for our reservation. Music on a Friday night was upbeat and funky, 1970s-leaning and anything retro is fine with me. I didn’t love the spam musubi which was a bit overdone and covered with sauce, but the dumplings, teriyaki chicken bowl, and lettuce cups were wonderful.

On our last visit I liked most of the cocktails except the Mai Tai which used a funny tasting mac nut orgeat. They’ve since reformulated with traditional orgeat but are now using Planteray Original Dark as the base rum, with an optional float of Goslings. Original Dark is not a strongly flavored rum and contains a lot of sugar, so the Mai Tai was not a punchy as I think it ought to be – and Goslings wouldn’t have helped as it too is not a strong flavor. With a Mai Tai you want to taste the rum and it really ought to be more rum forward.

I also tried a Chartreuse Swizzle that was much better with some tangy pineapple juice working well with the herbal liqueur. Mrs. Mai Tai had the Lapu Lapu, a juicy but well-balanced cocktail that is served in a cute pig mug (none for sale at the time, though). These two good cocktails were well-executed.

We also visited Eleven Twenty Two, a speakeasy owned by the same restaurant group, and were completely blown away by the drinks. While this serves a more cocktail-oriented clientele, the price of the drinks were comparable. So, we know the group can make better cocktails and while we understand the people coming to a tiki restaurant are different than a speakeasy we do think Cane Tiki Room should be doing better with the cocktails and especially the Mai Tai. Use a punchier rum, please, even if you have to bump the price up from $14.

Having some great cocktail options in a town known for wine tourism isn’t too shabby, and with the friendly staff and full menu Cane Tiki Room is a great option for more than just a quick stop for tropical drinks.

Dumplings
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National Saturn Cocktail Day

Do we need another official/unofficial cocktail holiday? When it’s for the Saturn, the answer is yes!

The recognition is the brainchild of Derek from Make and Drink on YouTube, whose history of the Saturn video is incredible, insightful, and a full stop must see. Really, go watch it now.

This week Derek is following up with another video and promoting May 22 to be Saturn Day, in recognition of the day in 1967 when the cocktail’s creator J. “Popo” Galsini won the California Bartenders Guild competition and essentially introduced the Saturn to the world.

The Saturn is one of the last great cocktails from tiki’s golden area, using familiar ingredients such as orgeat, falernum, and passionfruit syrup and notably using gin as the base spirit. As Derek noted, Galsini was not a purist and said that using vodka or a light rum was perfectly reasonable. The cocktail was originally served to judges in an ungarnished coupe glass, and later to attendees in a whiskey sour glass with a cocktail cherry dropped into the bottom and garnished with an lemon wedge. Those fancy planet-style garnishes are a 21st century invention and are sort of incorrect because the cocktail was named after the Saturn rocket, not the planet.

Historically accurate Saturn cocktail garnish

Saturn
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup
¼ oz Falernum
¼ oz Orgeat
1¼ oz Dry Gin
Shake with ice and strain. Garnish as you please.

The rich flavors from some of tiki’s stalwart syrups blend together in harmony, with subtle juniper notes from the gin. This is a gin cocktail that even gin-haters love, and I’ve served this to reluctant guests to great effect.

Cheers to Popo on his creation, and cheers to Derek for keeping the flame going for a new generation.

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Kingston Negroni Redux

Been playing with some different Jamaican rums in a Kingston Negroni. The original version from New York bartender Joaquín Simó called or Smith & Cross, but I’ve been trying some other higher proof expressions including Hampden’s Overproof and a cask strength Worthy Park bottle, both to great effect.

Being an equal parts cocktail it is easy to make a larger version, which is what I did here. I didn’t have an orange peel to express but the result was still fab.

Kingston Negroni
1 part Campari
1 part Sweet Vermouth
1 part Jamaican rum
Stir with ice. Strain over large cube.

I’m finding that for me that going a little light on the Campari and a little heavier on the rum is the sweet spot for my flavor profile.

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Daywalker Relief at Pagan Idol

Popped into Pagan Idol on our way to the Go-Go’s show on Tuesday after dinner. I threw my back out on Monday but thankfully there was relief in the form of Pagan’s signature Zombie which is called the Daywalker. This longtime favorite was just what I needed and while I’m not a connoisseur of Zombies I did think it was really great.

Mrs. Mai Tai had the Banana Be’ with butterscotch, cinnamon, pineapple, and coconut which we both also really liked, creamy but not overly sweet and very well balanced. This was my third visit in the last couple months and have had great cocktails each time, so I probably should come more often to try some of the other menu items.

Service at Pagan Idol on a weeknight is a little bit of an unknown, since they only open the back room when warranted by the amount of guests in the venue. We like the front room and sat at a table by the fish tank, but it did get a little crowded when a couple large groups came in.

The Go-Go’s played very well over at the Warfield and sounded pretty good despite some mixing issues by the sound team. This is now the third or fourth tour we’ve been to since they announced they were retiring in 2010. LOL.

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Kaia’s Brings Tiki to the East Bay Suburbs

Located in downtown Danville, Kaia’s Island Kitchen & Tiki Bar recently opened serving Hawaiian inspired food and tropical cocktails in a family-friendly space filled with tiki decor. We found the food and drinks to be pretty good, along with friendly and fast service that made our stay very pleasant.

Having recently converted from a previous concept, there are still some growing pains for Kaia’s, including a website that’s under construction and no reservation method. Nonetheless, we drove up to Danville on a Saturday evening and were seated after about a 25 minute wait. The restaurant features plenty of bamboo features around the booths and tables, along with a separate bar area and nicely appointed lounge that is more dimly lit.

Our food order was delivered very quickly and I absolutely loved the tropical Cobb salad, with teriyaki chicken that was so delicious. Mrs. Mai Tai ordered the poke plate which included an elaborately carved avocado. Our server was friendly and very attentive, even with the restaurant running at capacity for the entirety of our visit. There is nice music playing though when it is really crowded you will have a hard time hearing it.

I’m pleased to report the cocktail menu includes legit classic tiki cocktails, including a Zombie, Planter’s Punch, and Navy Grog. The ’44 Mai Tai is pretty good and uses Appleton rum that is balanced and approachable for Kaia’s suburban audience. Mrs. Mai Tai’s Jet Pilot was also very good, as was our son’s Jungle Bird. Our other son had a Saturn that seemed to be a bit off balance, relying too much on gin in the mix.

Kaia’s is a legit tiki-inspired restaurant that seems to be doing many things right, including branded glassware, mugs, and apparel. We look forward to a wider variety of cocktails, as hinted on the menu.

Mai Tai
Jet Pilot
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Regression at Trad’r Sam

I wrote fairly glowingly about the refreshed interior at Trad’r Sam after their surprise and ultimately short-lived temporary shuttering in the fall of 2023. The world’s oldest continuously operating tiki bar was quickly back in business including a decor upgrades and graffiti-free restrooms.

After our wonderful dinner at Tommy’s Mexican we walked a couple blocks up Geary to see how the ol’ Trad’r was doing. There weren’t a lot of people in there just past six, and we settled at a table for conversation over drink. Greg and Debbie had been here before dinner so went with Cokes and Julie and I scanned the menu for some cocktails we’d like to try.

I had a great experience with a Singapore Sling on a past visit, and decided to skip the Mai Tai made with apricot brandy, sweet and sour, and pineapple juice (but at least it wasn’t blended like the Zombie and Navy Grog are). The Sling was, well it was fine – but really sweet. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai went with the Toasted Almond cocktail which is a frozen drink and thanks to being frozen tasted pretty great and not so sweet. Maybe a frozen Zombie isn’t a bad choice next time.

I’m sad to report the restroom has regressed. While the walls are white they’re now covered in graffiti that was pretty raunchy, expressing to customers that Trad’r Sam is still quite divey and likely will remain so forever. Nonetheless, I do enjoy my visits here to remind myself of the history that’s been in place for almost 90 years.