Tag: Honolulu

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Skull and Crown Trading Co. Mai Tais

We had the pleasure of visiting the best tiki bar between San Francisco and Tokyo twice during our visit. Skull and Crown is located in Honolulu’s Chinatown and is a treasure, such a welcoming and immersive space that transports you to historic Hawai’i. The vintage elements and decor helps you feel like the bar opened in 1920 and never closed.

There are three Mai Tais on the menu, so we had to sample all of them.

Dagger Mai Tai
Developed in conjunction with Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, this is a Mai Tai featuring some exotic spices and… well, that’s all we know. All the ingredients are redacted on the menu. Quite good.

‘Awa’Awa Mai Tai
Featuring KoHana Hawaiian Rum Agricole, Campari, Grand Mariner, Lime, Orgeat, and Lilikoi, this bitter Mai Tai is served flaming and is quite wonderful. The Campari for sure is the forward tasting note but this is still approachable even if Campari isn’t your thing.

Maunakea Mai Tai
Featuring Appleton 12, Clement Select Barrel, Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum, Dry Curacao, Lime, Orgeat, and Demerara Syrup. This was by far my favorite Mai Tai on the list, and obviously hews most closely to the classic 1944 Mai Tai recipe. It is so wonderful, a flavorful Mai Tai that allows you to savor the ingredients. Doesn’t make me sad that this leans into the Jamaican rums. I liked this Mai Tai in 2019, but love it this time. One of my Top 5 Mai Tais served anywhere. Really. This is truly excellent.

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Mai Tai’s at Ala Moana Center

The longtime Mai Tai Bar at the Ala Moana Shopping Center went through ownership changes and is now known as Mai Tai’s. It’s a shaded but open air restaurant and bar that frequently has live music. Among the things that haven’t changed are the hemlines of the tight dresses worn by the waitresses.

One item that’s changed is that the Mai Tai on the menu is a 1944, served with a dark rum float. It wasn’t great, though improved after mixing the float into the drink and after stirring to chill the cocktail. Nonetheless, this is a positive change in direction and it is still only $9. There’s also a Makai Tai that seems to be an Island Mai Tai made with Blue Curacao.

Our visit coincided with the start of the NBA Finals game, so the crowd was lively. Under typical circumstances this is a nice place to relax when your spouse is shopping.

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Deck

We have to thank Christa for the tip on Deck, a restaurant and bar located at the far end of Waikiki on the 3rd floor pool deck at the Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel. This was around the corner from Tiki’s and proved to be an elevated cocktail experience.

The Mai Tai is a ’44 made with three rums from local favorites KōHana. This superior Mai Tai allowed the rum blend to shine brightly and lets you savor the unique taste of these Hawaiian Agricole rums. Really great.

Mrs. Mai Tai ordered the R&R, which is a Gin cordial with raspberry and thyme, topped with soda. Quite interesting and refreshing. We also tried their Basque Cheesecake which was just right for desert, and quite good.

Our service at Deck was great, and we appreciate the host who sat us in quieter portion of the restaurant rather than at the bar where there was a lot of hooting and hollering. Quite a nice place to relax, and during daylight hours there’s a fabulous view of Diamond Head.

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Tiki’s Grill and Bar

We missed this family-style tiki restaurant on our last trip so we ventured over for dinner just past sunset. Tiki’s is a very large restaurant with a large interior space that is mostly closed for refurbishment, along with a very large patio. We were seated right away and enjoyed some live music playing and some second floor views of Waikiki beach. Our service was very good.

Our food was moderately priced and a good value for the quality and portion. Less kind things can be said about the “1944 Mai Tai” which is served with a heaping portion of passion fruit foam, along with tourist-friendly Cruzan Light rum and Bacardi Dark rum. Far too sweet, even without any pineapple or orange juice. A plus of sort is that you can keep the plastic glass.

The interior portion that is visible is very nicely decorated with a lava rock and red paint theme that I think looks great. Lots of Shag artwork and other nods to Hawaiian and tiki culture. So, not bad at all.

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Tipsy Tiki

This is the former Myna Bird Tiki Bar location in the food court at the International Marketplace. There was an ownership change for the food court and this bar was rebranded as being part of the La Pina Cantina next door. So I was surprised to see a new name here and also a new menu.

And, friends, I’m here to tell you that Tipsy Tiki is fantastic. Our bartender Lee told us his Mai Tai is made from fresh ingredients and while I’m no Island Mai Tai fanatic, this one was pretty great. One of the best I’ve ever had. Mahalo Lee!

Mrs Mai Tai had the Cool n Fresh with Tequila, lavender syrup, cucumber syrup, lime, and coconut water and it was really amazing. We will return to try more of the menu.

This venue may not scratch the itch for the hardcore tikiphile, but I’m always ready to welcome a new tiki place when the cocktails are outstanding. Check it out in Waikiki!

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Princess Mai Tai

We’re staying at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani and stopped by the Splash Bar for lunch. I enjoyed my beef skewers but felt the Mai Tai was just so-so.

Plenty of tikis on the grounds and we enjoy the central Waikiki location. At least we can see the ocean peeking over the Moana across the street.

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New Site Feature: Tiki Travels – Honolulu

We’ve added a new page to the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai website: Tiki Travels – Honolulu.

Most of our Tiki Travels pages will be exclusively focusing on Tiki Bars. However, since Hawaii is also a great Mai Tai destination, many of the places we visited weren’t tiki at all. Nonetheless we had some great Mai Tais, including our favorite on Waikiki at the Halekulani Hotel.

View the page:
Tiki Travels – Honolulu