Tag: SanDiego

Posted on

Improved Mai Tai at San Diego’s Bali Hai

As we left San Diego for the airport we swung by Shelter Island to have an early dinner at Bali Hai. The place was quite full at opening on the Sunday, perhaps due to an earlier private event that kept some revelers in the bar.

Our dinner was pretty great, including the Ali’i Tasting platter that included coconut shrimp, tuna poke, spinach lumpia, beef skewers, and firecracker ribs. Everything on here was really good, including the ribs which aren’t always my thing. We also shared the Honey Cashew Shrimp that was expertly prepared and was totally savory.

We’ve discussed the Bali Hai’s infamous “no juice added” Mai Tai in the past, a rum-forward cocktail with 5 oz of rum! I had asked for a Mai Tai with Appleton 12, but was told they don’t make spirits substitutions on the Mai Tai. Instead, I tried the new to us Cutwater Spirits Mai Tai, the same recipe but using local favorites Cutwater Bali Hai Dark Rum and Cutwater Three Sheets White Rum. I haven’t tasted a lot of Cutwater rums neat, but I would say the final product is worth the up-charge as I found this Mai Tai to taste much more balanced than the standard issue. Still very booze-forward, though; warning, limit two per person.

Waterfront views

Bali Hai sold their 3 millionth Mai Tai a couple months ago and they seem to still be going strong. We love the views of the harbor and the Polynesian decor inside.

Ali’i Tasting platter
Posted on

San Diego’s Mothership is a Tiki Bar Turned Sci-Fi

We missed Mothership on our last trip to San Diego so we made sure to snag a reservation when their 30 day window opened. This immersive bar draws from Science Fiction and presents the concept of a crashed space ship on an alien planet. The concept is the space counterpart to “crashed ship” tiki bars: a little bit of metal and glass, plus a little bit of rocks and strange alien plants. All with haunting and electronic music as the background.

None of that immersion would be worth the hype without good food and drink options. Mothership has a few small bites, including some soft-serve ice cream options. Each has an interesting flavor twist, such as Ube, which we thought help reinforce the concept of exotic flavors. There’s also a nice selection of non-alcoholic cocktails.

Heliotropic and Homing Beacon Cocktails

On the cocktail menu, everything is space themed and there is a booziness scale. So, the Saturn is represented in classic form as a lighter option. The Mindkiller takes obvious nods from a Painkiller but includes Tangerine, Amaro, and a Tang cordial. The Heliotropic is the very good Mai Tai riff, including tangy Kumquat, Piloncillo Orgeat, and Mole bitters. We really liked the cocktails here, but our favorite was Star Raider with rums, Crème de Cassis, Crème de Banana, Cynar, and a raspberry grenadine. So fruity with complex flavors.

Reservations are nearly essential for Mothership, though there’s a standing room area across from the bar that might allow for last minute entry. Our service was super friendly and efficient at providing multiple rounds during our 90 minute reservation. They even offered to split the check three ways for our part of five. The outside of Mothership looks like yet another Mission Style building but inside there’s so much more.

Star Raider
Posted on

Frozen Mai Tai at Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar

The bad thing about the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai is that you sometimes have to take one of the team and try a cocktail that isn’t the best. Sometimes they’re the very worst. But sometimes these expected bad Mai Tais aren’t bad at all, in fact they’re great.

Such was the case at the Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar at the Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego. This bar and restaurant is attached outside to the Tommy Bahama clothing store and the mall is right behind the hotel where we’re staying for Tiki Oasis. “Why not, I’m on vacation” was the concept for ordering the Frozen Mai Tai and this cocktail was a total delight. Really good flavors that actually resembled a Mai Tai along with plenty of Trader Vic’s Dark rum meant this was plenty boozy and totally satisfying.

For lunch I did the Poke Bowl and this too was quite good with plenty of ingredients and complex but approachable flavors. The lunch was so good we made a second visit on the trip and found the results to just as great.

I didn’t have “Top 20 Mai Tai of the year” on my bingo card, but the Tommy Bahama Frozen Mai Tai is now in the running.

Posted on

Ixtahuele at Tiki Oasis

My biggest regret from not attending past Tiki Oasis events was missing great musical performances from artist I am following. So it was a dream come true to see Sweden’s Ixtahuele perform last night.

Promoting their excellent new exotica album Pathways to Paradise, the band played a tight hour plus set including a couple of appearances by Crazy Al Evans and Medusirena the Fire eating Mermaid.

I went over to the merch table afterwards and both Johan and Mattias recognized me, calling out “Mr Ultimate Mai Tai.” Unbelievable. The band was kind enough to autograph the album and pose for a photo.

Crazy Al on Birdcalls
Medusirena the Fire Eating Mermaid
Posted on

Bali Hai Sells 3 Millionth Mai Tai (with Recipe)

Congrats to San Diego’s Bali Hai Restaurant, a longtime institution located on scenic Shelter Island. The venue’s infamous Mai Tai is known to be extraordinarily potent, advertised as not being made with any juice. It’s basically rum in a glass with little splashes of traditional Mai Tai ingredients.

The 3 millionth Mai Tai was recently sold at Bali Hai, which has a ticker inside the restaurant showing how many they’ve sold. Quite a milestone for such a noteworthy entrant in the lore of the Mai Tai.

People often ask how this is made, so we present the recipe that tastes like the real thing.

Bali Hai Mai Tai
½ oz Sweet and Sour Mix (or ¼ oz Lemon Juice and ¼ oz Simple Syrup)
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Triple Sec
2½ oz Cruzan Light Rum
2½ oz Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum
Shake with ice