Tag: SanJose

Posted on

Dr. Funk Navy Grog

Unlike the Mai Tai which has a well-established canonical recipe, the Navy Grog does not. There’s the Don the Beachcomber version. There’s the Trader Vic’s version. There are versions that blend key ingredients from both. And then there are places that do something different. This is the Dr. Funk Navy Grog.

Still a heavy cocktail with lots of grapefruit and rum, but it does not lean into the traditional ingredients such as honey or pimento dram. Instead, Dr. Funk introduces a different set of spices including Grapefruit Bitters. It is worth trying and you might even prefer this recipe.

Posted on

Dr. Funk March Matchiness Meetup

The South Bay Ohana meetups at Dr. Funk in downtown San Jose are currently the 1st Sunday and 3rd Wednesday of each month. This month the theme was March Matchiness, which gave Mrs. Mai Tai and I an excuse to wear this Witchdoctor matching set we bought a couple years ago and designed by Devon Deveraux.

We finally got to try the food at Dr. Funk and found it be pretty good. Service was great as always, even for us with a larger group and some people coming and going.

Come join us at the next meet-up on Sunday April 3.

Posted on

Sling of Davy Jones at Dr. Funk

I was pleased to try this Singapore Sling riff at Dr. Funk, which I found to be a wonderful blend of complex flavors. It is made with “wild roses, velvety honey, bright citrus, Cocchi Rosa aromatized sweet vermouth, Becherovka herbal bitters & gin.”

Ken Wongdejanan really crushed it on this one. The cocktail program at Dr. Funk continues to impress and seems to be extraordinarily strong across all cocktail styles.

Posted on

A Round of Mai Tais at Dr. Funk

Mai Tai Monday is from Dr. Funk, again. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to have the amazing Dr. Funk Mai Tai, but when a certain someone buys a round for the table in honor of birthday boy @vonschiltach, I’ll consider it a blessing. Mahalo!

Dr. Funk was quite busy on Saturday, as you’d expect on a weekend. But there was also a Sharks game and some temperate conditions, so the entire inside of the bar and the outside patio were all filled. There was even a private party all the way around the side the building. But, the staff at Dr. Funk were really working well and our service all evening was great and the cocktails were made perfectly. It was quite helpful that we had reservations (pro-tip!) and we also found the garage on 3rd street to be much easier to get into than the one we usually use on Market/San Pedro Square.

Posted on

Patron & Saints at Dr. Funk

It’s always nice when the drink menu provides guidance on the booziness of the cocktails. I was looking for something lower on the scale that I hadn’t tried yet at Dr. Funk and the Patron & Saints was recommended… or maybe prescribed. You know.

Patron & Saints is “a funky milk punch made with Jamaica’s Overproof Rum-Bar, Denizen, Southeast Asian pandan, rich Madagascar vanilla & citrus. Enjoy as a single serving or double serving.” Most definitely sweet and satisfying, heavy on vanilla and served over a big rock of ice.

Posted on

Off-Menu Saturn at Dr. Funk

You know that a bartender knows their stuff when don’t flinch when you order an off-menu cocktail. In this case, it was the ask for a Saturn at Dr. Funk in San Jose, and Paul McCoun  made a great one.

The Saturn is a late-classic era tiki cocktail with Gin, Orgeat, Falernum, Passionfruit Syrup, and Lemon Juice. Every tiki bar should have these ingredients and this is a well-known cocktail so it shouldn’t be an issue to order one, but sometimes you never know. I like Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai, so wanted to try a cocktail that also used Orgeat, and the Saturn is one of my favorites. The original specs called for the Saturn to be blended, but I find it is better when served up – and that’s exactly how Paul prepared it. Paul even made a cool planet-with-rings garnish.

Every cocktail I’ve had a Dr. Funk has been great, and I hear an updated cocktail menu is coming soon. Looking forward to see what else the medical staff come up with.