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.
Pleased to say that the Dr. Funk Mai Tai is still excellent. We can’t get enough of this flavorful Mai Tai that features two of our favorite Jamaican rums: Appleton 12 and Smith & Cross. The house-made Orgeat is quite excellent as well.
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.
Now that San Jose finally has a legit tiki bar, …actually, scratch that. Now that San Jose finally has an amazing tiki bar, some of the locals are deciding to get together on a regular basis.
Working out of the “South SF Bay Area Tiki Ohana” Facebook group, local tikiphile and all-around mensch Michel von Schiltach decided to get the ball rolling. Michel lives within walking distance and helped with some of the build-out, so is the perfect ambassador for these meetups.
As of now the schedule is, starting at opening at 4 pm and lasting as long as it lasts: 1st Sunday of the month 3rd Wednesday of the month
Last night was the third Wednesday, and I arrived a little late around 7 pm. So nice to see a few friendly faces interspersed with San Jose locals doing the tiki thing midweek. With Dr. Funk’s central location and convenient parking garage across the street, I’ll definitely be returning more frequently.
Dr. Funk is now serving food, and from what I’ve been told the portions are quite large for the price, and everyone seems to enjoy the meal. There was some discussion about Dr. Funk possibly being an all-ages place once food was starting to be served, but the decision is that it was stay as 21 and over. Dr. Funk is also now offering reservations, so be sure to make one if you’re coming with a larger group.
Working my way through the cocktail menu at Dr. Funk. The Planter’s Punch was recommended by bartender Paul McCoun who knows I love the Appleton 12 rum that’s used in Funk’s Planter’s Punch.
And the Planter’s Punch keeps up the winning streak of amazing cocktails at Dr. Funk. So flavorful!
I also see they’ve added a logo sign above the entrance to Dr. Funk. This place has really come a long way and for anyone close to San Jose the dream is here to stay.
Each year we celebrate the 10 best Mai Tais that we had the pleasure of tasting in the last 12 months.
Number 3: Dr. Funk (San Jose, CA)
San Jose finally got the world-class tiki bar that it deserves as being America’s 10th most populous city. Located downtown at San Pedro Square, the cocktail program at Dr. Funk has been high-quality right from launch. This includes the Mai Tai which is made with Appleton 12 and Smith & Cross rums from Jamaica. The team told me they tried Martinique rhum but liked this all-Jamaican blend the best. And I’m totally on-board with “Team Jamaican Rum” myself.
The Dr. Funk Mai Tai is great and we even added it to our list of Top 5 Mai Tais at any location.
Sunday’s second visit to San Jose’s newest and best tiki bar was another great time. Some Forbidden Island regulars made plans to visit at opening and so we got to experience the bar again with veterans of the tiki bar experience. There were plenty of non-tiki people there, too, so it seems like everyone in San Jose has gotten the memo that Dr. Funk is a big hit.
In addition to the Mai Tai, I tried the original cocktail Sunken Galleon. Ginger isn’t always my favorite flavor, so I asked Ken Wongdejanan about it and he said it was not overpowering. This cocktail featuring Cognac, Jamaican rum, sugar, ginger, and chocolate bitters was quite delightful, and with just a hint of ginger just like I like it. Ken said it took a while to get this cocktail balanced right, so I applaud the effort to develop and lock in such as great tasting drink.
While the bar has been very busy, I have found several bartenders willing to engage in short conversations while mixing or in between orders, often suggesting new cocktails to try. This is a good sign from a hospitality standpoint.
Many of the great bars and restaurants feature a “figurehead” who serves as the master of ceremonies for the venue. Typically this is the owner or the general manager, but at Dr. Funk this role seems to be filled currently by Notch Gonzalez who led the buildout and design. Notch was everywhere on Sunday, talking to basically everyone in the bar and making everyone feel welcome. I don’t know how sustainable this is for the bar (or for Notch himself), but the man deserves a victory lap after helping to launch the bar with such a cool and immersive experience. We also saw some photos of the Dr. Funk logo sign that will hang above the front entrance.
The cocktails and service and vibe at Dr. Funk continue to remain strong, and we can’t wait to return.
