We sucked at Risky Quizness’Friends and Office trivia, but finished in the top 5 for Disney Parks and Anchorman trivia – but a win eluded us until this week for Indiana Jones Trivia.
We enjoy the Monday trivia events at Dr. Funk and it was a pretty full house for this week’s event too. Our son Quinn picked the team name “The Boulder” and son Riley did most of the heavy lifting for the 40 questions covering all five Indiana Jones movies. It was a come from behind victory, thanks in part to better knowledge of the Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny films (my favorite: Last Crusade). Time to put the winning artifacts in a museum!
Monday is also $8 Mai Tai Monday at Dr. Funk and this week’s entry was pretty much perfect, vaulting it up several spots on our running Top Mai Tais of 2025 list. Still the greatest value Mai Tai you can buy on a regular basis.
We had a great time a couple weeks ago on back to back visits to Dr. Funk, first to check out the Monday trivia event which was the movie Anchorman. In a past life I used to have a podcast and blog about the Frat Pack so this was a seminal movie and one of my favorites. We finished second but I won the raffle for a bottle of Scotch (yes, you can say it… “I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly…”). This one was more sparsely attended than past events but lucky for us since it was the last night of the old Dr. Funk cocktail menu they were running specials on some of the drinks that were being dropped.
Jungle Bird
Dr. Funk’s new cocktail menu launched the next night, so we brought the family to give the drinks a try. I was especially interested in trying the revised Jungle Bird that dropped Cruzan Black Strap and is now using Worthy Park Select from Jamaica and so much better. The other new cocktails were well-received by the family including the Boozy Beachbum, Thai Chi, Espresso Oasis, and Myers’s Storm. The Lychee Luau was a little less sweet than when I sampled it during a preview, but it is still one that I recommend. And if you are looking for a Dr. Funk swizzle, you’ll have a hard time missing one.
During my visits I did take advantage of Tuesday’s all-day Happy Hour pricing to have the Mai Tai for only $12, plus a Hamilton White Stache Daiquiri off the Rum Asylum checklist. The DJ for this particular Tiki Tuesday was DJ Ship Rex who always provides an energetic set of vintage tunes.
We missed the first quarterly meeting that took place shortly after the Rum Asylum rum club launched at Dr. Funk in the winter but we didn’t want to miss out at the recent meetup that featured Appleton and Wray & Nephew rum.
The event featured some literature about the rum expressions plus some guided tastings from a Campari rep who also answered questions about the production process in Jamaica and history of the brands. There was also a fantastic cocktail special using Appleton 8 called Tikitastic that comes from local rum legend Mark Holt who was attendance. Plus plenty of Appleton and Wray & Nephew swag for the well-attended event.
The event also included a couple who finished Level 1 and took the Rum-o-cratic Oath, plus details about the rewards for level 2 (a pith helmet inspired by Dr. Funk himself) and the hints of a limited edition mug made by a well-known local artist for completing level 3.
Tikitastic
The next Rum Asylum meetup is Sunday, September 21st at 3:30 pm – don’t miss it.
After all the rum lists I’ve completed over the years I have to applaud my wife Julie for giving the rum list thing a shot with the Level I of the Rum Asylum list at Dr. Funk. This curated list of twenty mainstream rums covers a variety of styles and countries of origin and is a fantastic introduction to rum. Even better for folks like Julie who aren’t used to drinking spirits neat, Dr. Funk allows participants try to the rums in Daiquiri format. Pusser’s was the last rum and Julie said the Xaymaca Daiquiri was her favorite.
After completing the list, Justin walked her through the materials for Level II, she took a little rum pledge, received her completion pin, and then got to ring the bell. A soon-to-be bride sitting nearby was so inspired by the ceremony that she jumped up and threw a flower lei over Julie’s head. Ringing the bell *and* getting lei’d, it was quite a night.
Dr. Funk is hosting a Rum Asylum meetup on June 22, which Julie will be attending. I’m not sure how far she’ll get on the level II, but completing the first level is still a great accomplishment. Congrats.
Two visits this week to San Jose’s leading tiki bar, first for trivia night on Monday and then on Traditional Tiki Tuesday for a guest DJ set at Dr. Funk.
Risky Quizness brought their trivia set up on Monday once again, coinciding nicely with Mai Tai Monday where Dr. Funk’s excellent Mai Tai is only $8. The theme this time was Disneyland, a topic close to our hearts. We’d done pretty terribly at Office and Friends trivia, but this time with our sons in tow we did a team up effort and “The Rebel Spies” came in 4th place overall, not too shabby.
Traditional Tiki Tuesday features a rotating set of DJs who play records from 7-11 pm, plus all day Happy Hour which means that the Mai Tai is only $12 (plus, you know, some other cocktails). The “5th Tuesday” DJ this year is Doc Parks, yes the Doc Parks of bartending and tiki bar fame – who used to be a professional DJ before he moved in the hospitality industry. We dug Parks’ set, including a couple songs from Las Vegas surf band The New Waves.
DJ Doc Parks
Our food and drinks this week were pretty much perfect, and Mrs. Mai Tai is now just one rum from finishing Level 1 of the Rum Asylum rum list.
Owned by the same restaurant group as Dr. Funk, The Pressroom is located around the corner from San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose and serves elevated California cuisine. The venue spans two buildings at the corner of Santa Clara and N. Almaden Ave, drawing inspiration as being the location for The Mercury News starting at turn of the 20th Century. A main bar is located in the portion of the restaurant adjacent to Almaden featuring greenery and large open windows. A separate dining space called the Editors Room is also available for private parties and the wood-lined Bar Mercury is a bar within a bar.
The bar team from Dr. Funk developed the cocktail menu featuring some newspaper-inspired riffs on classic cocktails. We absolutely loved the New York Sour riff called City Beat that takes inspiration from the Eastern Sour by adding orange oleo saccharum to the Whiskey Sour template and featuring a rich pinot noir float. The Byline Fizz also features wine with a delightful blend of strawberry-infused tequila, lemon, honey, and a sparkling wine float. We thought the cocktails were really great and priced in line with other downtown San Jose venues. All cocktails are half priced during Happy Hour, 3-5 pm weekdays.
City Beat and Byline Fizz
We enjoyed our dinner early on Friday, featuring fresh and inspired ingredients. I loved the Thai Steak Salad including the fresh and toasted coconut, while Mrs. Mai Tai loved the Lemon Ricotta Agnolotti topped with parmesan cream. The menu has some vegan dishes, but leans into some beef and steak options – though we’d have liked to see more appetizers to choose from. The Pressroom is also open for lunch including sandwich options with their brunch featuring a fun tabloid-style menu. We did find the venue and music to be fairly loud and very bass-heavy even during a relatively slow portion of service.
The Pressroom is a great addition to downtown San Jose’s restaurant scene, combining visual and cultural nods to the past with a menu that propels diners into the future.
Popped into Dr. Funk to drink some rum from the Rum Asylum Level II list, a curated list of 60+ rums from the doctor’s collection.
Mrs Mai Tai is still working level I and she had a Wray & Nephew Overproof rum as a Daiquiri, so I did a little compare and contrast by having The Funk has a daiquiri, a similar unaged Jamaican rum that is a little less boozy (“only 100 proof”) and quite lovely in that format.
Then I tried a delicious AK Zanj 10 year rum from Haiti, made from sugar cane juice. Very approachable and full flavored.
