New Luck Toy: West Seattle Immersive Chinese Bar

New Luck Toy is a 21+ Chinese restaurant and bar in West Seattle that isn’t really tiki aside from a couple stools, but does provide excellent cocktails and an immersive space that will appeal to fans of the genre. There’s a main dining room, a back room with the bar, plus a small karaoke lounge / waiting room near the main entrance. There’s also a really nice dragon mural on the back side of the building, too.

Tiki with Ray recommended this venue and once again he chose wisely as the place was busy on a Friday but we were able to find seats at the bar without difficulty. The configuration of seating is chairs on a raised platform, so you sit normally rather than the typical raised barstool arrangement. Our bartender was helpful at walking us through some of the menu items, and made a custom non-alcoholic drink for Ray, with the Chinese menu arrangement showing which ones are frozen and on tap. Several cocktails are served in tiki mugs and prices are very reasonable, around $13 or $14, and there are some beer and wine options including four beers on tap.

I was interested in both the Mai Tai and the frozen Singapore Sling and broke the tie by getting both. The Singapore Sling comes in a fish mug that is nice on the eyes and in the hand, with a very good cherry flavor that I found balanced and tasty. The Mai Tai is on tap and I had low expectations, expecting pineapple juice, but found this be a really good 1944 style Mai Tai. Though served in a large glass, the Mai Tai didn’t taste watered down at all, and there’s plenty of booze in there too.

Hanging out with Tiki with Ray

The vibe inside New Luck Toy was a delight with hanging lanterns and a shelf of tiki style mugs backing the bar. I heard good things about the Chinese-American food and definitely would consider returning in the future.

Winter Cocktails at Alameda’s Forbidden Island

We had a great time at the annual Tiki Mug Swap at Forbidden Island this week. You bring a wrapped tiki mug and then draw from the pile and get a new mug that someone else brought. This year I got a vintage Hawaiian mug, Mrs Mai Tai came away with a cobra mug, and our friend David got an alternative Suffering Bastard. No horse-trading afterwards this year, we were happy with what we got.

While I drank some rums from FI’s Kill Devil Club list, Mrs Mai Tai had a couple drinks from the holiday cocktail menu. I thought the Tropical Cider was really great and I loved the herbal elements in the Nog Your Socks Off. The Hot Buttered Rum is always good here too, so check these out while you can.

Pau Hana Studio: Holiday Open Studio

Sunday afternoon’s drive up to the Oakland Hills was so pleasant but paled at the festive time at Pau Hana Studio‘s Holiday Open Studio. The event showcased the activities at the studio, focusing on Woody Miller’s ceramics, lamps, and other art that’s featured in tiki bars far and wide. Additionally, there was a mini marketplace with artist in residence Laura Head, Joe Kent’s alohaware, and some really great sweet treats from Bristlecone Bakery. Lively festive music from DJ Danny Santos set the mood, plus some drinks and treats for those visiting.

Laura Miller and Woody Miller from Pau Hana Studio

Pau Hana Studio has been running craft classes for the last couple years and announced a series of new ones for the 1st quarter of 2026. Iconic Tiki Mugs returns, allowing attendees to see the full production process for a tiki mug and to glaze one to their liking. The popular Black Velvet Painting, Lamp Building, and Carving Tiki Bar Signs classes are also returning. One new class that I’ve already signed up for is Knot-Tying for Glass Floats, taught by Kristin Moore of Fore and Aft Oar Designs. You can check out all the class details on Pau Hana’s website.

Woody also showed off some mugs connected to new tiki bar projects that look amazing, plus the recently released collaboration with Smuggler’s Cove and a wall of his greatest hits. He was also kind enough to sign a few Kon-Tiki Oakland items I’ve collected over the years.

Tiki Lounge Lights Save the Day, er, Night

PG&E has been working in our neighborhood for weeks but Wednesday had two scheduled power outages that were part of the maintenance. The one in the morning came right on time but the one at 4:00 never happened and we thought we might have been able to skip it until the lights went out past 8:00 pm when it was already quite dark.

Luckily, our new Tiki Lounge Light with the Moai mug was within easy reach and uses a rechargeable battery for power. Totally saved us from huddling in darkness as the power went off and on and off and on and off and finally on.

We’ve purchased several pieces from Tiki Lounge Lights and Greg even worked with us on a custom order using our favorite tiki mugs a few years back, so check them out when they’re vending at events or reach out on Instagram.

Strong Water Anaheim is Orange County’s Preeminent Tiki Bar

We had another amazing visit to Strong Water Anaheim, coasting on Nav’s reservation for a totally relaxing Sunday evening over superior cocktails. While reservations are especially important here and can limit spontaneity, it is nice to be able to get them and plan your day around the time. Mrs. Mai Tai and I arrived a bit early and had dinner at the Packing District Food Hall, a short walk away.

After overindulging the previous night I stuck to one cocktail, so I made sure it counted by having Strong Water’s excellent Mai Tai – rich and nutty with some flavorful but approachable rum. It is one of the best Mai Tais of the year so far, once again. Mrs. Mai Tai’s Pearl Diver was also top-notch.

This was the first visit for Nav and Alissa, and the crew made a great impression by being so responsive to food and additional drink orders. We hardly had to wait when the mood struck, but at the same time we were never pestered, a delicate balance. Alissa was impressed by the merch for sale and went home with a mug and the staff took care to fulfill the order. Music was relaxing exotica and vintage music, totally appropriate and setting the mood for great conversation.

Strong Water’s commitment to high quality never seems to waver, making it one of the best examples of the genre. But as with the best tiki bars where quality is a concern, there’s never any snobby attitude from the staff who know you are there to have a great time. And that’s how it went for us, once again.