We returned to Trader Vic’s Emeryville to sample some of the vintage menu items that have returned for the summer. We previously tried the cocktails and this time we tried some of the food items, with wildly mixed results.
I absolutely loved the Bar Cheese with crackers, heavy on Blue Cheese but also with Cream Cheese, spices, and a hint of Horseradish. I love a funky cheese spread and it totally worked for me, though Mrs. Mai Tai thought it was too heavy on the Blue Cheese. I also really enjoyed the delightful Chicken Nibbles which are similar to Cheese Bings but feature minced Chicken and Shrimp, Cheddar, Sherry, and spices. These are fried to a crisp and not so heavy on the cheese.
Chicken Nibbles
When we visited a couple days earlier our server talked about the menu and how she didn’t care for the Bongo Bongo Soup with Oysters and Spinach. This is a pretty well-known vintage menu item, and Mrs Mai Tai usually likes soups. But neither of us cared for this soup that had a strong “fishy” taste.
It is great to see Trader Vic’s bringing these classic items back for a short time, even if they’re not all outstanding. Worth checking out while you can.
We once again salute Ken Holewczynski for putting together another fabulous issue of Exotica Moderne magazine. Issue 24 features our article on the history of the Mai Tai complete with a great page layout that’s a pleasure to read in print.
Trader Vic’s Emeryville has a special retro menu for the summer, including vintage cocktails and food from decades past. One cult classic is the Shingle Stain which is named due to its red color. Also notable is the paper drink topper first employed by Trader Vic’s in the 1960s (see menu from the Beverly Hills location below). I’m not a roofer by trade but I’m really not sure what to think of the illustration featuring a man with his behind hanging out and a woman on the other side who’s lost her bikini top. Times have changed.
Nevertheless, you can order this juicy cocktail today in Emeryville including the topper that you can take home as a souvenir. This was the second version of the cocktail, first published in Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide Revised and significantly different from the original published in Trader Vic’s Book of Food & Drink.
From the Beverly Hills Trader Vic’s menu, 1960s
Shingle Stain (1946) Half a Lime * 1 oz Dark Jamaica Rum (Red Heart or Myers’s) ½ oz St. James Rhum ¼ oz Pimento Dram Dash of Pomegranate Syrup (Grenadine) * Shake with cracked ice and pour over cracked ice in a 12 oz chimney glass * Vic said that the juice of one lime is equivalent to one ounce and “dash” of this style of ingredient equaled a quarter ounce.
The Pimento Dram and Grenadine provide a tart taste but pleasant taste not unlike Cranberry, which likely led to the second version of the cocktail.
1946 Shingle Stain at home
Shingle Stain (1972) Juice of one Lime 2 dash Angostura Bitters ¼ oz Grenadine 1½ oz Cranberry Juice ½ oz Pineapple Juice 2 oz Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum Shake with ice cubes and pour into a ten-pin pilsner glass. Decorate with fresh mint.
Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum was likely was a bold and pungent rum blend. Its use in the Shingle Stain tells me that you need that boldness to compete with all the juices and notably the strong flavors of Cranberry Juice. In Emeryville they use Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum. While I do like this rum in the Mai Tai it does get a little lost in the Shingle Stain with all the other ingredients. I’d recommend using an aged Jamaica rum for this cocktail.
Had sort of an impromptu visit to Trader Vic’s Emeryville on Thursday night to sample some of the cocktails from their special vintage food and cocktail menu that’s been on special this summer. We’ll cover the Shingle Stain in a separate post, but we enjoyed trying two other vintage items: the Potwasher and the Bamboo Punch.
The Potwasher was the signature cocktail for the short-lived 1979 spin-off restaurant Mama Gruber’s Fishhouse, and after closing was on the Señor Pico menu. The description says this contains Dark Rum and Sloe Gin, Pineapple, Spiked with Grog Mix. I thought the mouthfeel and balance of this cocktail was pretty good, and you’re getting a lot of rich flavor from the Vic’s Grog Mix. I wasn’t able to find the recipe but we do have a photo of the original signature mug.
Potwasher
The Bamboo Punch dates back to at least the 1960s and also appeared in the Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide Revised. This didn’t really have a ton of depth to me, and needed a little more sugar to balance the tart and bitter elements.
Bamboo Punch (1972) Juice of one Lime * 2 dash Peychaud’s Bitters ½ oz Passion Fruit Nectar 1 dash Trader Vic’s Rock Candy Syrup * 1 oz Trader Vic’s Puerto Rican Rum 1¼ oz Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum * Vic said that the juice of one lime is equivalent to one ounce. Vic later said that “dash” of this style of ingredient equalled a quarter ounce.
At the time of publication, the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum was a blend of 70% Jamaica rum, 20% Martinique, and 10% Virgin Island rum. It likely was a bold and pungent rum blend, designed for the Mai Tai. In Emeryville they’re using Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum. I’d recommend using an aged Jamaica rum for this cocktail to better balance against the light Puerto Rican rum.
Lava Haze and Bamboo Punch
The modern cocktails recently added to the cocktail menu at Vic’s address contemporary sensibilities for more assertive flavors, such as the smoked pineapple in Mrs. Mai Tai’s Lava Haze, and serve as a counterpart to these vintage drinks when customers liked things a little lighter.
Some things remain great at the Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport location, including the continued availability of To-Go Cocktails including the Original Mai Tai. That was a great way to kick off our travels to San Diego for Tiki Oasis. Staff here remain super friendly, though their ability to guess my cocktail choice might have had something to do with the shirt I was wearing and not clairvoyance.
Trader Vic’s Hospitality Group’s corporate site labels this location as a Trader Vic’s Outpost, same as the Oakland Airport location that continues to be confirmed as coming soon. These Outpost locations are intended for airports and lobbies, an obviously less immersive location that nonetheless offers travelers a great option to experience Trader Vic’s culinary and cocktail legacy; it’s a great marketing opportunity as well.
At San Jose, the restaurant and bar sits opposite a grab and go location that sells salads, canned drinks, and Trader Vic’s mugs and merch. In the past, the Trader Vic’s Canned Mai Tai was available here, but I confirmed that unfortunately the product is no longer being produced. A variety of beers and RTD cocktails are available here instead, notably not including a Mai Tai from On the Rocks or Cutwater for obvious reasons.
The Outpost Grab and Go location now includes some pretty nice looking bowls that are on-par with the restaurant across the way, plus some Salmon and Short Rib plates that look delicious. This is a big improvement in terms of the grab and go items.
Longtime Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl is best known outside Second City as the brainchild of the infamous Disco Demolition Night at a Chicago White Sox doubleheader in 1979. But in 1997 he recorded an album of Jimmy Buffett and Beach Boys inspired songs called Mai-Tai Roa Aé, with titles such as “Janet Don’t Go to Jamaica”, “Net Surfin’ U.S.A.”, and “Flying Over the Ocean.” The CD is available on the second-hand market and you can listen to the album on YouTube and music streaming services.
The title track is most notable, telling a historically accurate story about the creation and popularization of the Mai Tai cocktail. There are references to the original Wray & Nephew 17 year old rum, the Matson Line, and even a creative pronunciation of “ore-jay”. The album cover notably features portion of the longtime Trader Vic’s cocktail menu cover, likely used without permission. The song though is a bit more inspired with a pretty nice hook, and while nobody will confuse Dahl’s voice with one of the Wilson brothers, he does a fair job delivering the details. Interestingly, Dahl had issues with alcoholism and was sober for a couple years at the time of this album’s release.
Mai-Tai Roa Aé / music and lyrics by Steve Dahl Sitting at the service bar in Oakland Sometime back in 1944 The war was on, the empire was exploding Vic Bergeron was looking for something more
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend May that special feeling never end It’s paradise in a glass For a world that moves too fast Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
He summoned the bartender from the back room Had him bring the 17 year old rum The freshest fruits, the almond flavored orgeat From the finest things on Earth the drink had sprung
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend May that special feeling never end It’s paradise in a glass For a world that moves too fast Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
Traveled from the mainland to Hawaii On the steamships of the mighty Matson Line From Honolulu to the south beach of Miami The old man’s drink has stood the test of time
Mai Tai means the very best in Tahiti A gentle breeze, the beach, sunshine Any time the native are getting restless Trader Vic’s Mai Tai will do it every time
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend May that special feeling never end It’s paradise in a glass For a world that moves too fast Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
We had the pleasure of two trips to Trader Vic’s during our stay in Munich, once for dinner and then the following night at the bar.
Mai Tais at Trader Vic’s Munich
Unlike many Trader Vic’s locations, Munich does not purchase the Trader Vic’s syrups or rum for use in the cocktails. Thus, the finished result differs even when following a common recipe. We tried the Mai Tai twice and the Mai Tai variant Menehune Juice and found all to be good representations of these classic cocktails.
Mai Tai
The sour and sweet components were balanced in all of these, though the ingredients had an overall lighter mouthfeel than the cocktails in Trader Vic’s American locations. The Mai Tai uses Saint James aged rhum from Martinique along with Pampero Especial gold rum, which meant that this Mai Tai comes out lighter than many we’ve had elsewhere where Jamaica rum is the primary spirit. Still, this did serve as a representative example of the cocktail and the two rums did work well together so that you could taste the rich flavors of the Saint James but with a lot of the agricole’s rough edges tempered.
The Menehune Juice was an interesting contrast. This cocktail is essentially a Mai Tai but with light Puerto Rican rum as the sole spirit component. The resulting cocktail had fruity flavors that I didn’t get using the aged rums and this was still very flavorful and extremely satisfying. Munich also has little Menehune figures available, and as the menu states they come home with you.
Menehune Juice
Cocktails at Trader Vic’s Munich
As noted earlier, this Trader Vic’s location doesn’t procure the Trader Vic’s brand rums or syrups, so they definitely have a different taste than I’m used to. Overall, we felt that these were just okay, not nearly as good as other Trader Vic’s locations or most other tiki bars. That said, the vast cocktail menu does include some favorites that aren’t on the menu at some U.S. locations, including the Rum Keg and the overseas favorite Tiki Puka Puka.
The good news is that the spirits being used are pretty reasonable, including two different Saint James Rhum Agricoles in the Navy Grog that include five separate rums. That Navy Grog didn’t have the allspice-forward flavor but definitely was rich and boozy. The aforementioned Tiki Puka Puka is fruity and super boozy, so it’s easy to see why it’s so popular and pricey (€24). Mrs. Mai Tai didn’t love the Bahia, which needed to be shaken longer, but the Koana Puffer was better though still not stellar.
Navy Grog
Dinner at Trader Vic’s Munich
At the Munich location they offer some rice chips as a table starter both for table service and at the. Lightly savory, but not overly satisfying. I thought the Crab Rangoon and the Cheese and Ham Bings were really well done, though. Quite satisfying and adding ham to the Cheese Bings was a plus.
We both enjoyed our Cashew Chicken and Walnut Chicken entrees from the Trader Vic’s wok were very good, and the portions were quite large. Our dinner service was exemplary, featuring a waiter and junior waiter who both were reserved but friendly and accommodating.
Ham and Cheese Bings, Crab Rangoon
Overall Impressions of Trader Vic’s Munich
This location in the basement of the hotel Bayerischer Hof is amazing and seems like a portal back to the 1970s when it was built. There are so many tikis and little nooks and rooms off the main artery of the restaurant. There are dozens of peacock chairs, such that nearly every table has one both in the dining room and in the bar. There are an amazing number of masks on the walls, plus so many jade tiles. It is comparable in size to the Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, though with seemingly even more space and more sections/rooms.
We visited for dinner on Saturday night and the place was a frenzy of activity. There was a birthday party in one of the rooms and at one point they served an entire barbecued pig that included the head that they presented to the birthday boy! The bar was totally full on Saturday but also busy in the mid-evening on Sunday, too, but we didn’t have to wait very long for our food or to order another round of drinks.
There is no merch available here, aside from the take-away Menehune, and our polite ask about procuring an old menu was met with a very German and terse no.
The Trader Vic’s location in Munich is gorgeous and if you’re anywhere near here you must seek it out. We had a grand time in Munich generally, so we encourage anytime to come give this Vic’s restaurant a try.
