SoCal and NoCal
Just got back from 2 weeks on the Left Coast. I spent 4 days visiting friends and relatives in the Los Angeles area, then traveled up north to the San Francisco Bay Area for 10 days of work, along with more hanging out among friends. It should come as no surprise that I did a lot of thrifting/antiquing, and imbibing of tropical cocktails during my travels. I had a great time hanging out with folks I haven't seen in ages, and making new friends along the way, but I'm happy to be back home with my peeps.
My latest tiki finds have been added to the first 2 pages of my tiki mug and bar accessories image gallery. This respresents only a small fraction of what I could've purchased, but everywhere I went, the prices that dealers are asking for Poly-pop collectibles have skyrocketed to obscene levels that are putting them out of the reach of ordinary joes like me. May the tiki gods curse these gouging bastards.
I particularly enjoyed visiting that old standby the Bahooka, which some of you may remember from an appearance in the film version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Up in El Norte, my favorite hangout was by far, Forbidden Island in Alameda, simply the best new tiki bar in the world...period. I left a lot of dead brain cells at FI, but they died happy.
As for the rest of the joints I hung out in, here's a brief critique of each:
Smoke Tiki in San Jose: their food and the decor were okay, but the drinks are simply awful. They had no drink menu, and the bartender gave me a blank look when I asked him if they made any tropical cocktails. You don't want to know what they put into my Mai Tai. Suffice it to say that it was pink. I'm always puzzled when tiki-themed restaurants go through all the trouble of getting the decor correct, but don't put any effort into their cocktails.
Da Hukilau in Palo Alto: again, decent food, but kind of bland decor, and too many watered down blue drinks on the menu. Still, if you've got a hankering for Ahi Poke and Moco Loco, this place is hard to beat.
Hula's Island Grill in Santa Cruz: excellent decor, top-notch food and drink. My favorite after Forbidden Island.
Tonga Room in San Francisco: lava-rock walls, giant tikis, huge outrigger canoes hanging from the ceiling, and faux tropical rainstorms every 20 minutes. What's not to love? Well, the incredibly weak drinks and high prices, for one. However, it seemed much cleaner than the last time I was there, the food has improved greatly, and the waitstaff was quite friendly, which surprised me.
Trader Vic's in Palo Alto: I only stopped here for a drink, which was excellent, but I found it a bit sterile inside. Too bright, and lacking in decor. I felt like I was in a chain restaurant called TGIV: Thank God It's Vic's, and was expecting to be served by a bartender wearing at least 7 pieces of "flair" on their suspenders. I'm happy that Vic's is opening new restaurants, but I hope they're not all going to be as boring as this one.
That's all for now. I have to go fix all the stuff that broke during my absence, clear the snow off the driveway, and since our kitty kat's a big chicken, I have to hunt down the mouse that's invaded my son's room too.
TTFN!
Comments
Welcome home!
It was a real treat to spend time with you at Forbidden Island -- thanks again for my lovely Humuhumu mug! Man, was I upset that I couldn't join you that second time.
Glad you loved Hula's, I really like that place a lot, and I'm happy to see it doing so well.
Good luck with that mouse!
Posted by: Humuhumu | January 28, 2007 3:20 PM
Hanford said you weren't feeling well, so I hope whatever it was passed quickly.
Hula's was really good. We didn't realize that it was a restaurant, so we ate at Mobu Sushi first, but we did sample a couple of appetizers with our cocktails, and they were superb.
As for the mouse, it's the least of my worries at the moment. My septic tank high-water alarm went off this morning, so I wound up having to crawl into the shaft of the lift tank in subzero temps to see if the sump pump was still working. Fortunately, it appears that the alarm switch was simply stuck due to the extreme cold.
So in 2 days I've gone from sipping tropical cocktails with Otto Von Stroheim to hanging headfirst in a concrete shaft full of raw sewage!
It's great to be home...
Posted by: MrBaliHai | January 28, 2007 3:40 PM
Nice mugs. I'm sure the aquisitions will raise the Tikiness level of your Hai De Way.
Kind of scary though to hear the corporate world is ass bumping its was into left coast Tiki Dining establishments with "flair" I hope they stay the hell away from the Bahooka before I get a chance to visit it
Posted by: Fritz | January 29, 2007 7:35 AM
ergh... flair should not be near tiki in any way be it flair bartending or flair on rainbow suspenders. the one concession i pernally make is flair for my fez. but fez flair is cool. and they don't let you wear fezzes at least at the mai kai...
Posted by: johnny dollar | January 29, 2007 8:19 AM
Just to be clear, nobody at Vic's was actually wearing flair or suspenders, it just seemed conceivable to me that it was moving in that direction.
As for the Bahooka, that place hasn't changed one iota since I was in high school back in the 70s, so I think it's likely to remain exactly the way it is for a while longer yet.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | January 29, 2007 8:35 AM
what? You're back already ?
Allright, we missed you...
Posted by: virani | January 29, 2007 1:40 PM
Mr. Bali Hai is absolutely right that the Palo Alto Vic's feels like it's headed in a TGIOutbacplebeennigan's kind of direction, but it's actually headed the other way. They've been darkening it and cluttering it up; the owner of that Vic's has a deep passion for Papua New Guinea art, and even deeper pocketbooks, which pays off in some jaw-droppingly beautiful pieces on display there.
On a recent visit to the Palo Alto Vic's, I met one of the restaurant's board members, and he very excitedly toured me around the restaurant, picking my brains for what they should change. I'm not holding my breath for it to turn into a proper, old-style Vic's, but at least they're aware that it's not what it should be, and want to correct it.
Posted by: Humuhumu | January 29, 2007 8:22 PM
I'm very glad to hear that they're interested in getting the vibe right, because it's not off by all that much, really.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | January 29, 2007 10:05 PM
wow! you were all around my "hood"
i was born + raised in alameda.
i live between san jose + palo alto. i pass that trader vic's + wondered about it. you really get around!
Posted by: mod*mom | January 30, 2007 3:07 AM
mod*mom: I used to live in the South Bay, so I was kind of back in my hood as well. I had never been to Alameda before this trip. I had no reason to go there until now, I guess.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | January 30, 2007 5:59 AM