Hala Kahiki photo courtesy of Michael Meiser
Missus BH, the kids, and I, have just returned from a quickie 2-day trip to Chicago to get a little respite from the smalltown summertime blues. We stayed in a nice hotel close by two of the Windy City's last remaining Temples of Tiki, Chef Shangri-La, and Hala Kahiki. We also took in a performance by the Blue Man Group, which was, as always, highly entertaining, especially for the kids, who'd never seen them before. Yesterday, we spent a truly awful couple of hours at Six Flags amusement park, sweltering in the brutal heat and humidity, then had to leave when Mrs. BH got a migraine aura after riding the bumpy, rickety wooden coaster. None of us was too broken up about having to bug out of the park early.

Chef Shangri-La is an old-school Cantonese restaurant/bar, festooned with lots of tiki decor which apparently was inherited from an even older restaurant called the Shangri-La. The hanging lamps appear to be vintage Witco and Oceanic Arts. Their food is pretty good, if you like your chinese cuisine deep-fried, and their drinks are average. I ordered some exotic concoction called a Dr. Fong, which is apparently their signature drink, and spent a lot of time trying to puzzle out what made it taste like Vicks 44 Pineapple Cough Syrup, eventually coming to the conclusion that it was probably some kind of schnapps.

Last night, Mrs. BH and I left the kids at the hotel to play with their laptops, and drove over to Hala Kahiki, an absolutely gorgeous vintage palace of Polynesian Pop, dating back to 1966. Their authentic Witco decor was simply stunning, as you can see from the photo above and the Critiki link, and the vibe was very laid back, despite the best efforts of some grossly obese and foul-mouthed patrons out on the patio to ruin it for us. Their drinks however, were a big disappointment: weak, and very bland tasting. I had a Scorpion and a Navy Grog, and couldn't tell them apart! They didn't give me a hint of a buzz either. If they made them like I make them at home, my better half would've been driving us back to the hotel.

All in all, it was a fun, if all too brief escape from our boring, suburban lives here in Western Wisconsin, but I think we'll leave the grumpy teenagers at home next time and just go as a couple.

[Link: Chef Shangri-La Entry on Critiki]
[Link: Hala Kahiki Entry on Critiki]