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]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

[Link: Mr. Bali Hai's Restoration]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay, I know I've been posting a lot of Tiki-related stuff lately, and that's not all this 'blog is about, so I'm going to upload one more batch of Tropical cocktailia, then move on to more general linkage for a while (or not, as the mood strikes me).

Posted by MrBaliHai at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

So far, it's proving to be a fun and delicious task. I've already recreated the Stockton Islander Mai Tai, the Trader Vic's Honi Honi, and the Mark Thomas Outrigger Sneaky Tiki. Tonight, I decided to tackle my namesake, the Mr. Bali Hai cocktail from the Bali Hai Restaurant in San Diego, CA, served in their signature mug, which happens to be the first Tiki mug I ever bought, hence my nom-de-Internets.

This drink no longer appears on their menu, but I found the recipe in Beachbum Berry's Intoxica!. It was excellent, a fact I attribute in no small part to using my own sweet & sour mix, and better rums than the recipe called for.

Ingredients:

1 oz. Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix (I made my own from 1/2 part fresh lime juice, 1/2 part fresh lemon juice, and 1 part simple syrup)
1/2 oz. Hiram Walker Coffee Brandy
3/4 oz. White Puerto Rican Rum (I used 10 Cane because I don't like PR rum)
1 oz. Myer's Dark Rum (I used Cruzan Blackstrap)

Shake with large scoop of crushed ice and pour into MBH mug or other large tiki mug. Fill with more crushed ice.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The pool is currently invite-only to keep things on topic, so if you like to photograph tropical cocktails and/or Tiki mugs, get yourself a Flickr account, add me as a contact, and send me an e-mail along with a sample of your work.

See you there!

[Link: Exotic Cocktails and Tiki Mugs]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The creation of the Doctor Funk was attributed to a 1937 Don the Beachcomber recipe by Beachbum Berry in his 2nd cocktail guide Intoxica!, but Sven Kirsten, author of The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern, has revealed that its origins go back much further, all the way to the beginning of the 20th Century, and perhaps even earlier, when he came across the following paragraph in a 1919 narrative of Polynesia called, White Shadows in the South Seas, describing not only a much earlier version of the Doctor Funk cocktail, but also revealing that Doctor Funk was in fact a real person...a German doctor living in Samoa, and the personal physician of author Robert Louis Stevenson.

A general description of the Doctor Funk cocktail recipe appears in the 1921 book, Mystic Isles of the South Seas:

"I had been introduced to a Doctor Funk by Count Polonsky, who told me it was made of a portion of absinthe, a dash of grenadine,—a syrup of the pomegranate fruit,—the juice of two limes, and half a pint of siphon water. Dr. Funk of Samoa, who had been a physician to Robert Louis Stevenson, had left the receipt for the concoction when he was a guest of the club. One paid half a franc for it, and it would restore self-respect and interest in one's surroundings when even Tahiti rum failed."

So that's sorted, but the question remains: how did a German doctor in Samoa wind up getting an Absinthe cocktail served in a Fu Manchu mug named after him? Unfortunately, no one has figured that one out yet, but you can ponder the sublime mystery of Doctor Funk while enjoying Don the Beachcomber's delicious version of his eponymous cocktail:

2 1/2 oz. Dark Jamaican Rum (Cruzan Blackstrap)
2 1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 1/2 oz. Club Soda
1/2 oz. Grenadine
1/4 oz. Absinthe (Mr. Jeykll)

Shake all ingredients except club soda in a cocktail shaker with 1 cup of crushed ice. Pour into Fu Manchu mug or 12 oz. chimney glass. Top with soda and more crushed ice to fill.

[Link: The Real Dr. Funk]
[Link: White Shadows in the South Seas (ebook)]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

My favorite postcard is this one, featuring the Hula Hostesses at the Hawaiian Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. I spent a week at Expo '70 as a kid, and I remember these gorgeous gals in their Day-Glo Mod polyester Muu-muus very well.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

2 oz. Pineapple Juice
2 oz. Freshly-squeezed Orange Juice
1 oz. Freshly-squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Freshly-squeezed Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz. Kalani Coconut Liqueur
1/2 oz. Señor de Curaçao Curaçao Liqueur
1/4 oz. Trader Vic's Macadamia Nut Liqueur
1 oz. 10 Cane Rum
1/2 oz. Cruzan Blackstrap Rum
1/2 oz. Appleton Estate V/X
1/2 oz. Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva
1/8 oz. Absinthe
1/2 oz. Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum
1/4oz. Trader Vic's Maraschino Syrup.

Combine all ingredients, except the Lemon Hart 151 and Maraschino syrup, in a blender with 1 cup of crushed ice, and blend for exactly 5 seconds. Pour into a Hurricane glass, and fill with more crushed ice. Float 151 and Maraschino syrup on top. Garnish with the biggest mint sprig you can find.

Suck 'Em Up!

Posted by MrBaliHai at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)