Rapa Nui Moai at the British Museum – London

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with British Museum, London, Moai, Tiki, Tiki Sites, Travel October 13, 2011

There were so many tiki bars in London, and alas not enough time for us to visit them all. We did have to fit in some legitimate sightseeing here and there! Coincidentally, the British Museum happens to have some South Pacific artifacts along with the very impressive Egyptian collection, Parthenon frieze and Rosetta Stone.

Their Rapa Nui Moai (Easter Island statue) is quite a sight. This handsome fellow is named Hoa Hakananai’a (roughly translated as “Stolen or hidden friend”) and is dated around 1400. About a thousand moai were made on Rapa Nui, but apparently this is only one of 16 that was carved from basalt.

What’s really compelling about this one though are the unexpected carvings on the back, which are Birdman symbols that were added after the moai was moved to ‘Orongo. It was brought to England in 1869 by the HMS Topaze, and Queen Victoria gifted it to the museum (presumably because it clashed with the Buckingham Palace curtains).

It’s part of the “Living and Dying” permanent exhibition that’s been in the Wellcome Trust Gallery since 2003. There are also objects from Africa, North and South America, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, like this carved wooden post from the 1830s-1850s. If you look closely you can see the rauponga pattern—the notched “V”s are supposed to resemble the namesake fern frond.

I was also intrigued by this housepost (circa 1900-1950 from the Sepik River region in Papua New Guinea) with its long face and mysterious animal. (Crocodile? Platypus?)

The British Museum also has a Hawaiian Ku (see info on Critiki) in their Oceania collection but from what I can tell it doesn’t seem to be on display at the moment. (Last summer it was sent to the Bishop Museum in Hawaii for a special reunion exhibition.)

Happy Hour at Don the Beachcomber, Huntington Beach

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with Don the Beachcomber, Happy Hour, Orange County, Restaurants, Tiki, Tiki Mugs October 5, 2011

Watching the Ken Burns documentary “Prohibition” got me thinking about the Noble Experiment’s influence on tiki. Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (a.k.a. Don the Beachcomber) was a part-time bootlegger and opened the first tiki establishment as the bar business was booming after Prohibition ended. Jeff Berry’s fantastic book “Sippin’ Safari” even says one of the reasons Don made his original cocktails with rum was that it was cheap because the rumrunners had so much leftover stock.

Long story short, none of the original Don the Beachcomber restaurants are still around but his name and spirit have been carried on in Huntington Beach for the last two years. (There are also two unrelated DtB restaurants in Hawaii). This one also happens to have an awesome happy hour available in the Dagger Bar Sunday through Thursday from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. and all night on Mondays.

Don’s signature drinks are $3 off ($5 off the Rum Barrel) and there’s also deals on beer and wine but why would you drink that here?! (Unless your name is Mr. Baseball.) A few of our favorites include Don’s Own Mai Tai (above), Lapu Lapu and Hurricane (one of nine cocktails they recently added to the menu).

There’s also a great selection of discounted “happy hour pupus.” The garlic fries ($3) are potent—just how I like ’em—and the coconut shrimp skewers ($8) are good, too.

The spam roll ($5) is a fun novelty, however I don’t see it making it into our regular ordering rotation. But it does make me want to try making my own spam musubi at home.

Hands down the winner of the bunch is the brie quesadilla with kalua pork ($7) topped with chipotle mayo. I think I might have to get this super flavorful dish every time now, though there are still more tempting appetizers I’ve yet to try, like the sticky ribs and ahi poke tacos.

Sadly, I wasn’t as crazy about the pineapple upside down cake ($9). The cake was kind of dry. (That’s not to say we still didn’t clean that plate though.)

Don the Beachcomber also has several signature mugs available for purchase. From left: green Don the Beachcomber “short neck” (they also have it in brown), green & yellow versions of Don the Beachcomber “long neck” designed by Crazy Al, white rum barrel, and coconut mug.

Don the Beachcomber
16278 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
562-592-1321

Tiki at the LA County Fair: Part Three

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with Events, Food, LA County Fair, Photography, Tiki, Tiki Cake September 27, 2011

It’s that time of year again: The Fair! (Actually, it’s the end of that time of year because it’s done on Sunday.) This marks the third installment (see part one & part two) of my annual ode to the LA County Fair.

Where else will us city folks get to see an adorable pile of piggies?

And get our daily servings of fruits and vegetables (in fried form?) That’s deep-fried zucchini strings, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and avocados here.

Or watch strapping young lumberjacks compete head to head? Maybe I need to start tuning in to timber sports on ESPN…

And then there’s always the tiki sightings! Like this snazzy fellow propped up to help sell (what else?) jacuzzis and barbecues.

New for this year was an “official” tiki lounge behind the Longboard Bar at the racetrack. However it was only for concert ticketholders so I wasn’t able to verify if there were any actual tikis in there.

And just like last year, we actually stumbled upon yet another tiki cake in the arts & crafts building. I love the sugar sand! Good times all around.