Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Trader Vic’s Los Angeles – L.A. Live Downtown

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

While many major cities lack even one Trader Vic’s, Los Angeles is lucky enough to have two! (Sort of. The Beverly Hills “lounge” is a story for another time.) This is one of the newer locations of this historic tiki chain—it opened in 2009 in the LA LIVE complex downtown.

Being so close to Staples Center, the bar is the perfect spot for a postgame drink—win or lose. Suffering Bastards are particularly popular when it’s the latter. Happy hour is Monday through Friday from 3 p.m.-6 p.m., offering discounted appetizers and a handful of $6 cocktails (Mai Tai, Bahia, Navy Grog, etc.).

The dining room does an elegant take on tiki decor, with high, angled ceilings, lots of bamboo, lanterns, green booths, green Chinese tiles and beautiful tapa cloth covering some of the walls. It’s a lovely oasis amid all the glass and steel of downtown.

I always try the signature drink for each location, here it’s the Big Kahuna ($12) made with light rum, undisclosed fruit juices, passionfruit, grenadine and brandy. Even better, you can order it in a Tiki Farm mug specially designed for Trader Vic’s LA. We also opted for the Peach Tree Punch ($10), a sweet slushie-like drink with light rum, peach, orange and coconut

It’s widely assumed that the food at tiki spots usually doesn’t compare to the quality of the drinks, but Trader Vic’s has a reputation for serving pretty good grub. The meal starts off in a unique way, with bread and peanut butter!

The Bongo Bongo soup ($8) is a classic Trader Vic’s dish, and according to Jeff Berry’s Taboo Table, this velouté of oysters and spinach was inspired by a special type of clam the Maori ate in New Zealand. It kind of looks like a swamp and it has a very distinct flavor that’s not for everyone, but I liked it.

Mr. Baseball is a bit of a pyromaniac so he loved that the Beef Cho Cho ($11) was served with a mini hibachi to finish cooking the seared steak with soy sake sauce.

And what could be a better follow-up to meat than…more meat? He thought the wasabi crusted filet mignon ($32) was well-prepared but he wasn’t so crazy about the smoked Asian ratatouille. It looks like they’ve added Hawaiian spiced fries to this item since we dined there awhile back.

I was really blown away by the chai tea duck with yam-scallion puree, long beans and sherry ginger reduction ($24). It was so tender and flavorful. Overall we had a wonderful meal and our server couldn’t have been nicer.

Trader Vic’s has also teamed up with the Regal Cinemas at LA LIVE to offer a dinner and a movie special that includes a three-course meal and movie ticket for $30 per person, just in case you needed yet another reason to get down there.

Trader Vic's on Urbanspoon

UPDATE: Sadly, Trader Vic’s LA closed March 18, 2014.

Home With The Beachcomber – Simi Valley, CA

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , ,

As previously mentioned, I love Anthropologie, but not crowds. So whenever we feel the need to shop, my cohort Curious Laydee and I head out to the Simi Valley Town Center, an outdoor mall that’s usually all but deserted.

And a few months ago as we were about to enter our beloved faux-bohemian bazaar, she spotted Home With The Beachcomber just across the way. I hadn’t noticed a tiki store there before!

It’s a rather large space and it’s mostly filled with Hawaiiana stuff, like Hilo Hattie-type Aloha wear, prints of vintage air travel ads, and anything you can possibly imagine being printed with a hibiscus flower, palm tree or pineapple.

Not pictured here, but I did notice some nods to the modern tiki art scene—like framed Doug Horne prints. (You might recognize his art if you’ve ever been in our downstairs bathroom… ;))

There’s also a section devoted to the kinds of goodies you might bring back from a trip to the Islands, like coconut M&Ms, Waialua soda, Kona coffee, and chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

The name tipped me off that maybe the store is related to Don the Beachcomber, and they do actually stock their signature rum barrels, along with some hula girl mugs and the still ubiquitous Pink Panther themed ceramics designed by Shag.

I found further support of this possible connection in these Don the Beachcomber-branded mini tiki huts on display.

It was fun to browse, but most of the wares were a bit touristy for my taste. This would be the perfect spot to hit up, though, if you didn’t bring back enough souvenir gifts for people after your Hawaiian vacation. They’ll never know!


Home with the Beachcomber
1555 Simi Town Center Wy.
Simi Valley, CA 93065
805-584-3667

Tiki No Bar – North Hollywood, CA

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

Tiki No sign

Here in “The Valley” we already have the Tonga Hut, and the Tiki-Ti is just over the hill, but it was still very exciting to hear that a new tiki bar was opening last month in North Hollywood: Tiki No (as in NoHo).

Bar at Tiki No in North Hollywood

There were initially rumors that maybe it was a reincarnation of the Lucky Tiki (the defunct Mission Hills bar that was also my first tiki bar visit). But no, apparently the space used to be a low-key lounge called Match, and the owners decided to turn it tiki!

Bamboo booths at Tiki No

And they hired the right beachbum for the job: Bamboo Ben. The decor is topnotch, with pufferfish lights, bamboo-lined walls, and thatch rooves over the bar and booths. I especially liked the shipping containers hanging from the ceiling, kind of gave it the feeling of an island trading post.

Sup and All Black cocktails at Tiki No

A lot of patrons, including us, started off by asking the bartender what she recommended. When she replied, “Sup,” this was almost always responded to with a “Huh?” The menu revealed that the Sup ($11) is their very tasty version of a Painkiller. (It’s kind of like a Piña Colada, but it doesn’t sound as silly to order.)

On the left is the All-Black ($15), made with dark rum, blackberry juice and kiwi purée. I was a little put off by the texture and spice flavors, but I’d give this one another shot though since it seems to be a favorite with others.

Raging Bull at Tiki No

She also told us how nobody believes her that the Raging Bull ($10), a nightcap of Scotch, milk and honey, is actually pretty good. Mr. Hockey decided to live dangerously and order it, and we had to agree. The interwebs say this has been a popular drink over the years for folks with ulcers and, according to Esquire, Dizzy Gillespie.

Tiki No drink menu

These tiki cocktails can add up, so for the cost-conscious the Mai Tai is always $5, and there’s happy hour on weekdays from 4-7 p.m. I believe their mugs were also available to keep for an extra $2 — they said they didn’t have any plans yet for signature designs.

Tiki at Tiki No Bar

There’s plenty of things to look at behind the bar (Chinese dragon…pig with a jaunty cap…) but they also have a couple vintage-style televisions that were showing “The Magnificent Seven” when we were there. We dug the eclectic music, ranging from Fats Domino and Elvis to Bob Dylan to The Bird and the Bee.

Outdoor patio at Tiki No

I hear there’s DJs on Fridays and Saturdays, though I prefer the more chill vibe of an off-night. There’s a covered patio where smokers can congregate; it’s not tiki but the Edison-esque pendant lights are a neat touch.

Inside Tiki No in No-Ho

Overall I think Tiki No is an excellent addition to the So Cal tiki scene. Like Frankie’s Tiki Room in Vegas, it really nails the feeling of pseudo-Polynesian escapism. And when I want to introduce folks to the wonderful world of tiki, I might just start taking them here.

Tiki fire pit

Tiki No
4657 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91602
818-766-0116

Tiki No on Urbanspoon