Post #12164 by Double Crown on Mon, Oct 28, 2002 5:47 PM

I just got back from a week in Vegas, staying at the Mandalay Bay resort. Since I was going with the whole family (wife plus two small kids) I didn't have much time to go to bars. However, we did have time to visit Taboo Cove and Rumjungle. Despite negative reports about each here, I have to say, I was very impressed by both and had a great time. Rumjungle is trendy and very hip, but if you go early in the evening it's pretty low key, giving you plenty of time to take in the decor and savor some of their huge, delicious rum drinks. The Volcano was the recommended drink, but I decided to go with the Painkiller. They don't serve their drinks in tiki glasses, just standard clear bar glasses. The Painkiller lived up to it's name - it was yummy going down, nice n' smooth. It was only with the last few sips that I realized, hell, I'm feeling a little bit wasted. Drinks are in the $8 - $12 range, but are big and potent.

On our last night we visited Taboo Cove. Some have said here it's hard to find. It's not next to the casino or mall, but after asking someone at the info desk inside the mail it was very easy to find. It's on the outside facing the Strip/Mirage. The place looks fabulous on the outside and inside. There were about a dozen people or so there. We sat up at the bar and asked for a drink menu. I selected the Trader's Punch, which was served in a Dynasty Fu Man Chu mug. My wife went for a Chambord sour in a standard bar glass. They were playing vintage rockabilly, which was perfectly fine with me. At one point the bartender asked if she could put on something a bit more lively. Everyone said they liked the rockabilly, so it was played the entire time we were there. I saw on the menu that for $26 you could get a flaming drink (can't remember the name) in a big red tiki punchbowl. We decided not to go for it, but it looked cool. Don't know if it would have tasted good or not - I thought to myself that I would hate to spend $26 on a big punchbowl of booze, only to find out after a few sips that it tasted like s**t. My drink was pretty good, probably about a 7 out of 10. While I enjoyed it from start to finish, I don't know if I would have ordered another one. It was cool looking at all the mugs on the back wall. Most of them seemed to be Tiki Farm mugs, at least the ones I recognized. Speaking of Tiki Farm, there were at least three places that I saw that sold Tiki Farm stuff.

One question about Taboo Cove - the drink menu said that the tiki drinks were served in a "collectable tiki mug". I was embarrassed to ask, but by this do they mean that you get to take the mug home with you? I left mine on the counter, because I already have a Fu Man Chu in my collection. Also, I sell tiki mugs on my record label site (www.dblcrown.com) and could get these wholesale from Dynasty for a few bucks each if I wanted more.

Overall I recommend the Rumjungle and Taboo Cove for anyone going to Vegas.

Sean