Post #146974 by Trader Rick on Tue, Mar 15, 2005 10:53 AM

This has always been a dream of mine since I got into Tiki to visit a genuine Trader Vic's location. For months I was anticipating the visit ever since my wife anounced we were going to London this March to visit her brother. Tuesday, March 8th was the big night. We both got dressed up in our Sunday Best. Thanks to all of you and The Tiki Roadtrip who let me know that this resturant was 1. expensive and 2. not really casual so there were no surprises. We found the staff genuinely pleased to see us and very attentive. We ordered a complete meal from 'soup to nuts' and had plenty of drinks. My wife started out with the Samoan Fogcutter while I stuck with the one and only Trader Vic's Mai Tai. We also tried the Trader Vic punch which was delicious. You do need to be attentive to which drinks are strong. Ours certainly were! I weigh in at 244 lbs and two Mai Tai's had me sailing! The Samoan Fogcutter put my wife in a giggly mood that added to the evenings fun later on. (thanks guys!) The decor did not disappoint! What a classic room! The carvings were superb as well as the rest of the decor. Since the place was somewhat empty we got to walk around and see everything. Unfortunatly both of us forgot to bring our cameras in all the excitement. Bummer! We finished the evening with Pina Colada's (I know, its not a Tiki drink) at the bar in honor of Warren Zevon and to become honorary Werewolves of London. It was a magical night. I bought one of the handpainted ashtrays as a token of my trip. It has great mana and juju and sits now on my desk in a place of honor. One small problem. They were playing Carribean Salsa music all night. I don't think the staff really understands the Tiki culture to a large extent. They returned blank stares whenever I would wax on about the decor and the whole Tiki culture. Anyway it was fun. If you plan to go plan on dropping about $230.00 for two for the complete experience!