Mama Quan's Tiki Hut, Arlington, VA (bar) - Locating Tiki

I ikitnrev Tiki Socialite D.C. / Virginia Joined: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1325	I ikitnrev Posted posted on Sat, Jun 17, 2006 7:41 PM I paid a obligatory visit, and also came away disappointed. I ordered one of their house drinks, the Papa Qwan, which was served in a 24oz plastic tiki mug, the variety which you might find at the Party Store chain. They used two kinds of bottom shelf Arostocrat rum, and then filled the rest with a large injection of some sweet soda mix from whatever that handheld bar hose spritzer thing is called, and then stuck a cherry on a paper umbrella at the top. The rsult was too sweet, too sugary/watery. This was the first time in a long time that I left a 'tiki' drink unfinished. When I first walked by the place, before they opened, while they were still redecorating it, I thought the opening would be many weeks away, as it didn't look very tiki at all. Instead, they opened it up quickly, more or less as is. There are a couple of tiki carvings, but they somehow look very out of place, and almost as if someone said "Oh, that's right, we're suppose to be a tiki bar, we better buy some tikis." The tiki theme is only temporary, until they can get the building permits to do the place in the way they really intended - which will likely not be a tki theme. It is sad news, when they decided to do a fun, low budget decor-wise theme for the summer -- and ended up choosing tiki, and getting the whole experience so wrong. The result is yet another segement of the D.C./Northern VA area, who will be misinformed about the true potential and attraction of a real tiki place could be like. Vern

I paid a obligatory visit, and also came away disappointed. I ordered one of their house drinks, the Papa Qwan, which was served in a 24oz plastic tiki mug, the variety which you might find at the Party Store chain. They used two kinds of bottom shelf Arostocrat rum, and then filled the rest with a large injection of some sweet soda mix from whatever that handheld bar hose spritzer thing is called, and then stuck a cherry on a paper umbrella at the top. The rsult was too sweet, too sugary/watery. This was the first time in a long time that I left a 'tiki' drink unfinished.

When I first walked by the place, before they opened, while they were still redecorating it, I thought the opening would be many weeks away, as it didn't look very tiki at all. Instead, they opened it up quickly, more or less as is. There are a couple of tiki carvings, but they somehow look very out of place, and almost as if someone said "Oh, that's right, we're suppose to be a tiki bar, we better buy some tikis."

The tiki theme is only temporary, until they can get the building permits to do the place in the way they really intended - which will likely not be a tki theme. It is sad news, when they decided to do a fun, low budget decor-wise theme for the summer -- and ended up choosing tiki, and getting the whole experience so wrong. The result is yet another segement of the D.C./Northern VA area, who will be misinformed about the true potential and attraction of a real tiki place could be like.

Vern

Post #238359 by ikitnrev on Sat, Jun 17, 2006 7:41 PM