Post #271476 by defaultet on Sat, Dec 9, 2006 2:34 PM

Went to this location yesterday. Here's my review (also posted on Yelp!)

I showed up with my wife at around 5:15 pm for the 4-6 Happy Hour. The place was jam packed. There was a bit of confusion, and the hostesses were being completely unhelpful. They basically said "if you find a seat, grab it, you're lucky." Thankfully, a more seasoned employee offered to look after us and advised that tables would open up in a few minutes.

We were seated around 5:40 pm, which really isn't that bad considering it was a Friday night. We quickly started ordering Happy Hour items, such as pommes frites, crab rangoon, calamari, pork ribs and spring rolls. The men in the group ordered a Zombie and a Mai Tai. The women ordered a beer (one was driving) and a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri (the other is pregnant).

The food was very tasty and entirely reasonable for a Happy Hour. It's not going to win any prizes, but for Happy Hour it was entirely decent. We ordered a variety of dishes and they all met the taste test for Happy Hour food items. The Happy Hour drinks, a Zombie and a Mai Tai, were well worth the discounted prices.

And then Happy Hour ended. My first drink was a Somoan Fog Cutter at $10. It was tasty but a little too much crushed ice for my taste. My favorite was the Suffering Bastard at $9, which got the job done with less crushed ice and a surprise cucumber in my drink. I finished off with a Tiki Bowl, which is basically a rum punch type drink in a large bowl that you sip from. All the drinks were delicious but could be a little stronger in my book. The drink presentation was flawless, with garnishes and specialty serving vessels.

I would give 5 stars, but there were several problems. First, they need a better system on how to seat people during Happy Hour. They probably lost at least ten customers, because people didn't have any confidence that a table would open up in a reasonable amount of time.

The next problem came when I inquired about a drink they serve called Pimm's Cup. All the waitress could tell me was that it is "an English liquer." She asked a manager and he told her that it is "an English liquor." I waited for a further explanation, but that's all the waitress said. Okay, not going to order that drink.

Finally, and this is the most significant problem, they serve a drink called Raffles Bar Gin Sling, which features ginger beer as one of its ingredients. The waitress said they don't have ginger beer and therefore cannot serve the drink. I appreciate her candor, a lot of waitresses would probably put the drink order through and just tell the bartender to use a substitute. Nonetheless, Trader Vic's reputation is entirely built on quality, mostly rum-based cocktails. The staff needs to be knowledgeable, and EVERY drink on the menu should be available.

Good times and great drinks, but a little hefty on the pocketbook. Hopefully the few problem areas can be corrected over time.