Post #28804 by donhonyc on Mon, Mar 31, 2003 11:08 PM

Greetings Tiki sisters and brothers, and a special greeting to all of you who live in or who will be visiting Gotham soon. Just wanted to check in on this thread and fill you in on my recent visit to the much talked about JADE ISLAND on New York City's own Island of Misfit Toys, Staten Island. First let me just say that if you don't own a vehicle or have a convenient means of transportation...do not go!! Not because Jade Island isn't cool and fun (it is), but because Jade Island isn't cool and fun ENOUGH to put in that kind of commuting effort into it.

Jade Island is alot like Chans Dragon Inn in Ridgefield, NJ but maybe a notch or two lower on the vintage vibe. From the looks of some of the newspaper clippings they had hanging on the wall in the lobby next to a counter where they sell Lotto tickets (yeah..they really sell lotto there!!), they have been there since at least 1972. And, unlike the free standing building that Chan's is located in, Jade is located in a K-Mart shopping plaza (eesh) not far from the Staten Island Mall (eesh), and a bit of a hike by cab from the S.I. ferry terminal. It had all the cool trappings of a Tiki/Polynesian joint i.e., cool fountains, tikis everywhere, transparent beach scenes hanging on the walls, pufferfish and tiki lamps and a pretty decent tiki bar/cocktail lounge adjacent to the actual dining room. All waiters were dressed in Hawaiian shirts. My girlfriend and I went on a Friday night, and the place was packed (!), and then some, with people waiting for tables. First stop-the lounge. After instantly noticing Trader Vic products behind the bar I ordered a couple of Mai-Tais. Tasty...BUT...made with GRENADINE. Uh-oh. Shortly after that we sat down in one of the tiki-hut booths. Pretty cool. Even cooler was the drink menu which had real photographs of the drinks. After I was done with my Mai-Tai, I ordered a 'Pinapple Paradise' which was a frothy Pina Colada type drink served in a real pineapple shell and garnished with cherry/pineapple chunk on an umbrella. Pretty damn good! My girlfriend ordered the 'Jade Island Special' which was served in a really cool looking hula-girl tiki mug (see picture) that they let us buy for $6.50! Also pretty cool. Also noticed Navy Grog and another drink served in an actual Tiki mug who's name I forgot (shoulda wrote down those damn drink names). Another drink was served in a ceramic coconut shell mug called the 'Coconut Kiss' and of course they had Zombies as well a few other cool looking drinks. Aside from all the regular kind of Chinese food they had the same 'Hawaii 4-0' dish that Chan's had as well as the very cleverly named 'Hawaii 3-0' that I don't think Chan's had (hey they gotta corner the market somehow). After eating some Sesame Shrimp I ordered one of those damn Zombies which was actually very good!! Shortly after that, for some reason I started to get really sleepy, musta been the commute or all that sesame shrimp and shrimp toast appetizers.

Overall it was a pretty damn cool place, but for me, not really worth trekin all that way. That kinda travel warrants a Mai-Kai-esque pot 'o gold at the end of the Tiki rainbow. The real buzz-kill was having to wait in the S.I. Ferry Terminal for 45 minutes for the boat ride back. I know, I know...we shoulda hung out at Jade a little longer so we didn't have to wait that long but we had the schedule, uh...a little wrong. Boats only left at the top of the hour, not as we/I thought every half hour. With that said, I 'll just go on to state that I've heard many places reffered to as 'the arm-pit of the world' or other more elaborate, 'colorful' descriptives, but the Staten Island Ferry Terminal (on the Staten Island side) on a Friday night at 9:30 PM is the UNDISPUTED Armpit of the World, make no mistake about it!!

So....Chan's I'll see you again soon (easier to get to), and maybe Jade again (by limo!). Next stop...Lee's Hawaiian Islander in the very exotic and tropical city of Lyndhurst, NJ. 'Til then...Mahalo kids!!! :drink:

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2003-03-31 23:37 ]