Post #31382 by martiki on 04/24/2003

On 2003-04-16 17:12, Kim wrote:

We would have gone to the Golden Buddha (a separate, all-vegetarian menu!!!) but it was closed on the night we would have gone. Instead, we discovered the Omei Restaurant at 2316 Mission St, Santa Cruz, which has really tasty Chinese food, with good vegetarian options, inside an unassuming-looking restaurant in a little strip mall. The décor is more pseudo-Chinese than tiki, but there is some bamboo, and Tikitronic was quite taken with the wall artwork, featuring old Chinese print ads. (He’s a designer, and he really loves old advertising.)

While in San Francisco, we did, of course, go to the Tonga Room and Trader Vic’s. I loved the Tonga Room, and our waiters were very friendly and attentive, which made up for the maitre d’, who was extremely snotty while being simultaneously very polite. (He later confirmed our feeling that he was a toady by dancing sycophantically around some obviously-wealthy old people who looked perpetually-ill-tempered.) The waiter at Trader Vic’s was not so nice, and I was glad to leave. Personally, I think the Tonga Room’s vastly-superior décor and not-too-much-higher prices make it a better place to be glared at by waitstaff than Trader Vic’s, if one must be glared at by waitstaff.

(Sorry to ressurect these old posts. I'm playing serious catch-up.)

Just as an aside (and if anyone here remembers this)- In the same strip mall as Omei Chinese food, there used to be a restaurant called Zanzibar. It was tropical themed with a thatched roof bar. I used to love going there as a little kid and dragged my parents there as much as I could. I consider it now the birthplace of my obsession. Wish it was still there.

Also, while Tonga may have the looks, in steel cage death match of Tiki, Vic's will always crush Tonga hands down when it comes to the drinks.

-martin