Post #31816 by martiki on Mon, Apr 28, 2003 11:39 AM

Got to follow up on my recent excursion to New England:

Kowloon- Fab exterior, interior was so-so, but I was very fond of it simply for the kitchy stuff like the rainbow fountains and occasional 80s Miami vibe. Great moving volcano mural on the wall. The Fog Cutter was vile, but the Navy Grog was good, even though it was nothing like a Navy Grog. The food was nasty, but I'm a little spoiled for good chinese food here in San Fran. The pot stickers were called "Chinese Ravioli", for god's sake. The Crab rangoon were huge and all cream cheese so they made me a little funny. They were surprised when I asked for chili oil, as spice is apparently an exotic concept. The duck dish was also an incredible oil slick that did not fit the menu description at all. And yet, I still liked the place. It has a kind of charm all it's own.

King Tiki, Portsmouth, NH- Imigine my despair to walk up to the the place and find that it is now called "The Steak Out" - steak sandwiches and burritos. sigh. Another bar bites the dust. So I stuck my head in and wandered upstairs, and to what to my wondering eyes should appear, but tikis everywhere, old hula prints, and loads of bamboo furniture. Yes, it is now perhaps the world's only tiki cheesesteak shop. So I snapped a few pix (to be posted soon), and went back down stairs to talk to the owner, a very nice guy. Apparently, they ceased being a tiki bar in January of this year for several reasons, but primarily due to pressure from city officials. Seems that the clean gentrified little boutique town of Portsmouth doesn't think that tiki bars fit in with their image. So they started harrasing him, mounting frequent surprise inspections, sending in kids one day shy of their 21st birthdays to buy drinks and then fining them, and generally harrassing them out of business. They also had trouble attracting a tourist clientele, because so many Portsmouth tourists are day-trippers, and didn't want to get bent before they drove home. So it was just the locals, who preferred Pabst. They also were the ones into the mentioned-elsewhere Heavy Metal karaoke. He said they like the locals, but that "you really have to sell a lot of Pabst to pay the bills." So he threw in the towel. He also said that anything that wasn't bolted to the floor was stolen almost instantly. He told me that guys would get drunk and he'd catch them dragging 200 pound tikis out the door behind them! When he confronted them, they looked up with sheepish eyes and slurred, "But I love the tiki." To which he said, "Yes, I love them too, but they're mine." Anyway, he plans to keep the restaurant tiki-themed, so pop in and have a sandwich when you're next in town.

That's the latest from New England, and another update for your book, JT.

-martin

PS- The giant neon cactus on route one is fantastic! As is the Leaning Tower of Pizza.