Post #379501 by atomictonytiki on Sun, May 11, 2008 1:31 AM

So I'm now two and a half month into an around the world trip and I thought i should share with you the Tiki style delights I've seen along the way.

Bangkok
My wife has been planning this trip for the last two years and i was a bit reticent about travelling to South east Asia, until last London Luau when the manager of the Stockholm Tiki Bars told me of the delights of Bangkok's Trader Vic's. So on the first of March we departed foggy Glasgow to the steamy delight of Bangkok. After a days acclimatising, we hailed a cab which took us through the near suicidal traffic to the Bangkok Marriott Hotel.
I knew we were going somewhere far classier than I'd normally visit, when the hotels security checked our taxi for bombs. Greeted by Bond villain style servants (immaculate Thai style pajamas, perfect English and perhaps the ability to kill with their bare hands)we entered the air-con bubble of the Marriott's corporate version of Thai Luxury, walked past their indoor jungle to Trader Vic's, which by-the-way is opposite a Benihana restaurant.

Trader Vic's Bangkok entrance.

The Bangkok T.V's is a modern bar with some nice touches, this lovely central "Quiet Village" that diners can stare at while eating, a few fish-traps on the ceiling over the bar, but no real Tiki atmosphere, defiantly more of a restaurant with a small bar added rather the immersive experience say of Trader Vic's London.

The staff were excellent to totty wee Thai girls in hibiscus sarongs were manning the bar. I started off with a Mai Tai, very nice but the ice wasn't crushed as much as i like and they used the very long brown Menehune stirrers for the pineapple. Jill had the Trader Vic's sling, nice well balanced cocktail with a great cherry taste.

I then ordered a Gun Club Punch, as i had noticed they were still using a lot of vintage mugs and i have never seen a big shot glass in the flesh, the drink came served in a ceramic port light glass.

Not only do they still serve cocktails in these "Holy-grails" but they still use Menehune bowls, I couldn't get any pictures of these being used as i was drawing a bit much attention from the diners by squeaking and pointing as their drinks were brought to their tables.

Perhaps the cocktails were having an effect, so we ordered some "Trader Tid-bits" to soak up a little booze. Tasty as they were, i couldn't but help thinking how many spring rolls i could get from a street vendor for the amount of money the "Tid-bids" had cost. Lets face it for the $5 Mai Tai i could get a room with air-con for the night but that's just part of the madness of drinking in a bar designed so that westerners can get a taste of far flung exotic lands, but then that bar is situated in a far flung exotic land.

Then we did finish up with a Tiki Bowl, which although the bowl was cracked, was lovely drink to finish up the evening. After working in crummy bar jobs in Glasgow and living at my in-laws to afford this trip, it was a much needed slice of tiki heaven.

As we departed to return to the Khoa San Road to drink cheap beer and Mekong whiskey buckets, I notice i wasn't as unsteady on my legs as i would have hoped to been after two cocktails and a tiki bowl. I put this down to the lighter measures they use in Thailand but i did notice as a fellow drinker got up and collected his 18 Menehune stirrers, and then used the wall to steady his walking, that perhaps you should just drink more to compensate.

[ Edited by: atomictonytiki 2008-05-11 01:33 ]

[ Edited by: atomictonytiki 2008-05-12 01:12 ]

[ Edited by: atomictonytiki 2008-09-14 05:07 ]