Post #409304 by lvic on Mon, Sep 22, 2008 11:54 AM

Wow, what a shame... Mr. Lvic and I went to TVLV back in August and actually had a terrific meal. The food is very, VERY different from the "classic" TV's menu. And I was hoping for a lot more "tiki-osity" than we got, atmosphere-wise. And it was quite empty for a Friday night (not surprising, given August is off-season.) But the Mai Tai was the best either of us have ever had (and the strongest) and the food was very good - reminded me of some of the better restaurants we'd visited in Hawaii.

We had kalua sliders, ribs, maui onion rings, ahi poke and double-cut pork chop, all handled very well (although kalua pork should not have any kind of sauce, strictly speaking!) Is it authentic tiki/TV style? Not even close, but I was still pleased with it, for what it was (obviously, Planet Hollywood/TV trying to move the concept into a form the Vegas crowd would find palatable - nevertheless it's apparently failed.)

This was my very first TV experience, I wish I could say it lived up to my expectations re. atmosphere and popularity, but it definitely exceeded my expectations re. food and drink (I was expecting watered-down tiki fruit punchy drinks, and third-rate Chinese-American dishes) and was so taken with the dishes we've sampled, I re-created them at home using the Dallas Star's recently published recipes. BTW, the ribs, mai-tai and sliders recipes in that article ARE very good, and I can highly recommend them for home-tiki use for those tiring of Crab Rangoon and Trader Joe's potstickers... :wink:

For the food and mai tai's alone, we will miss TVLV. For the atmosphere... I think we may be better off checking out the tiki bars in NY's Village.