Post #42127 by ikitnrev on Tue, Jul 8, 2003 1:42 PM

I have seen both the Kahiki and the Mai Kai, and although I tend to think of them more as being equal in status, I might have to give the edge to the Mai Kai - mainly because of the continuing dinner show tradition, the large outdoor gardens, and perhaps because their barrel rum mug was a natural fit for my fingers.

However, in many ways, I liked the Kahiki better. I liked the main bar area of the Kahiki better, as gazing across the island bar and looking at others sitting across on the other side appealed to me, and there was quite a bit of Polynesian decor on the walls and hanging from the ceilings to gaze at. The Mai Kai's Molokai bar area had more of a 'waiting in a ship' feel to it - appropriate for a dinner show type place.

I also felt the Kahiki had a much more impressive and single awe-inspiring focal point with the Moai fireplace at the end of the main A-frame center hall, which was the obvious main item to take photos of. The charms of the Mai Kai, on the other hand, were spread out through many rooms - one had more of a sense of a surburban driving experience through block after block - except all the sites were full of amazingly cool stuff rather than typical surburban crap. It was this overall cumulative effect of all of these rooms that makes it so impressive. One could take a photo here, and a photo there, but one knew that you could never come close to capturing the essence of the whole in any one shot.

One of the biggest differences between the Mai Kai and the Kahiki were the geographic locations. Being in Florida, the Mai Kai was able to build and sustain a large outdoor tropical garden area, which would have been quite impossible in Columbus without greenhouse type protection. But part of the charm of the Kahiki was that it was in a northern state - Ohio, and in the cold months of January and February, you might have had to drive through snow to reach the Kahiki. Walking in from a winter storm, to see the Polynesian decor and to savor the exotic drinks -- well, to me that represents so much of what attracts me to the tiki lifestyle - it is the retreat, for a few hours, into the myth of Polynesia. Perhaps the need for this myth was stronger in the more northern, colder latitudes.

The Mai Kai exists in Southern Florida, where palm trees and tropical plants grow naturally in the much warmer climate. Being a ex-Wisconsin native, I tend to think of the whole southern Florida area(and southern CA also) as being quite exotic. In this sense, the Mai Kai is just one part of the whole exotica portrait of southern Florida.

It is hard to think of the city of Columbus as exotic - the Kahiki was a bright gem that shined even brighter because of this contrast.

The Kahiki did have a basement area - somehow this reminds me of tiki bars being built in hundreds of basement tiki bars stetched across America ... while again, the Mai Kai was stretched out horizontally across a single elevation.

Both the Kahiki and Mai Kai did what they were designed to do - recapture the Polynesian experience on a very grand scale. I miss the Kahiki, and hope to return to the Mai Kai many times.

Vern

[ Edited by: ikitnrev on 2003-07-08 22:16 ]

[ Edited by: ikitnrev on 2003-07-08 22:17 ]