Trader Vic's Downtown Los Angeles!, Los Angeles, CA (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

T thejab Grand Member (1 year) Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2992	T thejab Posted posted on Thu, May 14, 2009 4:35 PM I had dinner there last Saturday night with some friends and was impressed all around. The food was excellent. I thought it was better than the recent SF Vic's food was. I had the pork chop from the Chinese wood oven and it was outstanding, as were the sides it came with. We also had the Cosmo Tidbits and chicken skewers for appetizers. The service was very attentive and friendly. The decor was marvelous, like an old Trader Vic's. I especially liked the large outrigger in the dining room to the side of the main dining room, which may be from the old Chicago Vic's. I also liked the way the wood oven was displayed behind a glass wall in the dining room. My favorite thing was the cocktails of course! I always thought the quality of the drinks at Beverly Hills Vic's surpassed all the other locations. And the new LA one did not disappoint. I had a Stinker, a Trader Vic's Grog, and a Coffee Grog after dinner in the bar. My friend Javier from Spain (who travels the world making sure all their bars all serve consistently good drinks) did the flaming duties on my coffee grog. On the previous Friday at Happy Hour I had a Mai Tai, a Gun Club Punch, and a Tortuga. All the cocktails were excellent, and the bartenders were passionate, were good at suggesting drinks, and knew all about the taste of the drinks they were making. My bartender even gave me a warning about the ingredients in one, in case I didn't like certain flavors, before making it for me. The live Hawaiian music and hula dancers, who even did some dances in the dining room, was icing on the cake! I didn't dig the band as much when they did cheesy ballads from the 60s and 70s though. I have only two minor criticisms: my calamari appetizer on Friday was sprinkled with coarse salt, so some pieces were too salty for my tastes, while other pieces tasted fine. I suggest they serve a small ramekin of salt on the side and let the customer apply it themselves. There are too many TVs in the bar. I realize that they are close to many sports venues so I guess they have to have one large TV. But three seems like too many. At least the sound was turned down (or off). Everything else was superb! I will be back whenever I am visiting LA next.

I had dinner there last Saturday night with some friends and was impressed all around. The food was excellent. I thought it was better than the recent SF Vic's food was. I had the pork chop from the Chinese wood oven and it was outstanding, as were the sides it came with. We also had the Cosmo Tidbits and chicken skewers for appetizers. The service was very attentive and friendly. The decor was marvelous, like an old Trader Vic's. I especially liked the large outrigger in the dining room to the side of the main dining room, which may be from the old Chicago Vic's. I also liked the way the wood oven was displayed behind a glass wall in the dining room.

My favorite thing was the cocktails of course! I always thought the quality of the drinks at Beverly Hills Vic's surpassed all the other locations. And the new LA one did not disappoint. I had a Stinker, a Trader Vic's Grog, and a Coffee Grog after dinner in the bar. My friend Javier from Spain (who travels the world making sure all their bars all serve consistently good drinks) did the flaming duties on my coffee grog. On the previous Friday at Happy Hour I had a Mai Tai, a Gun Club Punch, and a Tortuga. All the cocktails were excellent, and the bartenders were passionate, were good at suggesting drinks, and knew all about the taste of the drinks they were making. My bartender even gave me a warning about the ingredients in one, in case I didn't like certain flavors, before making it for me.

The live Hawaiian music and hula dancers, who even did some dances in the dining room, was icing on the cake! I didn't dig the band as much when they did cheesy ballads from the 60s and 70s though.

I have only two minor criticisms: my calamari appetizer on Friday was sprinkled with coarse salt, so some pieces were too salty for my tastes, while other pieces tasted fine. I suggest they serve a small ramekin of salt on the side and let the customer apply it themselves.

There are too many TVs in the bar. I realize that they are close to many sports venues so I guess they have to have one large TV. But three seems like too many. At least the sound was turned down (or off).

Everything else was superb! I will be back whenever I am visiting LA next.

Post #453990 by thejab on Thu, May 14, 2009 4:35 PM