Smuggler's Cove, San Francisco, CA (bar) - Locating Tiki

L leleliz Tiki Socialite NorCal Joined: Sep 02, 2008 Posts: 1982	L leleliz Posted posted on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 7:54 PM I met up with Vantiki and his wife last week at the Cove-it was my 1st time there and we got there pretty much right when it opened. I had 3 drinks...including my standby the zombie and that had to be hands down the best zombie I have ever had. seriously. The menu is extensive and just when you make up your mind you spot some other concoction that has you drooling...then another...and another...making up our minds took at least 15 minutes. I did try 2 Cove drinks that were fantastic but I am a zombie addict and no matter where I go I will always order one. The Cove's drinks were above par and that zombie was epic. EPIC i tell ya! I spent the entire time downstairs and met up with some other folks that are regulars at Forbidden Island before Vantiki and Mrs. Vantiki arrived. I think the decor from the second story up is fantastic. Although I never got the "getaway" feeling I get every time I visit Forbidden Island it had a great mix of tiki/floats/lighting/water feature that went along with what you would expect from the place just by its name. I was not as impressed with the downstairs. We were curious as to why the staircase was metal. We were hoping for wood. I can understand that metal is a heck of a lot easier to clean and maintain but wood would of been perfection. A few things such as seating were big issues for us that night. The bench seats are too high and too straight up and not condusive to turning sideways to talk to the person next to you. I wish the booth backs were lower or sloped so you could rest your arm along the back or that they even had some arm rests so that you could get comfortable. We did like that you could sit around the pool over in the corner and although the room was somewhat crowded it didnt feel like you were squashed in at all. It would of been nice if the "rhum" boxes that were serving as mini tables were not as low to the ground or so small. All of us thought that barrels or even taller boxes would make more sense and prove to be more functional. As it was the boxes were knocking into our knee caps and kept being pushed back and forth to make room in order to pull our chairs closer to the bench seats so we could all hear what each other were saying. The lighting that goes along each side is really too bright if you sit back against the bench. Maybe gels could be placed over every other bulb to give more ambiance and be less harsh on the eyeballs when you lean back. Darkish room then bright white light...it was a little too bright sitting back even when you werent directly under the bulb. Music--there were people that you could tell had also never been to the Cove that were openly making comments about the music. I have no idea what the heck was playing but whatever it was it didnt fit. I wasn't expecting "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" but the bagpipe/drumming was completely out of place and everyone was finding it distracting--not just the folks on our side of the room. Misc-Swizzles--we did have a moment where Vantiki (you know who lives in Hawaii) wanted to take back a few swizzles with him as souvenirs. When I went up to the bar and asked the bartender if I could take some of these he said "Um only 2". This completely threw me esp since I did more than I do at most tiki bars and asked.Kind of petty but also pretty lame. Swizzles are like advertising and as many of you something I enjoy collecting. I ended up giving my drink swizzle and the 2 I was rationed to Vantiki to take with him since you know he lives in Hawaii and I figured I will pick some up next time I stop in. Shame though since at the time I was going to buy 2 rum barrel mugs but after that swizzle rationing I changed my mind. shrug All in all I give the drinks a 9.5 out of 10 (10 to be awarded later after I work through at least 1/2 the menu), decor from the mid level up an 8.5 (the bathroom threw off my grade because it reminded me of being in an office bathroom)and the downstairs decor a 6. So for what its worth that is my honest review. Maybe not the same as many on here but I thought I would share our opinions as a patron and supporter of all tiki related things in the Bay Area. Do I think the Cove is worth a stopover for a cocktail or two if you find yourself in SF--you bet. Maybe next time I will hang out on a different level :wink:

I met up with Vantiki and his wife last week at the Cove-it was my 1st time there and we got there pretty much right when it opened.

I had 3 drinks...including my standby the zombie and that had to be hands down the best zombie I have ever had. seriously. The menu is extensive and just when you make up your mind you spot some other concoction that has you drooling...then another...and another...making up our minds took at least 15 minutes.
I did try 2 Cove drinks that were fantastic but I am a zombie addict and no matter where I go I will always order one. The Cove's drinks were above par and that zombie was epic. EPIC i tell ya!

I spent the entire time downstairs and met up with some other folks that are regulars at Forbidden Island before Vantiki and Mrs. Vantiki arrived. I think the decor from the second story up is fantastic. Although I never got the "getaway" feeling I get every time I visit Forbidden Island it had a great mix of tiki/floats/lighting/water feature that went along with what you would expect from the place just by its name.

I was not as impressed with the downstairs.

We were curious as to why the staircase was metal. We were hoping for wood. I can understand that metal is a heck of a lot easier to clean and maintain but wood would of been perfection.

A few things such as seating were big issues for us that night. The bench seats are too high and too straight up and not condusive to turning sideways to talk to the person next to you. I wish the booth backs were lower or sloped so you could rest your arm along the back or that they even had some arm rests so that you could get comfortable. We did like that you could sit around the pool over in the corner and although the room was somewhat crowded it didnt feel like you were squashed in at all.

It would of been nice if the "rhum" boxes that were serving as mini tables were not as low to the ground or so small. All of us thought that barrels or even taller boxes would make more sense and prove to be more functional. As it was the boxes were knocking into our knee caps and kept being pushed back and forth to make room in order to pull our chairs closer to the bench seats so we could all hear what each other were saying.

The lighting that goes along each side is really too bright if you sit back against the bench. Maybe gels could be placed over every other bulb to give more ambiance and be less harsh on the eyeballs when you lean back. Darkish room then bright white light...it was a little too bright sitting back even when you werent directly under the bulb.

Music--there were people that you could tell had also never been to the Cove that were openly making comments about the music. I have no idea what the heck was playing but whatever it was it didnt fit. I wasn't expecting "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" but the bagpipe/drumming was completely out of place and everyone was finding it distracting--not just the folks on our side of the room.

Misc-Swizzles--we did have a moment where Vantiki (you know who lives in Hawaii) wanted to take back a few swizzles with him as souvenirs. When I went up to the bar and asked the bartender if I could take some of these he said "Um only 2". This completely threw me esp since I did more than I do at most tiki bars and asked.Kind of petty but also pretty lame. Swizzles are like advertising and as many of you something I enjoy collecting. I ended up giving my drink swizzle and the 2 I was rationed to Vantiki to take with him since you know he lives in Hawaii and I figured I will pick some up next time I stop in. Shame though since at the time I was going to buy 2 rum barrel mugs but after that swizzle rationing I changed my mind. shrug

All in all I give the drinks a 9.5 out of 10 (10 to be awarded later after I work through at least 1/2 the menu), decor from the mid level up an 8.5 (the bathroom threw off my grade because it reminded me of being in an office bathroom)and the downstairs decor a 6.

So for what its worth that is my honest review. Maybe not the same as many on here but I thought I would share our opinions as a patron and supporter of all tiki related things in the Bay Area. Do I think the Cove is worth a stopover for a cocktail or two if you find yourself in SF--you bet. Maybe next time I will hang out on a different level :wink:

Post #511694 by leleliz on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 7:54 PM