Post #625350 by tikitabby on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 9:34 PM

Great links SDT -thanks for sharing them!
I grew up in Vancouver and had my first Tiki Revelation at the Waldorf when I was about six years old at my mother's office Christmas party. It was life changing to be sure!
I attended the now legendary re-opening/Hallowe'en party back in 2010 and have been back many, many times since. They've done a great job with the reno, resurrecting it from the nightmare it had become in the 1980's-90's.
The food is okay - not brilliant - and the cocktail list was very rocky for awhile. At one point they'd removed Mai Tais completely because they were "too labour intensive". But I do keep returning as it's the only game in town as far as Tiki goes and it reminds me of home ( I work in Vancouver although I don't live here - long story.)
The Tiki Bar is gorgeous and the Leetegs truly amazing. You really feel like you're in another place, and not one famous for endless rain and hockey riots...
Part of me thinks they really didn't know what they had when they reopened. On my second visit after the opening party the Menehune room was closed but they did take me on a tour when I asked and very reluctantly pulled back the curtains to reveal the murals which they seemed almost embarrassed about - crazy! They thought the makaki'i were "space helmets"! Aggh! And when I asked if they were going to have their own tiki mugs they looked at me and asked if I meant "those brown things"....sigh.
Hopefully with the response they've had over the last year and a half they have a better appreciation of the treasure under their feet. It really is a jewel especially in Vancouver which seems so trigger-happy when it comes to erasing its history.