Post #69474 by cocktailcrazy on Wed, Jan 14, 2004 5:12 AM

Wow, you were not kidding. I have lived in the Bay Area all my life, and have flown in and out of San Jose International several times, but I never knew the Martini Monkey was there. When I picked my wife up last week at the airport, I made a point of actually going inside Terminal C to check it out. I must warn you, I am kind of a cocktail geek of sorts, so I'm a bit picky when it comes to drinks.

I was very pleasantly surprised by my experience!! To kind of test Jay (who was also there the night I went in), I ordered a very non-tiki drink (a classic Manhattan) to start off with, and he is one of the ONLY bartenders to actually use bitters in the drink. This is the original Manhattan recipe, and he nailed it. He even used the correct amount of Vermouth. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed!!

When my wife finally arrived, we got a little more tropical and ordered a Hemingway Daiquiri and a Caipirinha, which is a Brazilian drink that not many places in the Bay Area make. It's a kind of tart, in-your-face cocktail that needs to be balanced to taste right. WOW!! Very nice indeed. I appreciate the fact that they actually try and balance their cocktails, and that Jay was using fresh lemon and lime juices. All the drinks and the service was great, and I was actually able to talk with him about ingredients, different types of alcohol, and have a real conversation. Most bartenders say "um, I don't know." It was pretty cool :)

Thanks for the info about the Martini Monkey...I can't believe I've always overlooked it. They need to advertise or something. I didn't ask Jay when I was in there, so please post if you know of any other Martini Monkey locations. Do they have any others OUTSIDE of the airport?? Please let me know. Oh and the mural...WAY COOL!!

Thanks again for the tip!!

P.S..I am new to this forum here...I found it doing a search on google. What and where is the Tiki Crawl in the Bay Area, and can anyone participate? Thanks!!!!!