Post #770400 by oroborean on Fri, Nov 18, 2016 5:59 PM

On 2016-11-10 11:07, mikehooker wrote:
For what it's worth, Tonga revamped their menu at the end of October. Last week my wife had the Tonga Kong and I the Planter's Punch. Both very good. Then we shared a Rainmaker bowl which wasn't bad either. I had gone in with very low expectations on the drinks and was pleasantly surprised. They weren't Mai Kai level great but enjoyable nonetheless. If their prices were lower we would have continued drinking but with pupus, dinner and dessert we were in for over 200 bucks. Oh, the mai tai creme brule was phenom.

mike hipped me to the fact that Tonga Room had just redone their cocktail menu, so i had to walk over and see for myself. sure enough they done did. it's limited and it's still not quite up to the craft cocktails you would expect at higher end bars, but it is definitely an upgrade. they have a lot of premixes and a fairly narrow rum selection, and don't appear to use much if any fresh squeezed juice, but this is a welcome step in the right direction. they appear to use a lot of bacardi and hamilton products.

the menu is fairly limited, but the bartenders were working their butts off and doing a great job when i was there. i had the "1944 Mai Tai," which was good not great, and the "1934 Zombie," which tasted really hot at first but got a lot more balanced as the ice melted. my companion had the Jet Pilot, which was probably the best drink either of us tasted all night. other menu items include the Jungle Bird, Fog Cutter, Planter's Punch, "Hurry Kane," and "Spice Killer" (a Pain Killer with allspice dram) et al.

the food is always great at the Tonga Room, and makes the drinks taste better, but unfortunately we were unable to partake on this visit. hopefully we will be back soon.