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Tiki Central / Locating Tiki / Mother Of Pearl, New York City, NY (restaurant)

Post #787936 by Pelorus on Fri, Jun 22, 2018 5:52 PM

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So I visited Mother of Pearl last night. I found it delightful. The descriptions at the start of the thread really aren't accurate. The photo from the old New York Times article makes the bar look bright and sterile.

In reality, the bar is dimly lit, and the effect was that the white trim, some walls, and other white features looked almost opalescent, like a pearl. Hence, the name of the bar seems accurate. I got a tropical beach dive bar feel, similar to some dives that I saw in Hawaii.

The atmosphere was relaxed. Music was subtle, and I actually don't remember what was playing. No televisions. We were there around 6ish and it was busy but not crowded. We got a table in the coziest, darkest corner of the bar. Our server treated us like Ohana. She guided us through the drinks and recommended the ones that are her favorites.

I ordered the Shark Bite drink ("passion fruit. lemon. maraschino. dry curaƧao. bourbon. rye. tiki bitters") and it came in a shark mug. When the server placed it down she started humming the Jaws theme and then dripped maraschino on the mug to simulate blood. My partner got the Night Bird cocktail ("lemon, white flowers, cinnamon, pineapple, bourbon"). We shared a stuffed churro dessert and then shared a Sugar Cane Magik (their version of a pina colada). Everything was outstanding. The drinks were complex and full of fresh flavor and spice. We had just visited Otto's Shrunken Head a few blocks away. I mentioned this to the server, and she said "You're on a tiki mission! Yeah!" Otto's was a cool dive bar, with more pure tiki aesthetic perhaps, but Mother of Pearl's drinks were 100x better.

I'll add another vote here to say Mother of Pearl is worth your time.