Post #9847 by Kailuageoff on Thu, Oct 3, 2002 3:29 PM

Just got back from NYC last night and was lucky enough to get to Waikiki Wally's on Tuesday night. First off, I have to apologize to Manic Cat for violating my creed about notifying other Tiki Centralites when in town (I really wasn't sure if I could get there due to time pressures, and didn't want to embarrass myself.) Anyway that said, I agree with what others have written. The place is well-done, intimate and friendly with good drinks.
When I was there an older oriental guy was wearing a plastic lei on his head and jumping from table to table asking everybody how they liked their food. I said, "you must be the owner," and he got this silly grin on his face and nodded like he had been busy all afternoon working on drink recipes.
I had a Scorpion that tasted just right and a really fine Mai-Tai. For dinner, I ordered the snapper. It was served like a miniature crispy fish -- with the head and tail upturned and intact -- on top of some coconut flavored rice. Ono stuff.
As for decorations, I liked the Moais out front and the war clubs and tiki's inside. The puffer fish lamps looked just like the ones back home. Also, the bamboo and thatching were first-class. The waterfall and the Cockatoo were just okay because the lighting was too bright in the waterfall room and too dark in the exotic fowl room (birds go to sleep in the dark). Musically, they were right on. I heard Denny, Lyman and Don Tiki, plus some vintage hapa haole tunes. Actually, it was the best recorded music I've come across in a tiki bar. My only atmospheric complaint was, as said previously... the lighting didn't feel quite right. Fortunately, that can be fixed with the flip of a switch.

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2002-10-03 20:23 ]