Kanaloa, London,, UK (bar)

Name:Kanaloa
Type:bar
Street:Hill House, 18 Lime Office Court, Shoe Lane,
City:London,
State:
Zip:EC4A 3BQ
country:UK
Phone:(020) 7842 0620
Status:operational

Description:
Brought to you by the folks who did Mahiki? Jamie of Cheeky Tiki?

Kanaloa is a Polynesian Tiki bar brought to you by the people behind Mahiki and Sarah Harding. This colourful Hawaiian themed venue has a relaxed atmosphere with DJs playing classic summer anthems. They serve a wide variety of exotic dishes and cocktails and boast 140 different rums.

Mon-Fri 16:00-03:00
Sat-Sun Closed

This article covers two new upscale/cutting edge clubs in London one Tiki (Kanaloa), one burlesque related

http://www.thehandbook.co.uk/246-square-mile-clubbing-news-article.asp

[ Edited by: Otto 2009-11-08 00:09 ]

Yes, this is the new bar we have just done, I was just waiting for the official photos to be released.
Kanaloa is a sister club to Mahiki situated in the "City" area of London.
We have created some hopefully impressive design elements, hand carved Tiki wood panelling around the bar, museum style display cases, treehouses and my favourite, 300 glass fishing floats suspended above the dancefloor that change colour.
There is also a cool menu designed by Tiki Racer and as well as some of the favourite drinks and mugs from Mahiki some new Kanaloa drinking vessels like the Kanaloa Mug,also a giant octopus mug for eight(one of the god Kanaloas forms) and as it is situated next to Gunpowder alley a drink served in a cannon with cannon ball mugs.
I will post photos as soon as they are released

Incredible! So that's where you've been all this time! Keeping busy CREATING Tiki, not talking about it. :)
One of these days I gotta come over!

So when's the Britiki get together?

Any pics of this place? Sounds very cool.

There's a Facebook group with sketches...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=151222256750&ref=mf

More reviews!

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/clubs/kanaloa-review-61565.html

These are the Official Kanaloa Press shots, there are still a lot more areas to show which I will add once my camera is working

This is truly a gorgeous bar. I've named my (as of yet unopened) home bar "The Kanaloa Lounge"...so it's really interesting to me to see this. I'd love to get some of the Kanaloa mugs.

Nice!!!

Yowzah! Done it again, you wild and crazy Englanders! You do the Tiki proud!

I, of course, especially like the way you re-connected the Museum display case tradition back with the Poly pop tradition --much of the concept of Tiki bar decor was taken from museum displays:

British Museum

Hamburg Museum

Islands Restaurant at Hanalei Hotel/ booth

Mai Kai time card protectors

And the cocktail presentation concepts seem to top everything before and after, jeez!:

"For a truly sinister and indulgent experience, order the Dead Man’s Chest composed of Seven Tiki Gold Mascara Cherries, Fresh Lemon, Pomegranate and Apple Juices transfused with a carafe of blood red Claret and brought to your table by a full blown voodoo funeral procession from the bar to your table.

In keeping with its party spirit, Kanaloa pulls out all the stops when it comes to creating cocktails to share. Christian’s Cannon (£120) serves six to eight people comfortably and is based on a Black Velvet. Inspired by the mutiny on the Bounty, the cocktail is named after Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny on the ship and the explosive combination is served in a ceramic canon complete with a fizzing sparkler fuse. If you’re looking for a showcase for the mixologists’ talent, this is it. They’ve sourced their own old fashioned gun powder (so that it’s not toxic) and infused the rum with it before mixing it with apricots, spices and Guinness and then topping it with the house Pommery Champagne."

Now this sounds almost decadent:

"Despite its location in the heart of the male-dominated financial district, Kanaloa will be a City bar that breaks the mould, aimed firmly at ladies. To achieve this there will be several female-friendly house rules and initiatives including; free entry for ladies, complimentary manicures, massages and makeovers."

What the right meeting of money and imagination can do, my my! Of course this can only work in a major metropolis with a solid and moneyed night-clubbing community. But aren't they creating competition to themselves, the Mahiki? I guess in the fast-paced world of night clubs, things become passe in a couple of years, and it's better to beat yourself than be beaten by outside competition. :)

Really, an outstanding achievement, thank you Jamie and Anji.

Thankyou all for your kind words, here are a couple of slightly blurry shots of some of the other areas.

Wow. Uber impressive panels, and loving the cannibal tiki.

Wow! Those look like doors, those panels, are they? And at this point, do you carve the Tikis yourself, still, or do you just design them? They simply have the perfect balance between modern stylization and Polynesian tradition. Here, folks still get excited about friggin hot rod cartoon Tikis....sigh.

Holy... Moly. That is Tiki Heaven. Absolutely beautiful and the level of detail seems stunning. Those doors/panels are just... well, Bergeron and Crane would be impressed. And the intricate carving in the hand rail. Wonderful job again. You guys keep raising the bar!

So I'm guessing that dance floor with the 300 suspended glass floats wasn't exactly designed for people to dance to Quiet Village, eh? :)

Yes, I like the museum display cases as well.

This :down:

reminds me a lot of this :down:

and this :down:

from the Mai-Kai.

I went there this Tuesday with a couple of colleagues after work.

Pluses:
Decor is fantastic - everything you see in the photos and more.
Really nice use of the space with all the different areas having their own style and each giving you a feeling of having your own private space.

Minuses:
The music - the DJ wasn't in attendance and the dance floor wasn't in use. But in the club there seemed to be just one tape that repeated each hour offering such exotica as Guns n Roses, Park life, View to a Kill etc.
Food was OK but no vegetarian options (not a problem for me but a big problem in London generally).
No Wahines - all the staff were male!

The drinks were a very varied bunch. All were very well presented and came in a wide variety of mugs and glassware and included a few drinks from it's sister bar Mahaiki.
However there seemed to be a lot of modern cocktails not based on the usual rum and my colleagues didn't find these to their taste.

Also I think it has yet to gather the attention of the masses - even though it was a Tuesday night, up til 10pm there was never more than a dozen people.

Defiantly worth a visit, and I intend going back again closer to a weekend.

some ephemera from Kanaloa

Drinks Mat

Postcard - front (advertising flyer)

Postcard - rear (advertising flyer)

I've got the menu as well, but unfortunately it's too large for my scanner - so will have to wait until later when I can take some pictures with my camera.

ps. all items taken with permission.

Now there's something for Zeta: A Mexican pin up girl that says "Aloha!" :D

I'm definitely going there this spring...

Their website is finally online!

http://www.kanaloaclub.com

Also, since a while they are also open on Saturdays - 9.00pm until 3.00am.

Visited Kanaloa last week, and WOW it's great! I had the most fantastic drink called NUI NUI-NI - Cigar infused Havana Club, Madagascan vanilla, pimento, cinnamon and Carpano Antica Formula.

Here are some photos:

Groupon, one of the fastest growing companies in the world at the moment, offer great deals at restaurants, bars etc.. yesterday they had 70% voucher off drinks at KANALOA, I tried to post the link but unfortunately the forum wasn't working... the deals are only valid 24 hours, and a bought voucher is normally valid between 3-6 months. I'll let you know if they offer something similar again...

http://tradermagnus.blogspot.com

[ Edited by: Trader Magnus 2010-08-20 00:35 ]

Hmmm, I had news last weekend that a bar called Kanaloa is opening in Glasgow. I can't find a lot of information, but the pictures on the website look exactly like some on this thread: http://www.mansionhouseglasgow.com/kanaloa

So I guess it's a chain now?

Not that I'll be ditching my beloved Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn for this place, but it's gotta be worth a try!

Kanaloa at Mansion House Glasgow is open, they have not added any pictures yet to the website but I will put some up in Locating next week when I go back and take some properly.

Kool. I might have to pop along for a nosey anyway this weekend! Haven't been in a tiki bar outside my own kitchen since Tiki Ti in LA 3 weeks ago (a real Ray's Mistake-fest, being a Wednesday) - withdrawal!