Tiki Central / General Tiki
JOHN-O's Zombie Road Trip...
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tikilongbeach
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 2:48 PM
Long Beach has some old school Chinese restaurants. At Fortune Garden on 4th Street you can get paper wrapped chicken, chow mein and chop suey. Chen's Chinese on Broadway has Almond Duck, paper wrapped chicken, egg foo young and chop suey. Chen's has great neon on the outside and vintage Chinese decor. Tea Garden and Le Yen Chinese Restaurant are 2 more chop suey serving places in LBC. I've been wanting to try Yen Ching in Orange, CA just because I like the building. It looks like it might have an interesting past life. They serve paper wrapped chicken and flaming pineapple chicken. |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 3:10 PM
But is the food good? at any of these places. |
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tikilongbeach
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 3:33 PM
Well...not really. Americanized Chinese food can be tasty, but I would give those places 2-3 stars out of 5. Should you make a special trip from Costa Mesa to LBC for dinner? No, but if you're shopping on Retro Row and need some MSG than visit Chen's. |
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JOHN-O
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 5:44 PM
JOHN-O does not condone bad Chop Suey !! :evil: |
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Bora Boris
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 7:04 PM
The Yen Ching has it's own thread on Tiki Central (kinda) and it has a great history as it's formerly Holo Wai Miniature Golf, The food is good but it's Beer and Wine only. :( |
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JOHN-O
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Fri, Mar 22, 2013 10:24 PM
Huh ?? Chop Suey usually begets Tiki. I guess in this case it was the other way around. |
OGR
Or Got Rum?
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Sat, Mar 23, 2013 8:28 AM
John-O, Great info on the old school Chinese restaurants. Being an New Englander/East Coaster growing up, unfortunately that was almost all we had w/ some tropical cocktails thrown in. In your knowledge quest have you ever come across this strange Mass/Rhode Island tradition? Chow Mein Sandwiches! We had them in Maine, also. |
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tiki mick
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Sat, Mar 23, 2013 9:26 AM
I eat at Yen Ching quite a lot. The food is good. |
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JOHN-O
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Sat, Mar 23, 2013 8:53 PM
I have indeed encountered the chow mein sandwich only it wasn't in a restaurant. It was in the Orange County CA kitchen of a close friend of mine. My friend Doris grew up outside of Boston, and along with her 2 siblings worked in their parents' Chinese restaurant. After college all 3 kids migrated to California, with the parents following suit after selling the restaurant to retire in the sunshine. Also in a strange twist of Tiki fate, I learned that Doris's 2 uncles owned the recently closed Hong Kong Inn in Ventura CA where I ran a Tiki bus trip just last year !! Anyway Doris's parents visited her OC home on a regular basis where I used to inquire about their old family business. One time I asked what their specialty was and without skipping a beat they mentioned the chow mein sandwich. They said that dish was so popular that it paid for 3 kids' college educations. For years I used to bug her parents to make it for me so I too could partake in that regional "ancient Chinese secret". One day they happened to have all of the needed ingredients in the kitchen so they whipped one up for me. Essentially it was Chow Mein piled open face on top of hamburger buns with a bunch of crispy noodles. I tried to eat it like a regular sandwich but it ended up as one big sloppy mess. I didn't quite get the appeal but they said their old Caucasian customer base LOVED it. :-? |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Sat, Mar 23, 2013 9:28 PM
I wonder how many of you had this growing up "Omelet & Rice" it is basically My dad was in the Marines and stationed in Japan in the 1950s This was in a few 1950s cooking books & old magazines,it was popular with service men who We still eat it today. |
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JOHN-O
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Sun, Mar 24, 2013 8:49 AM
Actually just as a point of clarification, the ex-Tiki golf course that's now a Chinese restaurant, Yen Ching, is not what I would consider a true Chop Suey restaurant. For one thing they they advertise themselves as Mandarin and Schezwan, not Cantonese. Also both chop suey and egg foo yung are conspicuously not on the menu. Yes I know it may appear like I'm spitting egg rolls there, but the types of places I'm calling attention to have a very specific vintage lineage to mid-century culture (and thus a spiritual relationship to Tiki IMHO). Here's some of the criteria I apply...
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TM
tiki mick
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Sun, Mar 24, 2013 9:20 AM
I eat it like that too. But we call it Hawaiian-filipino style. |
TM
tiki mick
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Sun, Mar 24, 2013 9:24 AM
You are probably right, John. Yen Ching is not exactly a chop suey, but is more as you describe: "Chinese food for white people". I do think the reason you find a lot of mexicans eating at these places might be because of where they are located? An interesting side note: My favorite restaurant is actually a korean tofu joint on garden grove blvd. The owners and staff hardly speak english. It is as authentic as you can get, but every time I am in there I see mexicans eating, sometimes in large groups. I have no idea how they communicate what they want to eat...but that stuff is very spicy, so maybe that's the appeal. |
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JOHN-O
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Sat, May 4, 2013 8:11 AM
We need a theme song here on Chop Suey Central. And here it is !! "Flower Drum Song" is to Chop Suey culture, what "South Pacific" is to Poly Pop culture. And since Tiki Oasis is going Hulabilly this year. Here's some Rock n' Egg Roll... Oriental Rock by Bill Haley. A surfy version by the Quarter Notes, who also did a related song, Suki Yaki Rocki. And expanding on the theme, here's the 5.6.7.8's with their modern take. Is the term "Oriental" really that politically incorrect? I kinda consider it "Tiki". :) |
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forgotten tikiman
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Sat, May 4, 2013 10:42 AM
Great videos and songs John-O. :) |
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JOHN-O
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Tue, May 21, 2013 10:19 PM
"Tiki is so Gay !!" Ever hear that flippant remark from non-Tikiphiles who just don't get it ?? I guess it must be their knee jerk reaction to all of the flowery shirts, umbrella drinks, elevator music, and cute ceramic mugs. ( |
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MadDogMike
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Wed, May 22, 2013 6:21 AM
John-O. I never want to see the words "Drag" and "Big Tiki Dude" in the same sentence again, especially in the context of a gay tiki bar! :lol: |
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tikilongbeach
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Wed, May 22, 2013 8:19 AM
Tiki Cocktail Lounge in Modesto is another gay tiki bar. |
HT
Hale Tiki
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Wed, May 22, 2013 9:59 AM
That place has some great tikis. |
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lunavideogames
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Wed, May 22, 2013 10:48 AM
Looks fun! I would think that they would want to keep the wangs on their tikis. I guess those silly missionaries made it all the way to Palm Springs... |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Wed, May 22, 2013 11:08 AM
I don't know how you find the time John |
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bigtikidude
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Wed, May 22, 2013 11:30 AM
I'm not saying anything. |
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Pittsburgh pauly
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 7:55 AM
I'm glad that my people are carrying on the great tradition of camp. |
HT
Hale Tiki
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 9:10 AM
Italians? |
WD
White Devil
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 9:35 AM
Where are the ferns? |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 10:42 AM
Steel workers? |
KBT3
King Bushwich the 33rd
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 10:46 AM
Steeler fans? Pirate Fans? Penguin fans? |
OGR
Or Got Rum?
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Tue, Jun 4, 2013 1:23 PM
Fanatical lovers of Primanti Bros. & Robert Wholey? |
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Pittsburgh pauly
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Fri, Jun 7, 2013 3:19 PM
Never thought I'd see a Wholey's reference on TC! HA! |
WD
White Devil
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 10:52 AM
Unfortunately, the Atlanta Trader Vic's is turning into a drag queen hangout on Thursday nights... I don't think they'd have to look very far to find genuine wahines, and I can only imagine what these bozos/bozettes sound like. I think real tikiphiles should register their opinions about this with Trader Vic's management. TVs should stand for Trader Vic's, and not anything else. [ Edited by: White Devil 2013-07-18 11:12 ] |
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JOHN-O
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 11:11 AM
Oh White Devil, don't be such a hater !! Don't you know that "Third Genderism" is an accepted lifestyle in many Polynesian cultures. Cross-dressing is Tiki !! I'll mention this to Otto in case he's running out of theme ideas. :) EDIT - Let me correct my grammar. I meant to say the "Third GENDER"."Genderism" would imply bias against said gender. :( [ Edited by: JOHN-O 2013-07-18 19:29 ] |
WD
White Devil
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 11:16 AM
Look, I'm perfectly tolerant of you dressing up like Vince Masuka from "Dexter" at Hukilau, but I draw the line there, bud. :wink: |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 12:46 PM
Hey, Anything is better then a "Hipster Crowd" Like Ed Wood said: I need more Transvestites! |
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lunavideogames
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 12:48 PM
Yeah, Don's get pretty hipster after the sun goes down. Scary! |
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tikilongbeach
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 12:55 PM
It doesn't bother me at all, then again I'm funny like that, as are quite a few other tiki people. -Lori [ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-07-18 12:57 ] |
ATP
Atomic Tiki Punk
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:01 PM
And we need more funny "Tiki" People! |
WD
White Devil
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:04 PM
Yeah, hipsters are pretty gag-inducing as well: we get a bellyful of them in our college town. I don't mean to sound intolerant of transgenders and whatnot: it's purely a matter of relevant entertainment. Singing drag queens has as much to do with Polynesian cuisine & atmosphere as a Pink Floyd cover band or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. |
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tikilongbeach
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:11 PM
Tiki and drag queens are both subcultures that love their kitsch. I'm guessing that is the tie-in or maybe it is the tv's at TV's theme. Fa'afafine: The boys raised to be girls [ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-07-19 08:14 ] |
WD
White Devil
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:17 PM
So do we want the uncomprehending public to associate one of our most esteemed tiki franchises & subcultures with Margaritaville, Party City crepe paper & now drag queens? Are we ready for the collapse of the tiki revival? |
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RevBambooBen
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:19 PM
At least they're not closing down. :) |
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JOHN-O
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:31 PM
Who cares what the "uncomprehending public" thinks ?? As long as Hipsters, Parrotheads, Drag Queens, etc. are spending their cash in the Tiki Bar, that's all that matters. $$$ is what keeps the Tiki Revival alive, at least from the standpoint of commercial Tiki establishments. |
WD
White Devil
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 1:37 PM
The elitist capitalist in me agrees with you, but the tiki elitist in me is preparing protest signage. The ATL Trader Vic's is in the basement of the downtown Hilton, and relies a great deal upon the uncomprehending hotel patrons who wander in for unplanned visits. I have to wonder how many will stick around when they hear RuPaul belting out one in the bar? [ Edited by: White Devil 2013-07-18 13:47 ] |
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JOHN-O
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 8:42 PM
Hey at least your ATL female impersonators and drag shows have a connection to the original Tiki era (think "Some Like it Hot"). Our own So Cal. Don the Beachcomber hosts KISS tribute bands, Led Zeppelin (all female) tribute bands, Reggae Sundays, and events we affectionately refer to as "Cougar" speed dating. And you know what ? WE LIKE IT !! ( Well maybe not Boris. And Atomic Tiki Punk goes postal when there's Karaoke in the Dagger Bar. :( ) |
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LostIsland
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 8:47 PM
I can relate to ATP, karaoke has that effect on me anytime I am unfortunate enough to hear it.. |
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Bora Boris
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 9:34 PM
Whatever a classic Tiki Establishment needs to do to hang in there is fine with me but please don't post Comedy Traffic School (as an example) here as a Tiki Event. If Bahooka were still around and had Drag Queen Thursdays, I'd be happy that it was still there. In the meantime John-O, please have another Zombie somewhere and get this thread back on track. |
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JOHN-O
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 10:02 PM
Well no Zombies, but I did finally make it to the Enchanted Tiki Room earlier this year. First time in my life !! Kari Hendler aka Tangaroa-Ru aka Smartest (Nerdiest) TC Disneyphile was my guide. :) So many insider details and raw Tiki emotions to share but it's late... At least we've jumped to a new page. |
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RevBambooBen
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Thu, Jul 18, 2013 11:51 PM
Jon-O you missed the ETR when it was the best back in the 80's. Now it's all clean and perfect! :( |
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LostIsland
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Fri, Jul 19, 2013 1:01 AM
Also before they removed the Offenbach section of the show... |