Forbidden Island, Alameda, CA (bar)

Here's my Forbidden Island review that I originally posted under another thread. It was suggested that I include it here.

Also I need some advice. What's the closed BART station to Alameda? Are there usually cabs waiting there that I can take to FI?

Thank You.

........let’s start with my visit to Forbidden Island, a place I haven’t been for almost 3 years. Now let’s face it, most of the recent Tiki Central Bay Area spotlight has shone on SC with FI being relegated to “the place that Martin Cate left”. Conventional wisdom would dictate that the quality would fall much in the same way when a celebrity chef leaves a famous restaurant.

This feeling was reinforced when I had a chat with someone I meet at LA’s Varnish bar earlier last year. This self-described San Francisco “New Cocktailian” insisted he was a former FI regular and that the place had gone downhill when Martin left.

Since I was staying with friends in the East Bay, I decided to check it out for myself. Upon entering FI, it felt as if I was just there the previous week. That “never changes, frozen in time” Tiki atmosphere was still in place. The mood was still that of a low-key neighborhood bar, FI hadn’t turned into a beer swilling sports bar.

Now did you ever have a cocktail that after the first sip, made an impression that just stayed with you? That was the impact I got when I first sipped on a Martiki-mixed traditional Mai Tai in 2007. Now I’m more of a Navy Grog guy, but I’ve never had a Mai Tai quite like that since. That was my first cocktail choice of the evening. I took my first sip, and then had that same feeling of sublime recognition I remembered from years before. Nothing had changed. Another key drink of the evening was the Jet Pilot which I would say was one of the best Tropical cocktails I’ve tasted (I’m jumping ahead here, but I also tried the Jet Pilot at SC. Very very good, but I think I preferred the FI one just a tad more.)

So here’s my point. In my opinion, any rumors that FI has gone downhill are total BS. Talking to Susan (one of the bar managers) and Paddy (my bartender of the evening), FI’s dedication to master mixology and devotion to classic Tiki-style are still very much in place.

On the West Coast, it’s sometimes easy to take FI for granted. Now we have so many great Tropical cocktail places like SC, DTBC, the revamped Tonga Hut, the downtown LA TV, and Frankie’s Tiki Room. We forget that when FI first opened, the only other real game in the West was Tiki-Ti. It’s great to see that one of the first places that set the high Tiki standard still continues to maintain it. Don’t think of FI as the place that Martin Cate left but rather as the place he helped to define.

I was at FI on Martin Denny night and it was spectacular. Great vibe and awesome cocktails. First rate. My take: martiki and Mike began a great legacy there that is continuing - as it should be.

Suzanne is a great hostess and manager and has the right attitude for all of the patrons. Well done.

Nice things going on cocktail-wise at Forbidden Island these days. The new drink menu addendum has one page of classic tropical drinks and a page of modern cocktails. Tried a bunch of them and liked quite a few. The new Tropical Itch is very nice, packs a punch along with an itch.

Still, the old school guy that I am, give me a Navy Grog and I am happy. It's a tasty grog now at F.I., new and improved it lacks only a sugar stick. I have been rather impressed the last few months by the cocktail quality and innovation going on, kudos to the F.I. crew.

My heart still belongs to the Hawaii Kai Treasure,
midnite

Really excited to have been voted "Best Specialty Cocktails" in the 2011 SF Baylist poll. A really cool birthday present as we gear up for our 5th Anniversary!

http://baylist.cityvoter.com/winners/baylist/4789/nightlife/speciailty-cocktails

Mahalo!

Congrats Michael!

On 2011-04-01 09:42, Molokai Mike wrote:
Really excited to have been voted "Best Specialty Cocktails" in the 2011 SF Baylist poll. A really cool birthday present as we gear up for our 5th Anniversary!

http://baylist.cityvoter.com/winners/baylist/4789/nightlife/speciailty-cocktails

Mahalo!

Clicked on that link and happened to notice what fine establishment finished second to Forbidden Island. Haven't been to that place in years, but I am familiar with one of their staff, specifically their expert rumologist. Heard he's just started working at another place, perfecting his craft. Wonder where that would be?

WooHoo! A Trip to The Bay Area would not be complete without a visit to Forbidden Island.......

Went to the FI again this week. Vibe & the drinks are both still GREAT. If you have NEVER been, you MUST go!!! JOHN-O's review is spot on!!! Thortiki

On 2010-03-02 18:30, JOHN-O wrote:
Here's my Forbidden Island review that I originally posted under another thread. It was suggested that I include it here.

Also I need some advice. What's the closed BART station to Alameda? Are there usually cabs waiting there that I can take to FI?

Thank You.

........let’s start with my visit to Forbidden Island, a place I haven’t been for almost 3 years. Now let’s face it, most of the recent Tiki Central Bay Area spotlight has shone on SC with FI being relegated to “the place that Martin Cate left”. Conventional wisdom would dictate that the quality would fall much in the same way when a celebrity chef leaves a famous restaurant.

This feeling was reinforced when I had a chat with someone I meet at LA’s Varnish bar earlier last year. This self-described San Francisco “New Cocktailian” insisted he was a former FI regular and that the place had gone downhill when Martin left.

Since I was staying with friends in the East Bay, I decided to check it out for myself. Upon entering FI, it felt as if I was just there the previous week. That “never changes, frozen in time” Tiki atmosphere was still in place. The mood was still that of a low-key neighborhood bar, FI hadn’t turned into a beer swilling sports bar.

Now did you ever have a cocktail that after the first sip, made an impression that just stayed with you? That was the impact I got when I first sipped on a Martiki-mixed traditional Mai Tai in 2007. Now I’m more of a Navy Grog guy, but I’ve never had a Mai Tai quite like that since. That was my first cocktail choice of the evening. I took my first sip, and then had that same feeling of sublime recognition I remembered from years before. Nothing had changed. Another key drink of the evening was the Jet Pilot which I would say was one of the best Tropical cocktails I’ve tasted (I’m jumping ahead here, but I also tried the Jet Pilot at SC. Very very good, but I think I preferred the FI one just a tad more.)

So here’s my point. In my opinion, any rumors that FI has gone downhill are total BS. Talking to Susan (one of the bar managers) and Paddy (my bartender of the evening), FI’s dedication to master mixology and devotion to classic Tiki-style are still very much in place.

On the West Coast, it’s sometimes easy to take FI for granted. Now we have so many great Tropical cocktail places like SC, DTBC, the revamped Tonga Hut, the downtown LA TV, and Frankie’s Tiki Room. We forget that when FI first opened, the only other real game in the West was Tiki-Ti. It’s great to see that one of the first places that set the high Tiki standard still continues to maintain it. Don’t think of FI as the place that Martin Cate left but rather as the place he helped to define.

Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en Visits Forbidden Island

http://youtu.be/VmXRsJVDGwQ

Wasting precious hours of what's left of my pathetic existence cruisin' through youtube lookin' for tiki stuff.....
Found this video, did a quick scan of this thread and didn't see it mentioned, thought I'd post a link.....

http://youtu.be/N9W37MSfsX4

howlinowl

On 2014-03-25 07:01, howlinowl wrote:
Wasting precious hours of what's left of my pathetic existence cruisin' through youtube lookin' for tiki stuff.....
Found this video, did a quick scan of this thread and didn't see it mentioned, thought I'd post a link.....

http://youtu.be/N9W37MSfsX4

howlinowl

Brings back Awesome memories!!! Thanks for posting this HOwl!

P.S. I was just there last week re-vamping the bathrooms.

Here's a video ( sorry non-face bookers)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152296662246240&set=vb.679291239&type=2&theater

Did you ratchet down that napalm water coming out of the faucet?

legend.