Beachcomber (May Fair Hotel), London, England (restaurant)

Name:Beachcomber (May Fair Hotel)
Type:restaurant
Street:Berkeley Square
City:London
State:
Zip:
country:England
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:

This Beachcomber restaurant was located in the May Fair Hotel in London and was not affiliated with the Butlins Beachcomber bars. I have two postcards showing the great interior of the restaurant and bar.

There has been some interest in the very rare collectible items from the Beachcomber on TC lately, including:

The Salt and Pepper shakers

Which can be seen in the postcard

The plates from photos posted by atomictonytiki

Which can also be seen in the postcard

The Mugs (from photos posted by atomictonytiki)

The Swizzle

The menu with the Mayfair's Marquesan logo Tiki posted by Bigbro

Look forward to seeing photos of the mugs and plates come forward some day.

DC

I checked out the British website that had some of the images of the Beachcomber and there are two really great video clips of the interior. You can see the mugs and the salt and pepper shakers.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=1550

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=1552

Here is a screen grab of the Kava Bowl that was served at the Beachcomber, what a beauty.

DC

The music video for ABC's Poison Arrow was made there in 1982

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbmd0j_abc-poison-arrow_music

In a mixed lot of swizzles bought for £1.04 from Ebay...

Was a Beachcomber Bar stirrer. At last!

There were also three 'Hecho en Cuba' sticks - two Barcardi branded and one dancer from the Tropicana.

House of Bamboo,

Great score on the swizzle, now you just need to find one of the mugs and a plate!

DC

I won't hold my breath, DC!

I went to look around a year or so back. The hotel spa is where the Beachcomber was, I believe. I had a very expensive rasul and steam room treatment... not a sniff of any tiki!

An old related thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=528&forum=1&4

Spotted this complete lot on eBay a few years ago:

Appetizer Menu :down:

Dinner Menu :down:

Drinks Menu :down:

Matchbook :down:

Have we ever seen the inside of the drink menu? I do not recall....
Can someone post it here?

I do believe Trader Jim of Pocketiki won these, c'mon Jim give us a peep!

Here is another matchbook style from the Beachcomber.

And two of the Crypto mugs that sold on ebay as posted by Atomictonytiki.

Still waiting to see the inside of that drink menu.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-01-08 06:18 ]

Another matchcover that Tikiwagon sent to us

Been meaning to post this photo from the Beachcomber for a while...sorry it's not a good repro but it captures the tropical pool area and the panoramic backdrop quite well. Every half hour the whole area would darken and there would be a tropical downpour into the pool. According to the head barman the baby crocodiles that swam in the pool would escape into the bar area now and again...

The Beachcomber was used in the filming of "The Comic Strip presents: Slags"

Starring Antony Stuart Head

You can watch the whole thing on You Tube..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT-E1DXXOUI

the above image is in the latest issue of timeout Sydney, accompanying this article...
http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/the-bridge/features/10075/kinga-arthur-delaney

I'm posting from my iPhone so apologies for the formatting!

Ah, The Beachcomber and criminals, it's my cherished hope to find a picture of the Kray Twins in the Beachcomber as they claimed Mayfair as part of their criminal empire in the sixties.

[ Edited by: dylanesq 2014-04-10 18:19 ]

[ Edited by: dylanesq 2014-04-10 18:20 ]

Just picked up this dish off of e-Bay:

I think I see this particular dish being served to a table in one of the earlier posted video links, but hard to tell what's in it. Maybe wontons or eggrolls?

More on these here on a previous thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=41251&forum=5&hilite=restaurant%20ware

Here is the info I found on the maker:

Tuscan China
Production years: 1898 - 1970
The Tuscan China Plant was a manufacturing plant in Staffordshire County in west-central England. Because of its "Tuscan" name, it is sometimes mistakenly thought to be china made in the Tuscany section of northern Italy. After extensive research, Tuscan Works developed products for hotels called Metallised Hotel China; it was strong enough to resist plate fracturing and better than anything then available. When Wedgwood acquired R.H. & S.L. Plant Ltd. in 1970, it changed the name from Tuscan China to Royal Tuscan Fine Bone China. It was Tuscan Works' line of Metallised Hotel China that had especially attracted Wedgwood. The Tuscan Works plant closed in 2006.

[ Edited by: Trader Tom 2012-07-07 02:20 ]

That is a really nice find. Congratulations.

This week I had the luck of the devil...

"Unusual vintage cruet set - £3.99"

you lucky devil :)

you lucky devil :)

On 2011-12-10 21:02, atomictonytiki wrote:
Ah, The Beachcomber and criminals, it's my cherished hope to find a picture of the Kray Twins in the Beachcomber as they claimed Mayfair as part of their criminal empire in the sixties.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/patsy-kensit-life-run-gangster-2348637

Patsy Kensit's dad, Jimmy The Dip Kensit and mum Margie (left) with friends.

I remembered this still from the TV show "Who do you think you are?" Finally tracked it down on the Internet. It's possible there's a picture, given the Kensit connection to them...

I finally picked up a matchbook from the Beachcomber restaurant at the Mayfair Hotel.

The logo Tikis

Advertising music and dancing to the Paradise Islanders.

The inside features these printed matchsticks proclaiming it to be Europe's only authentic Polynesian Restaurant.

Also advertises the Castaways corner and the Aloha Bar.

DC

Spotted this photo of Elke Summer dipping her toe at the Beachcomber.

DC

Urgh, that's the turtle/baby crocodile pool, I bet it stank.

Urgh, that's the turtle/baby crocodile pool, I bet it stank.

Here is a photo of singer Judy Collins by the Crocodile pool with a peek at a nice Tiki.

The sign reads:

"Warning! These crocodiles are alive and patrons are advised that under no circumstances should they be touched"

Here are some photos from Henry Latu and the Friendly Islanders at the Beachcomber in the Mayfair Hotel.

An finally an old advert.

DC

Photo showing the classic ship's figurehead and the Hawaiian band at the may Fair Beachcomber from ebay.

DC

Great picture dusty, it has a lot of tiki elements in it. Love the ship's figurehead.

An old ad from the Beachcomber proclaiming to be Europe's first Polynesian restaurant.

DC

In all its elaborateness, it probably was the first of its kind.

I spotted a few more photos on-line from the Beachcomber at the Mayfair Hotel.

A diner scene with the salt & pepper shakers and plates in full view.

And a 1960s glamor shot with one of the Beachcomber's unique Tikis.

DC

Another hot photo of Elke Summer with a Beachcomber Tiki.

DC

Souvenir photo from the Beachcomber at the Mayfair with a view of the various wall masks and lamps displayed in the restaurant.

DC