March 12 Tiki Drinks in Bethesda, MD

If you are in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area, House of Foong Lin in Bethesda is one of the best places in the area to get the rare combination of classic Tiki drinks and really terrific Chinese and Polynesian food (Pu-Pu platters in the wooden bowls with lit hibachi). There are places to get one or the other, but this place has got it all under one roof. Not to mention a great lounge and bar, whose owner, Mr. Fu (the name is not made up) and his general manager Miss Lin really enjoy having us.

To give the slower nights of the week a boost and to entice all of us Tikiphiles and Rummies to drop in, Mr. Fu and Miss Lin are sweetening the deal to hang out at the bar and lounge. On Mondays - Thursdays this week they are doing Navy Grogs and Scorpions for only $5 all night long. And each week they will be rotating through other great classic drinks with the occasional new recipe thrown in for good measure!

At the moment, about 5 or 6 of us are already planning to show up tomorrow night, so if you've got the thirst or the time, why don't you swing on over too? Bonus points for those who show up in something Tiki or island-y. Time is flexible. The first of us will be there around 7 pm.

Feel free to pass this invite as far and wide as possible. The More the Merrier is always our motto for this kind of thing.

House of Foong Lin
4613 Willow Lane
Bethesda, MD 20815
(301) 656-3427

For the Facebook users among us:
https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfFoongLin

Wish I was going to be up there! From what I remember of the last one I attended, it was a great time! I may be up your way in April, though. Will PM you with more details as I get them.

It will be great to have you in town again!

(Pardon the double post)

A little after action report:

Last night was a really good time. Great company, great drinks and great food. At the peak of the evening there were 11 tiki/rummies/foodies who had responded to the barely a day's notice of the gathering. With Navy Grogs only $5, everyone joined the Navy for a few hours and took liberal advantage of the deal. Btw, the Navy Grogs at House of Foong Lin (HoFL) are excellent, and imo even a notch better than the Trader Vic's original. The Chef-owner, Mr. Fu, brews his own Navy Grog syrup from a combination of dark sugars, fresh ginger, clove and cinnamon stick. Adding 3 shots of rum (dark/gold/white) makes this potent potable a real sailor's delight. (Navy Grog Tip: Miss Ling, the bartender, will sub one of the rums for Sailor Jerry if you ask real nice) Our evening started at 7 and the last of us rolled out around midnight.

Sadly, the Washington area has lost all of the "real" Tiki it once had, but there's a small torch still lit here. What makes HoFL a special treat is that they still do their drink menu old school and they even have a few Polynesian food classics on the menu. And thanks to some mixology help by some of the local rummies/tikiphiles, they now have several added drinks to their menu - including 2 additional Mai Tais and the only decent Black Magic within 1,039 miles of the Mai-Kai :wink:

Since we had such a good time, we're working on making this a much more regular thing. Starting next week, several of us (and a few who could not make it last night) are getting a "Tiki Thursday" (possibly called "Tiki Thirstday") rolling. Chef Fu will be running drink specials again (Next week looks like Black Magics and Foong Lin Daiquiris) and he's going to try to up the ante by making it possible that we can have Tiki music playing in the lounge.

Time will tell if there is enough local interest in keeping this Tiki ball rolling, so if any of you live nearby, or are visiting the Washington, DC area, come on down. At least on Thursdays, we'll have the torches lit, the music playing and the drinks ice cold.

Aloha!
Dr. Coruba

Sounds like a GOOD deal for quality Tiki drinks!

I occasionally travel to Bethesda for work and will definitely check this out next time!

On 2014-04-10 16:47, Pomaika i wrote:
I occasionally travel to Bethesda for work and will definitely check this out next time!

That would be great, we'd love to have anyone passing through MD/DC/VA drop in. Our get together has become a weekly event on Thursdays. We call it Tiki Thirstdays and you should have no trouble finding our posts here on TC under "Other Events". We just had our 4 Tiki Thirstday and it looks like it has the legs (and rum) to keep on going.