Chinese restaurants that serve tiki drinks in Los Angeles?

I was recently at the Twin Dragon, an old school chinese place on Pico, and was surprised by their non-traditional (red) but pretty decent tasting mai tai. The menu also offers a zombie, navy grog, and a pina colada (served in a coconut mug). The place has been stripped of any interesting decor, but there is a nice fish tank behind the bar that runs the length of the wall to lend a bit of ambiance.

I also drove by Fu's Palace which is right down the street on Pico boasting a nice A-frame entrance. Some quick research revealed a thread here on the place, which was formerly a tiki establishment known as Wan Q. Apparently, they still serve tiki drinks as well, and I am excited to give the place a try soon.

Seeing these places got me interested in discovering other Chinese/tiki crossover places. Good Luck Bar in Silverlake isn't a restaurant, but has an extensive tropical drink menu and some spectacular faux vintage Chinese style decorations, so I would put that in the category as well.

Is anyone aware of any other Chinese restaurants/bars in the Los Angeles area that serve tiki drinks and perhaps have some interesting retro-style decor?

Not L. A. but Mandarin Tiger in Tarzana has tropical drinks.. They serve all their drinks in tiki mugs and bowls. Not the best drinks but kind of old fashion fun.

There's always Benihana's

On 2009-03-11 20:09, hiltiki wrote:
Not L. A. but Mandarin Tiger in Tarzana has tropical drinks.. They serve all their drinks in tiki mugs and bowls. Not the best drinks but kind of old fashion fun.

You're right Hiltiki. Mandarin Tiger rocks. Old school Chinese food with crispy noodles for munching on, lemon-sucker waiters and one hilarious waitress. I'm guessing the bar area MAY have been Tiki at one time. Any idea?

I have to say we've had a good zombie, mai tai, and scorpion bowl at Hop Louie's in Chinatown

[ Edited by: Coco Joe 2009-03-13 01:26 ]

On 2009-03-13 01:25, Coco Joe wrote:
I have to say we've had a good zombie, mai tai, and scorpion bowl at Hop Louie's in Chinatown

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[ Edited by: Coco Joe 2009-03-13 01:26 ]

Maybe so, but just don't eat the food. It is easily the WORST chinese food I've ever had. :o

Not in L.A. but a real cool Chinese restaurant that serves drinks in mugs and bowls is the China Inn...877 Hornblend St in Pacific Beach. The drinks are cheap and cheaper...$4 for a drink served in a mug and $9 for a bowl. Both the food and drinks are well above average. Info from Cammos book.

What I look for in a Chinese restaurant :

BLACK tea, not Jasmine

Complimentary crispy won tons (or noodles) and duck sauce and hot mustard on the table...it should arrive with the water.

EGG rolls, not just Spring rolls. There IS a difference.

Red Naugahyde booths.

Tropical Drink Menu

Chinese restaurant done right.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11818&forum=2&hilite=Queens

the expectation that you'll walk into the local chinese-american lucky dragon restaurant and bar, and get authentic chinese is preposterous. the genre is chinese-american: crab rangoon, pupu platter, scorpion bowls, mai tais. i'll take a gander that most old-school chinese-american restaurants are set up that way! in fact, to take the polynesian bit out is like taking tomato sauce out of italian-american cooking.

i fondly remember the "kong" in cambridge mass aka hong kong bar and restaurant, which my wife absolutely abhors, the manager had like a biker jacket on all the time.

[ Edited by: tikiauction 2009-03-14 06:18 ]

Has anyone been to Formosa Cafe? I wonder if their Mai Tai's are decent.

http://formosacafe.com/index.html

I went to the Formosa a few months ago with Tiki-Kate and the bartender told us they were known for their Mai Tai, when we told him we had just come the Trader Vic's lounge he said "Oh never mind then they won't be as good as Trader Vic's. he was sincere about it and offered to make us anything else but refused to show me a drink menu no matter how many times I asked (which I think was about 5 times) :o So we had to guess what he could make for us. It was annoying and exhausting and I'm in no hurry to go back.

My favorite has to be Chin Chins on Sunset in West Hollywood. No Tiki drinks but the food is fantastic !!

On 2009-03-13 01:25, Coco Joe wrote:
I have to say we've had a good zombie, mai tai, and scorpion bowl at Hop Louie's in Chinatown

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[ Edited by: Coco Joe 2009-03-13 01:26 ]

I quite like the food at Hop Louie and the lunch special and the decor make for an excellent value.

Across the street, at Golden Dragon, the Boo Loo is served in a ceramic pineapple.

Yamashiro is up in the hills in Hollywood, it has a fantastic view of L.A. On a clear day you can see the ocean from the bar. There are a few drinks with light and dark rum in their drink menu, Mai Tai is included. Food is great but a little costly.

I'm just sayin', but you're not going to get ANY true Chinese cuisine west of the 710 in Los Angeles. You won't get any tiki drinks at these restaurants, but the Chinese food will be good.

Authentic chinese food isn't really the point here. In fact, its kind of the opposite of the point. This ain't chowhound, I'm just looking for camp, plain and simple.

There was place I use to go to when I lived in Sherman Oaks. It was in Van Nuys, on Victory, just east of Van Nuys Blvd. If I remember right, they served drinks in bowls. But then again that was 10 years ago, not even sure if the place is still there.

And for a real crazy experience, go to China Chef Wang in North Hollywood, on Lankershim. Can't remember if they served drinks, but the interior was insane. The owner has a huge Marilyn Monroe collection, Elvis collection, tons of dinosaur stuff. It was bizarre. I use the eat there all the time.

I just checked, I guess they do serve cocktails, I just found this photo on flickr.

[ Edited by: Tiki Shaker 2009-03-16 16:11 ]

On 2009-03-16 15:20, mattesq wrote:
Authentic chinese food isn't really the point here. In fact, its kind of the opposite of the point. This ain't chowhound, I'm just looking for camp, plain and simple.

I think the point is survival :o Eat the food at your own peril :tiki:

On 2009-03-16 15:20, mattesq wrote:
Authentic chinese food isn't really the point here. In fact, its kind of the opposite of the point. This ain't chowhound, I'm just looking for camp, plain and simple.

Yes I know. That's why I prefaced it with "I'm just sayin'". :)

On 2009-03-14 09:35, Coco Joe wrote:
Has anyone been to Formosa Cafe? I wonder if their Mai Tai's are decent.

http://formosacafe.com/index.html

YES! I was there over the summer and specifically asked for and had-I think- three Mai Tais. It didn't seem like it was their specialty but they made it anyway. The first one I had was pretty good and was made with orange juice and possibly pineapple juice. The second one was made by a different bartender and wasn't as good. I think it was his first night or something, because when I asked for another (after I drank it anyway, it wasn't THAT bad) the first bartender made it again and it was good.

On 2009-03-14 14:21, Bora Boris wrote:
I went to the Formosa a few months ago with Tiki-Kate and the bartender told us they were known for their Mai Tai, when we told him we had just come the Trader Vic's lounge he said "Oh never mind then they won't be as good as Trader Vic's. he was sincere about it and offered to make us anything else but refused to show me a drink menu no matter how many times I asked (which I think was about 5 times) :o So we had to guess what he could make for us. It was annoying and exhausting and I'm in no hurry to go back.

I would consider that a favor if a bartender said I won't like their Mai Tai compared to Trader Vic's. I'm surprised he didn't give you a drink menu though! I have always had good service at The Formosa, and the atmosphere is great (in the bar).

I like Hop Louis' food as well. I have had much worse Chinese food.

[ Edited by: thejab 2009-03-17 14:33 ]

How about the Luau in Beverly Hills?

my awesome girlfriend who works near the Luau brought home a flyer for their sunday special which is:

Traditional Chinese Dinner $24.95 per person.

Pupus
choice of two:
egg roll, spare ribs, fire cracker shrimp, or kobe wagyu meatballs
Soup Of The Day

Entree
choice of:
Kung Pao Chicken, Broccoli Beef or Crispy Catfish Filet

Side Dishes
Mixed Vegetables
Choice of:
Vegetable Fried Rice or Steamed Rice

Dessert
Fortune Cookie and Almond Cookie

Then it states the bar opens at 6pm...why would they mention the bar hours???

[ Edited by: Coco Joe 2009-03-19 00:48 ]

Wow twenty bucks, I thought it was really expensive at the Luau, I'm going to check this place out.

The Golden Dragon in Chinatown serves a real deal Tiki Bowl for $5.99!
960 N Broadway, Los Angeles - (213) 626-2039

Ok so its not Chinese, but there is a Thai restaurant in Culver City called Natalee Thai, on Venice Blvd. Nothing tiki about it at all but they have a drink menu with at least 3 drinks that come in mugs. One comes in a ceramic coconut mug, the other is a standard mug with a woman on it in 3-D (not sure what those mugs are referred to), and the third is a volcano bowl that comes in a flaming volcano bowl.

On 2009-11-04 13:38, Digitiki wrote:
Ok so its not Chinese, but there is a Thai restaurant in Culver City called Natalee Thai, on Venice Blvd. Nothing tiki about it at all but they have a drink menu with at least 3 drinks that come in mugs. One comes in a ceramic coconut mug, the other is a standard mug with a woman on it in 3-D (not sure what those mugs are referred to), and the third is a volcano bowl that comes in a flaming volcano bowl.

I have had the flaming volcano bowl! It was excellent and, yes, the Tiki Gods Were Amused.

Chirstiki,
That's good to hear. I'm gonna have to go back there and order one up!

Okay, so I finally hit Hop Louie. I had the Mai Tai first, which was the correct color. Not the most tasty, but serviceable considering the old school interior and decent pupus (very cheap as well). The Zombie, however, knocked my socks off. Not a classic Zombie, but it was strong and I detected 151 and passion fruit syrup and it was served in a proper highball with garnish. I left a happy customer and will definitely be returning.

I also hit Mandarin Tiger since my last post, based on the recommendations, and was very impressed. The hanging lamps and wall murals of Asian waterfall scenes were pretty impressive and the tiki drink menu was lengthy for a restaurant of this sort. It has been a while since I visited, so I don't recall what drinks I had, but they were all served in tiki mugs. Some were better than others, but all were better than your typical fare. The exterior is also worth a look. I wish I had taken some pictures. I echo the sentiments of the earlier poster who commented that the bar was likely tiki at one point.

Lastly, I did end up hitting Fu's Palace as well, which was formerly the very tiki Wan-Q (and subsequently the Sugar Shack I believe). The tiki drinks were not up to par with Twin Dragon down the road, but the A-Frame exterior, and relatively well maintained interiors make it worth a visit. The rock waterfall fountain is still operational by the bar and you can see many remants of the place's tiki past. This should be on the itinerary for any tiki fan in L.A.

For Jonny Quest fans out there, a trip to Hop Louie and the surrounding Chinatown area is like stepping into a cartoon. To research Hong Kong and China, the Hanna-Barbera staff of the 60's couldn't visit the real orient, so they did the next best thing and went over to LA's Chinatown and took pictures, drew sketches, etc.

They went farther than that though and actually named a lot of the villains in the series after restaurants and shops in the area. It's bizarre visiting now, there's this Jonny Quest/Charlie Chan/1930's Hollywood feeling about the whole place that's creepy and cool at the same time...

Ok, I haven't been, but this seems like an ultimate throwback and I HAVE to check it out...It isn't in L.A., but Ventura. It comes complete with the clamshell bowl drinks and a weekly polynesian floorshow! My buddy went and said it was cool. Check em out on the web. the place has been in business since 1964.

Hong Kong Inn
435 East Thompson Blvd.
Ventura, CA 93001

http://www.hongkonginn.com/

On 2011-04-06 15:44, mattesq wrote:
Okay, so I finally hit Hop Louie. I had the Mai Tai first, which was the correct color. Not the most tasty, but serviceable considering the old school interior and decent pupus (very cheap as well). The Zombie, however, knocked my socks off. Not a classic Zombie, but it was strong and I detected 151 and passion fruit syrup and it was served in a proper highball with garnish. I left a happy customer and will definitely be returning.

I also hit Mandarin Tiger since my last post, based on the recommendations, and was very impressed. The hanging lamps and wall murals of Asian waterfall scenes were pretty impressive and the tiki drink menu was lengthy for a restaurant of this sort. It has been a while since I visited, so I don't recall what drinks I had, but they were all served in tiki mugs. Some were better than others, but all were better than your typical fare. The exterior is also worth a look. I wish I had taken some pictures. I echo the sentiments of the earlier poster who commented that the bar was likely tiki at one point.

Lastly, I did end up hitting Fu's Palace as well, which was formerly the very tiki Wan-Q (and subsequently the Sugar Shack I believe). The tiki drinks were not up to par with Twin Dragon down the road, but the A-Frame exterior, and relatively well maintained interiors make it worth a visit. The rock waterfall fountain is still operational by the bar and you can see many remants of the place's tiki past. This should be on the itinerary for any tiki fan in L.A.

Good reviews!

Fu's Palace, back in its heydey:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=39281&forum=1&hilite=sugar%20shack