Rotgut.org Blog: #2355 - The Shameful Tiki Room, Vancouver, BC

Sunday, March 08, 2015

#2355 - The Shameful Tiki Room, Vancouver, BC - 11/29/2013

Owner Rod Moore took in some of the top new tiki bars around the country including Martin Cate's Smugglers Cove and put together a tiki bar in Vancouver that is top notch in both decor and cocktails. If you step into the darkness from a sunny day outside, you'll need a few moments for your eyes to adjust to the welcoming dark glow of the float lights and fishtrap lamps amidst the bamboo and thatch. Moore says Cate advised him "Don’t go cheap: even if no one in Vancouver knows what tiki is, they will all know what cheap is" (straight.com), and the attention to detail shows. The narrow space reminds me a little bit of Portland's Hale Pale,

The food is smallish menu of Trader Vics-like polynesian and Asian tastes, and the cocktails are reliably good, with shared, flaming Volcano Bowls and Mystery Bowls available, which are sometimes delivered Mai Kai Mystery Girl style, a gong, smoke, thunder and lightning. They also have a Rum Club and we had the good fortune of meeting our friend and Vancouver bon vivant Peter there on the night he became the very first person to complete a passport, having ordered 50 different rums.