Located along the boardwalk at New Westminster Quay there is now a Tiki bar where the Paddlewheeler pub used to be. After the Paddlewheeler closed a restaurant called Italia Kitchen popped up. It was probably doomed from the start though, what with Piva essentially across the street. The city already has two good Italian restaurants, it doesn’t need a mediocre one.
So it being a Saturday night we decided to pop over and give it a try.
First impressions?
1.That sign is all wrong.
2. Looks like they decided to take the minimal amount of capital to make the place look different and called it a day. It appears they slapped some thatch around the room, put some bamboo along the walls and hung a few bamboo fronds from the existing lights. That’s the only difference I can tell from the previous decor.
3. At least they got some proper glasses though.
That first drink is the Typhoon Tiki. Orange liqueur, lemon juice, dark rum and an in-house made ginger syrup.
The second is a Gin Ginger Mai Tai. Gin, orange liqueur, lime juice, lemon juice, mint, bitters and the same in-house made ginger syrup.
While we both enjoyed the first few sips of our drinks, as we drink more and more we found the ginger syrup to be too much. It was actually causing me discomfort in my esophagus, almost like heartburn. Since both of us preferred the others choice we ended up switching drinks. And while I preferred the Gin Ginger Mai Tai’s flavour, by the time I was reaching the bottom of the glass I was struggling to finish. Merilynn had the same issue with the Typhoon Tiki. The ginger flavour was not as pronounced but still was overpowering.
What with the unbalanced drinks, the minimal redecorating effort and slow service, (it was pretty full but there were three tenders behind the bar) my first visit to the Tiki Bar wasn’t exactly fantastic.
We have heard some good things about the food and entertainment from other online, so to be fair I will come back for another try.
The Quayside Tiki Bar will have to be much more impressive next time around though.
4/10