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Tiki Central / General Tiki

Who's got the tiki mojo, baby?

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Five minutes after leaving the airport in Providence, R.I. tonight, I get lost on the way to the hotel, find myself on Rt. 1 in Warwick, look to my left and spot two tiki "totem" poles in front of a Chinese Restaurant that says "China Sea -- Polynesian and Cantonese Cuisine / cocktails".
I do a U-turn, park the Hertz rental and go inside. The place is lousy with bamboo and and a bit run down, but hot damn they have a a tiki bar with a shelf full of Orchids Hawaii and OMC mugs.
I check out the menu. Yup, they've got your Mai-Tai's, Zombies, Suffering Bastards, etc. The menu says "We serve the most delicious Polynesian drinks and Cocktails."
Hell, I'm already lost so what the heck.
On JT's scale the China Sea at 1278 Post Road in Warwick, R.I. is a type III tiki joint with a TPSY factor of one... but I'm a long way from home tonight and feeling pretty good right now.
Cheers.

T

It sounds good to me. Low TiPSY factor does not necessarily mean bad, just low # of tikis. Glad to hear you stumbled on such a treasure.

The place is lousy with bamboo and and a bit run down

That would be a good mane for a band- Lousy Bamboo and the Bit Run Downs.

No time to check this out on this trip, but here's one from the current Providence Yellow Pages that sounds very interesting:

The Islander Restaurant -- Chinese & Polynesian -- Party & Function Rooms Available - Lunch - dinner - cocktails. "Rated Best Restaurant in West Bay - 12th consecutive year - by Rhode Island Monthly. 2318 West Shore Road, Warwick, R.I.

B

What is this "Mojo" you speak of?

Didn't think I would have the time to check out the Islander, but since I ended up waiting for my boss to get out of the hospital -- don't even ask -- I managed to have a few extra hours last Thursday morning to do a drive-by.
My overall impression: don't bother. The place may have good food and drinks, but the decor was cold and sterile. Looked like the inside of a Japanese tea house, and not a tiki to be seen anywhere.
Good news is the liquor store next to the restaurant sold Lemon Hart and Trader Vic rums.
On Friday I found another restaurant worth mentioning that was located on Cape Cod, but I'll post about that later.

Pages: 1 5 replies