No. 103 The Waikiki Bar

Visited on 13/10/11. This place is tiny – probably used to be an antique shop or summat. Now it’s been transformed into a Hawaii style beach bar with an additional pirate theme. Hang on a minute though - weren’t pirates primarily in operation around the Caribbean, rather than the mid Pacific ?? No matter. To add to the amalgam the place seems to be owned and staffed by Asians. It’s a bit of a mish-mash then, to say the least. The décor is brash and garish by and large but we all agreed the dried puffer fish lampshades were actually quite cool. Only bottled beer is available, so we went for a round of ‘Red Stripe’, the famous Hawaiian beer from Jamaica, now brewed in Southampton. Then we thought bollocks to it - ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ and ordered up a round of cocktails – ‘Pirate’s Grog’ to be precise – a beverage principally consisting of rum and erm, water, served over ice in a dimple pint pot – with a straw obviously. No umbrella though. Or cherry. Another group in there at the time were drinking some hideous concoction with straws from a shared brass chalice. Horrible – what if someone inadvertently (or deliberately) yocks down the straw ? Or worse !? Loved the pirate theme anyhow, although maybe they could give it a bit more impact and a modern twist by employing Somalis as barmen. Just a thought.