My SHAMEFUL (TIKI) Birthday! (Oh my!)

My birthday was coming up. It was looking to be a pretty lonely one again, since I really didn’t know anyone up here in Washington. Last year, I’d taken myself to Red Rum in Bellingham for the first time for a solo celebration. This year, I didn’t know what I’d do. I’d just gotten back from a tiki road trip the week before. Maybe I’d just take myself into Seattle and revisit some of the tiki bars there?

The Wednesday before my birthday, I had a doctor’s appointment on the mainland followed by a Costco run. I was heading home and I had a text message from my best friend Erich. He was in San Francisco with his friend Cathy at the Legion of Honor Museum checking out some exhibit. He wanted to know my birthday plans. I still had no idea.

I had just gotten home, unloaded the car and finally gone pee, when someone started banging incessantly on my door. What the heck? I thought it must be my mother, brother, or nephew, and that there must be some emergency. I opened the door and… there was Erich. It took me a moment for my brain to register that he was standing there. Crazy man. He’d flown up here to Washington and taken a shuttle from the airport just to surprise me for my birthday. He didn’t want me to have to celebrate it all alone again. Wow!

With Erich here, that was a game changer. One of the places I had thought of going–but didn’t want to go alone–was to Vancouver, British Columbia. I have a passport and it’s only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from here. Why not take the opportunity and go-go? There is, of course, a tiki bar there I’d really wanted to try out, The Shameful Tiki. So, we packed our bags and made a run for the border.

I thought I’d better try to make reservations for the bar. After all, we’d be going on a Saturday night, which would probably be busy. However, the next available date for a reservation was weeks out. The place was booked solid on into the next month. Jinkies! I just had to get in. Why go to all of the trouble of getting to Vancouver if we couldn’t get in the bar?

If all of the tables were booked, we could at least try for the bar. In order to insure a seat, we’d have to get there early. The Shameful Tiki didn’t open until 5 p.m., so we planned to get there about at least a half hour early.

That Saturday—my birthday—it was pouring rain. We tried to make the most of it. We tried to do some touristy things and keep ourselves occupied until the evening. We finally headed over, but…oh my stars! Where do you park? Finding a spot was a major hurdle. We finally found a place several l-o-n-g blocks away.

Despite the rain and cold, we headed over to the bar to wait for the opening. We arrived just ahead of a young couple. We all sort of crowded together under the small overhang. Erich and I were discussing Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco for some reason, and that got the attention of the young man. His name, I’d later find out, was Craig. He asked if we had been to Smuggler’s Cove.

We chatted a bit about all of the fab-o-rama tiki spots in the Bay Area. He and his girlfriend, Michelle, were really hoping to make it down there some day to check it out. How cool to have met a nice pair of tiki people while we waited. As we stood there talking, I happened to look over my right shoulder…and noted the long line waiting to get in. Jeepers! I’m so glad we arrived early.

The door opened and I, the aged (Don’t ask!) birthday boy, was the first one to enter. We told the host we had no reservation, but-if we could-we’d like to sit at the bar. That was fine and we were escorted over.

Although I was the first patron through the door that evening, there was someone already seated at the bar. A co-worker on his night off, perhaps? Someone’s friend? Erich sat next to him and I was at the corner. The bar only seats eight people, so I felt lucky to have landed a spot.

I had tried to check the place out as we were being led inside. Now that we were seated I was able to gawk. Yes, the place is on the small side (which accounts for why it is so hard to get a table), but–WOW! It was really done right! Who knew tiki would translate so well in Canada?

Although Michelle and Craig had been seated, I was thrilled to be able to snap some shots of the place before it filled up. I really wanted to see everything…and the best way to do that was without people present.

Our bartender that night was a delightful and friendly young man named Ky. He and the others behind the bar worked their tails off that night, but Ky was amiable and responsive to all of my questions.

Ky presented us with some menus.

We, uh… ordered drinks first. To start off with, Erich had a One-Legged Bird, a mixture of pomegranate, lemon, pineapple, orgeat, and a blend of rums. I went with a Skull & Bones, which was a mix of rums, cinnamon, lime and grenadine.

For dinner, Erich had the Red Curry with a side of spring rolls. Because of my lame-o diet restrictions, I ordered the chicken nachos with a side of guacamole…albeit withOUT cheese or sour cream. They were okay, but I am sure they would be totally wonderful with the cheese.

About this time, I noticed that a man had come in and joined the fellow sitting next to Erich. I still wondered who the guy could be and how he got seated before us. I didn’t really give the neighboring bar patrons much thought as I had other things on my mind…like what to have for my next drink. Yes, our cocktails had totally evaporated or something. We needed replacements. Erich went with a Saturn and I had a Painkiller.

While we sipped, I tried to get a better feel for the place. The music, an eclectic mix of various types of surf, was delightfully appropriate and at a suitable volume so as not to drown out conversation. There were a couple of small TV screens repeatedly (and silently) playing THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. (I think we sat through it at least twice. Ha!) Every so often, when someone would order a flaming drink for couples or small groups, lights would flash and a tiki near the door would start spewing smoke!

I liked the place. I just wish we had been there on a quieter week night. There was really so much to see; so many details to take in. (I was totally taking mental notes for my own future home tiki bar.)

As if by magic, our glasses were empty once again. Back to the menu our eyes went. Hmm. Erich chose a Day of the Dead, a Shameful Tiki original cocktail consisting of rums, juices, spices, coconut, bitters, soda and Pernod. I decided to try a Pago Pago, a cocktail from the early 60s that I had heard of but had never experienced. It was a mixture of rum, grapefruit, lime, orange, bitters, and honey. Mmm.

While we imbibed, Erich asked Ky who had done the build out for the place. I knew the place had recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and there was a sister location in Toronto, but I had never read anything about who had done the tropically terrific interiors. Ky said that as far as he knew, everything had been done by his boss, owner Rod Moore, and he gestured to the man sitting next to Erich.

WHAT!?! The owner was sitting there the whole time? Jeepers! Had I only known before the other fellow had shown up…

Oh well. I didn’t want to disturb his conversation with my tiki nerd-o-rama questions. (Well, I did want disturb him, but I wasn’t going to…) Besides, I’d finished my drink and needed to take a tiki leaky. Before I got up from the bar I decided to order one last drink. It was my birthday, after all. I’d let Ky chose for me; either the Tiki Puka Puka or a 151 Swizzle. I let him contemplate that while he finished a Mystery Bowl for a couple at the bar.

Despite having a full bladder, I’d been wanting to explore the back half of the bar anyway. I had to see everything, didn’t I? I also wanted to see if the bathrooms were themed as well or just generic.

The hallway to the bathrooms was lined with old exotica albums neatly framed with bamboo on the walls. The bathrooms awaited on the right.

The bathroom had framed posters, menus, and signage for old tiki events and long-gone, classic, tiki venues. (And, yes, of course I took pictures.)

Back at the bar, my final birthday drink was waiting for me. Instead of the flavorfully foo-foo Tiki Puka Puka, Ky had gone with the big bang-for-your-buck booze-forward 151 Swizzle. Whoo! What an eye-opening way to swizzle my way into a new year.

Were there mugs involved? Uh… Yes! The bar’s website only listed its 10th anniversary mug for sale, but I was thrilled to see that the house skull mug was also available. I couldn’t decide…so I ended up with both.

Despite the rain, I had a good time. The bar was so very nice. Ky was absolutely awesome. I certainly cannot thank Erich enough for making my birthday dreams come true this year. What a wonderful birthday it turned out to be.

Cheers!

The Shameful Tiki
4362 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V 3P9
shamefultikiroom.com/vancouver/