We’ve rounded up the city’s best bars where the Tiki spirit lives on.
Hula Bar | Fortitude Valley
Cocktails, cold beer, and great food can all be yours at Hawaiian-inspired Hula Bar, designed with a heavy dose of nostalgia for tropical island life and boasting carved timber idols and motifs and handmade Tiki mugs.
It just wouldn’t be a Tiki bar without rum, and amongst their wide range is one direct from the Caribbean island of Saint Marie, Pere Labat. Authentic much? Among the cleverly named cocktails are the Krakatini (Kraken spiced rum, Kahlua and espresso), Damn those hips (Galliano, cranberry, and lemon topped with soda) and traditional tipples like daiquiris, cosmos, mojitos and mai tais. On the menu is a range of Hawaiian dishes in keeping with the theme of the bar. Options to tickle your tastebuds include the Ahi Tuna seared in a pepper crust with mustard beer sauce and orange watercress salad, and Huli Huli chicken chargrilled in ginger, garlic, soy, and pineapple on taro mash with long beans, or the Lau Lau pork salad with green papaya threads, cherry tomatoes and rice noodles. Aloha!
Jungle | West End
If you’re looking for somewhere with Gilligan Island vibes (it’s okay, we don’t judge), then look no further than West End’s Jungle bar! Exotic rums, coconuts, carvings and good times are this joint’s bread and butter. If you’re pining for a pineapple full of Pina Colada and a holiday in Hawaii or Havana, look no further than this spot to spend your next Saturday night!
Havana Bar | Teneriffe
Breathing some Cuban into the Teneriffe bar scene, Havana is big on shared dining with their menu of mainly small plates, designed to share for lunch or dinner. Nosh on cheese croquettes with aioli, pork and veal meatballs, crispy squid with chilli jam, crumbed fish tacos, and Cuban-style glazed chicken wings – or opt for a burger if you’re feeling as hungry as Tiki himself! Among the fruity and South American-inspired cocktail selection, the Hinky Dinky Punch made with Havana three-year rum, and the Miss Molly, full of refreshing citrus flavours, are our picks.
Tiki Tiki Gai | Fortitude Valley
Located beneath the Valley’s Heya Bar, Tiki Tiki Gai embraces the mantra of “Tiki time is all the time.” The bar is a tropical oasis decked out with antique island pieces and Polynesian artefacts, and those behind it have the drinks sorted. Boasting a comprehensive list of rum-based cocktails craftily combined with a range of tropical ingredients, you only have to look at the names of these concoctions to start feeling in the tropical mood. Try the Big Kahuna, their biggest cocktail filled with Bacardi, raspberry puree, coconut, guava juice, vanilla syrup and sparkling rosé; The Kilauea combining spiced Bacardi, white cacao, espresso, coconut, cream and banana, served in an authentic tiki vessel, or the Rock A Hula Baby with flavours of Bacardi, blueberries, lime, chilli, and apple. It’s a guaranteed good time.
Cali Eatery and Bar | Kangaroo Point
Seeking Hawaiian-fusion cuisine & beachy vibes? Craving a poke bowl (of your own making) with a side of soba noodles? You’re in luck because Cali Eatery, nestled beside the Story Bridge Hotel, is soon to serve up all of the aforementioned (and more!) plus a range of creative Tiki-inspired cocktails. We’re talking tropical flavours of honeydew melon juice and toasted-coconut falernum, plus caramel buttered espresso martinis and kombucha on tap! As the temps continue to rise heading into what is going to be a hot, hot summer we couldn’t think of anything better than sipping on a tropical cocktail while imagining we’re lying on a beach in Cali.
King Tiki | Fortitude Valley
Tiki bar and barbershop hybrid? Yes please! Smack bang in the Valley, the already-established Crown and Co Barbers is adding a new addition to their chop shop. King Tiki will back on to the newly-opened California Lane behind the barber which will sit at the front. Featuring the usual retro Tiki styling, it’s set to be the perfect place for a post-chop tipple! King Tiki is set to open as soon as their liquor licence is approved.
As things start to heat up, what better way to cool down than with a fun tropical cocktail?
