Rebecca G.
Yelp
I had heard of Tiki Tom's ages ago. It was a popular 'dive bar,' but I don't think I had ever been. Well, during the pandemic, the owner used the shutdown time to renovate the bar. I heard great reviews of it since it reopened.
My mother-in-law is here visiting from the UK, and today was her birthday. She's a big fan of restaurants with ambiance and she enjoys cocktails, so this seemed like a good opportunity to try Tiki Tom's.
You're greeted outside by a very cool fountain. Inside was festively adorned. You'll see lots of tiki decorations including cool tiki mugs right at the entrance. There's cool art on the wall that changes, and I loved the lighting. The interior and theming are very cool. There is a fun ambiance.
We sat in a booth, and my mother-in-law and husband got cocktails. My MIL got the Saturn drink I think that's made with passion fruit, and my husband got a ginger beer cocktail. They both enjoyed their drinks.
To eat, we shared the Mochico Chicken bowl which I had in Maui and loved! It wasn't really the same, but it was still decent. We also got garlic shrimp bowl and the Kalua pig bowl. The rice in the shrimp dish was fantastic. I thought the shrimp was a little undercooked, but I was the only one in our group that thought that. I only had the one shrimp though so maybe the others were fine. I didn't really care for the Kalua pork. I ate the least of that dish. Our preschooler loved the shrimp dish, especially the rice.
I think service was fine, but they didn't bring us enough dishes and when we asked for another dish and they brought it, but I also noticed we didn't have enough silverware. We also didn't have any napkins and our son spilled his drink and I had to get up to ask for napkins. So basically, I had to get up from my seat three times to get service which was a lot.
This restaurant was fine. I wanted to like it more, but I think the food and drinks are pricer than I would expect. The food was just okay. I think this is a cool bar and if you're peckish, then grab a bite. I think they need more shareable dishes like pupu platters. Appetizers to share would be fun here, so I think that's an opportunity to grow here. We didn't check the menu before we arrived, so in our head, that's what we were expecting. I wouldn't recommend to come here for dinner which is what we did. Think bar first with some island inspired dishes. Don't think restaurant... I mean it is, but the drinks are the focus. There is a very large drink menu! The food menu is much more limited.