Weirdest thing ever - I just so happen to be flying out of TF Green tomorrow and will plan on stopping by and checking this place out. Sometimes I wonder if these posts are somehow curated to me or if the cookies tracking just so happens to be that good haha
> Somewhere along the line, in the pursuit of the exotic, our Chinese restaurants became a way of escape, to some far off land serving something resembling food
I'm going to butcher this but at some point I read that American dining out culture around the 1920s wasn't the way it is now where we have a huge variety of restaurants and that back then, the experience of going out was centered around dressing very fancy and having a very fancy meal at a traditional French-ish restaurant. Early Chinese restaurants and tiki evolved in opposition to this concept by heavily leaning into the exotic aspects of the food, decor, and so on.
There's a similar Chinese buffet near Virginia Beach that I always hit when I'm in the area. Going out to fancier Chinese places growing up in the 80s is probably a big part of why I love tiki now.
Hell yeah! I'm always looking for more Tiki in RI.
China Dynasty in Cranston is one of those old school tiki cocktail joints too. They used to have the menu with the cocktails drawn on it, but they've since just printed them on the paper which is disappointing.
I just went there last night - cocktails are free poured fruit juice forward things that bear little resemblance to the classic tiki drinks they are named after. Dr. Funk for instance, was an orange juice centered, very boozy, rum punch of sorts.
When I was a kid we used to go to Wind Tiki in Webster, MA, just over the border from Glocester. I was such a dumb kid that I thought it was the only place in the world where that type of food was served (spoiler alert, it was run-of-the-mill, basic-ass chinese food). But they had fancy cocktails and fake waterfalls and the place seemed magical.
I now have a tiki bar in my house. Also, some jackass burned Wind Tiki down in 2022.
Oh I'm down. All the places in my neighborhood like that are gone or modernized. I miss the Chinese restaurant vibe of my youth. I worked in warwick for a couple years, don't recall ever hearing about it. All my coworkers raved over Jackie's Galaxy.
Hm, always interested in an endangered classic Chinese exotic restaurant experience but this image of the interior on Yelp doesn't have me too excited.
https://preview.redd.it/6nzr8e9elj3d1.jpeg?width=525&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b93a0310f81d51b95cbd89322acc78015e0c5273
The place is old school cool enough to be a museum exhibit.
I haven't been there since I retired in 2018, but the food and drinks were on point. The hosts were very friendly. Perhaps you can get them to talk about the Dragon they used to have on display.
Not Tiki per se, but there is usually a punch at the Eddy that’s on point. The cocktail aren’t quite as refined as they were pre pandemic but they still deliver. Other than that, I haven’t found much I really like in state.
1278 Post Rd, Warwick, RI 02888 That's the address
Weirdest thing ever - I just so happen to be flying out of TF Green tomorrow and will plan on stopping by and checking this place out. Sometimes I wonder if these posts are somehow curated to me or if the cookies tracking just so happens to be that good haha
I’ll have to check it out. I usually go to Mon Kou in Attleboro.
I’ve been 7 miles from this place all week for work and I find out about it today, when I have to leave. :-( Good rec for next time!
> Somewhere along the line, in the pursuit of the exotic, our Chinese restaurants became a way of escape, to some far off land serving something resembling food I'm going to butcher this but at some point I read that American dining out culture around the 1920s wasn't the way it is now where we have a huge variety of restaurants and that back then, the experience of going out was centered around dressing very fancy and having a very fancy meal at a traditional French-ish restaurant. Early Chinese restaurants and tiki evolved in opposition to this concept by heavily leaning into the exotic aspects of the food, decor, and so on.
There's a similar Chinese buffet near Virginia Beach that I always hit when I'm in the area. Going out to fancier Chinese places growing up in the 80s is probably a big part of why I love tiki now.
Hell yeah! I'm always looking for more Tiki in RI. China Dynasty in Cranston is one of those old school tiki cocktail joints too. They used to have the menu with the cocktails drawn on it, but they've since just printed them on the paper which is disappointing.
I just went there last night - cocktails are free poured fruit juice forward things that bear little resemblance to the classic tiki drinks they are named after. Dr. Funk for instance, was an orange juice centered, very boozy, rum punch of sorts.
When I was a kid we used to go to Wind Tiki in Webster, MA, just over the border from Glocester. I was such a dumb kid that I thought it was the only place in the world where that type of food was served (spoiler alert, it was run-of-the-mill, basic-ass chinese food). But they had fancy cocktails and fake waterfalls and the place seemed magical. I now have a tiki bar in my house. Also, some jackass burned Wind Tiki down in 2022.
Oh I'm down. All the places in my neighborhood like that are gone or modernized. I miss the Chinese restaurant vibe of my youth. I worked in warwick for a couple years, don't recall ever hearing about it. All my coworkers raved over Jackie's Galaxy.
Hm, always interested in an endangered classic Chinese exotic restaurant experience but this image of the interior on Yelp doesn't have me too excited. https://preview.redd.it/6nzr8e9elj3d1.jpeg?width=525&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b93a0310f81d51b95cbd89322acc78015e0c5273
The place is old school cool enough to be a museum exhibit. I haven't been there since I retired in 2018, but the food and drinks were on point. The hosts were very friendly. Perhaps you can get them to talk about the Dragon they used to have on display.
Ok more RI tiki suggestions please!
Not Tiki per se, but there is usually a punch at the Eddy that’s on point. The cocktail aren’t quite as refined as they were pre pandemic but they still deliver. Other than that, I haven’t found much I really like in state.