Barsmith Tiki Pop Up – Farringdon, London

Good day to you all! Some of you may know that I’m a fan of 50s style, including Tiki fashion, so when I saw there was an exciting looking Tiki pop up at Barsmith in Farringdon it set my joy alarm off!

So what is it? Well Barsmith have decked out their establishment as a Tiki bar, with carved Tiki heads imported from the South Pacific, a bamboo bar set up, tropical flowers all over the place and a new Tiki styled menu. They’ve brought in some cocktails such as the classic Zombie and Navy Grog to name a couple to sip on while admiring the authentic décor.

Naturally, as we love the style anyway, the beautiful blue haired Anna and I attended in matching Tiki outfits with our lower halves being clad in Collectif tropical prints, with my top from Violets In May and Lady Luck’s Boutique hair flowers. We never turn down a chance to Tiki-up and with the fab decorations and Tiki heads we were in our element! It’s a good central location and a short walk from the tube so definitely one to direct our other 50s loving friends to as other London Tiki bars are either a little way out of London or the Carnaby Street kind of area which is usually pretty rammed (although we love them still!).

As well as cocktails, Tiki food is also available such as Pulehu Short Ribs, which were AMAZING. I love a beef short rib so as soon as I saw the dish it was like I had a magnet and had to go and try some – soft and succulent with a great marinade and one I definitely recommend to meat lovers. The Huli Huli Chicken Wings were also a delight, very soft chicken with a great sweet and sour BBQ sauce. We also tried the Tiki pizzas which are Pacifico Prawn, Kauai and Beef Rib. As you may have figured out, I was a top fan of the beef rib but the others were also great. I’m working on my prawn eating, having not been a massive prawn fan, so that was my least favourite and it was quite rocket-heavy but it was still pretty good and I’m sure if you’re a prawn fan it’ll go down a treat. The Kauai pizza is chicken, mozzarella, pineapple and pancetta with fresh coriander so it’s a solid combination – me likey.

A key thing for a Tiki bar is the glasses the cocktails are served in, and Barsmith did not disappoint here. We even had a cocktail (sorry, not sure which!) served in a coconut shell! The ‘standard’ Tiki glasses are a great touch and although the mugs seem more bulk manufactured than the bar specific ones you find in permanent Tiki Bars the effort was still more than appreciated. We made sure to try both the Zombie and in the Tiki mugs and a sweet Navy Grog served in a glass over an ice cone feat fun ARGH pirate flag. Good presentation definitely improves the experience and being able to drink from a Tiki head style receptacle is fun…I know it’s the same drink regardless but it gets you in the spirit and, of course, makes a great snap for the old Instagram.

Usually I find it quite difficult to drink a Zombie because basically it’s a cocktail which contains all the rums but this one wasn’t too strong. For me that was a good thing and I could happily drink it down but for my professional Zombie drinking pal, Anna, she thought it quite weak which is probably true if I could comfortably get through a glass. All in all the cocktails were pretty satisfying and I left Barsmith quite tiddly and covered in flowers, with a rum headache to follow the morning after – a sign of a good night.

“How long is this tropical nest around?” I hear you ask….well it’s all decked out for you from NOW until 31 August 2017, so you have a little bit of time to visit but I recommend you hop along earlier rather than later in case you want to make a return trip. And with 2-4-1 cocktails 7 – 11pm Monday to Friday and all day Saturday, you’ll probably want to. Special events are also in the works so keep your eyes peeled to grab some great nights out. I’d love to see a Rock n Roll event to pull the vintage crowds in (google “Hula Boogie” for an example) but we’ll see what plays out over the next two months. I have no doubt the team have something fabulous in store!

So go, take friends, have a few (or more) rums and imagine you are in the South Pacific for a little bit. If you post images online make sure to tag #barsmithgoestiki #doyoutiki as Barsmith run contests to win bar tabs and all sorts. Best to check out their social media for any contests currently running! Have a tiki-tastic time and if you do go along, be sure to let us know what you thought and to answer the question…Do you tiki? Well, do you? I’m happy to say I definitely do.