Pirates may not be recognized as being
related to Tiki culture. However, there
are some connections here since our seafaring friends traveled near and far and
throughout the South
Pacific Seas.
Case in point, that whole Lego pirate line
from the early 90’s that featured Lego pirates amongst South Pacific islanders with
their Tikis, longboats, palm trees and alligators!?
This brings me to my next restaurant review, King of the Pirates, a pirate-themed restaurant on the Odaiba island in Tokyo (located on the 5th floor of the Aqua City Mall). We went there for an early lunch (11:15am) on the first Saturday of Golden Week. Amazingly, no wait, although it did get a bit crowded around 12:30pm.
Upon entering the restaurant, the Japanese pirate
staff greeted us with “Ole!” I guess nobody
told them that pirates were chiefly British and the Spanish were the folks the pirates
terrorized. But at least they were keeping
with the character they believed the pirates to have.
The restaurant is decorated quite nicely with
galley-looking tables and woodwork, skulls, and a nice assortment of nautical signs and pirate booty.
The pirate costumes of the servers would
fit well in one of the Six Flags Amusement parks during the Halloween weekends. Unfortunately, the costumes didn't reveal enough pirate booty. OK, pull me from the stage for that poor joke.
I ordered the tuna rib set which also included
fries and corn. White rice came with my meal.
From what I recall, my meal was around 1,000
yen, which is a pretty standard price for lunch meals in Tokyo. The tuna was cooked well, not too tough. It wasn’t the most flavorful, but that beats being
over-salted. The meal set also included all-you-can
salad, curry rice, and chocolate fountain items. I liked the curry rice, very mild.
Last, but not least, the meal included all-you-can
drink beverages from the new Coca Cola machine which allows you to choose from over
150 different mixes of soft drinks. I went with Fruit Fanta and Melon Sprite. Pretty cool. You can see the future of soft drinks in the background on the right side.
The other members of my group ordered the chicken
grill set and chicken nugget sets. Not exactly
pirate fare, but at least the kid sets came in little black ships. I feel the members of my band enjoyed their food
and the dining experience.
I give King of the Pirates three and a half
out of five doubloons for the food. I give it
four out of five doubloons for the value and four our of five stars for the theming.
