This new bar is Tiki as FK

Tiki as FK

James Street, Northbridge, WA

We reckon 2017 may be the year that tiki breaks (again) in Australia. There’s not one, not two, but three tiki bars joining the scene this year; Tiki Tiki Gai in Brisbane opens in April, and Jacoby’s Tiki Bar (from the team behind Earl’s Juke Joint) opening in Sydney mid year. It was Perth, however, who got the first tiki injection this year, when Tiki as FK opened in Northbridge this month.

Coming from the team behind Five Bar and Lot Twenty, Tiki as FK has got a mid-century aesthetic (think Mad Men goes to Hawaii) and some eye-opening drinks, like the El Huevo Libre: rum, Coke syrup, pedro ximenez sherry and a whole egg — that’s right, a Cuba Libre-Flip hybrid.

“El Huevoe Libre (Free the Egg) is a tongue in cheek play on the Cuba Libre (Free Cuba) by Marco Noe,” says owner Gary Beadle, who along with Noe developed the drinks list. “Marco used to work at Bramble in Edinbrugh, where he picked up a version of this drink from Ryan Chetiyawardana, Marco has adapted the drink. Is it a flip or a version of a Cuba Libre? We don’t know. Is it a tasty beverage? Indeed it is.”

The bar is, like the best tiki bars of yesteryear, an extension of Beadle’s passions — great drinks are there (of course), and he’s had the chance to indulge a love for mid-century design.

“I have always had a great love for mid-century architecture and furnishings; my friends say that is because I am myself mid-century. Our room should make you feel as if you’ve walked into a Shag painting or the set of The Brady Bunch — a happy place,” says Beadle.

And that name?

“I called it Tiki as FK because it isn’t truly a traditional tiki room,” Beadle says. “When Don Beach and Trader Vic set their original Tiki bars up they used what they had available to them to create their spaces. Don curated things from his travels and Vic things from his trading. When we set our space up I made use of an amazing friend of mine Brett Clark who is an interior designer and furniture manufacturer. So, Tiki as FK came about because while it is tiki drinks with a tiki vibe, it certainly isn’t what you expect a traditional tiki room to look like, and you would probably say it is as Tiki as F**K.”

They’re also the lucky owners of a rooftop terrace with views of the Perth city skyline, making it a more than welcome addition to the Northbridge drinking scene.

Tiki as FK is open Wednesday through to Saturday, from 4pm until midnight — check them out on Facebook here and give them a follow on Instagram here.