Honolulu Weekly

What excuse do we have to drink now that we’re trying to work off an eggnog gut and the champagne celebration for 2010’s arrival was so three weeks ago?

Oh, because it’s a Sunday? Sounds good. If it’s not time to pop the bubbly, it can at least be time for some great Bloody Marys, whether simply garnished with a slice of lemon or decked out with a prawn, asparagus, green beans and whatever other savory, sour and green garnishes are known to humankind. From traditional to new-fangled to those with a local twist, here are a few notable tomato-y drinks with kick around town. The funny thing is you can’t get any of these in the morning. Oh well, remember those occasions when Bloody Marys have saved you at the bar by acting as a dinner substitute. Nothing says “mmm mmm good” like tomato soup with vodka.

Cocktease: Indigo

Part of the bar’s well-known happy hour, when a menu of creative martinis are available for only $4 (plus the free pupu), the Mary-Tini uses Demitri’s Bloody Mary seasoning as a base. The bar’s signature touch is adding Sriracha, the Vietnamese-American sweet-spicy-tangy sauce often lovingly referred to by fans as, ahem, cock sauce (simmer down, there’s a rooster on the bottle). Then it’s up to bartenders to add anything else, such as green Tabasco sauce or pepperocini juice. The Mary-Tini is served chilled in a martini glass with a garnish of cucumber, Spanish olive, lemon wedge and pepperocini on a long skewer. No ice cubes block the channel between the glass and your tastebuds. Not watery, but not so thick as to make you choke, the Mary–Tini goes down like a satisfying liquid snack.

Playing with your food: Oceans 808

Did you know this 4am club has a happy hour? If you’re not into the after-hours scene and don’t want to feel guilty for making a busy bartender find the cherry tomatoes to prep this deconstructed Bloody Mary, check out the signature Shark Bite after you get out of the office. The bartender serves you half a cherry tomato sprinkled with salt on a toothpick, which you then dip into a martini glass filled with a dollop of Sriracha (seems to be a favorite Asian fusion touch on the island). Eat the bathed tomato, then shoot some Three Olives tomato vodka. Even if you’ve already swallowed the tomato by the time you get around to the vodka, the aftertaste will linger long enough to create a tingly Bloody Mary sensation on your tongue. While the cocktail lasts only as long as your shot of vodka does, it might be tempting to order another one right off the bat. But since the Shark Bite will put you in a savory food mood, perhaps you could pair it with happy-hour pupu, such as $2 oyster shooters or a $3 sushi sampler.

Turning Japanese: Azure

The casually upscale seafood restaurant in the famed and very pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel, with its high ceilings and breezy insides, has a relaxing, clean dining atmosphere. Sidle up to the small bar for the Three Olives Tomato Wasabi-Tini. Like Oceans 808, the bar also uses Three Olives Tomato vodka (if you couldn’t tell by the name of the drink), but Azure mixes it with a house-made Bloody Mary mix, which also includes Sriracha. The kicker garnish is wasabi powder sprinkled over the Spanish olive skewer and on top of the martini. The Sriracha and wasabi flavors are subtle–perhaps too subtle for some, but the subtlety does match the thinner consistency of the cocktail. The Kosher salt rim also isn’t an overload of ocean flavor. The sum of its parts yields a light, refreshing drink, which is just what you might need if you are having a pre-dinner cocktail and don’t want to fill up before your meal.

Where’s the beef? Lewers Lounge

This stalwart of the Honolulu cocktail scene has been quenching thirsts since 1983. Its Bloody Mary recipe is just as old. While not listed on the cocktail menu, rest assured that if you ask for a Bloody Mary, the bartender will return with the original house-made mix and garnish your drink the traditional way–with a celery stalk. The flavor is robust and kind of, well, meaty. Why? There’s beef consommé in the Bloody Mary mix. The Lewers Lounge Bloody Mary is like a traditional steakhouse or cigar bar–heavy on the brawn. Not for the faint-of-tastebuds, the old-fashioned drink goes well with the lounge’s complimentary Spanish almonds and pistachios. Or go for broke and order a foie gras sandwich. Soak in the live jazz in one of the comfortable chairs, or sit at the bar and dreamily look at how the lights dance off the absinthe drip as you sip on your beefy drink.

No sugar, but spice and everything nice: Chart House

If you walk into the ground floor of the building and wonder why the menus say Harbor Pub, it’s because you’re on the wrong floor. Go back to the street, find the stairs and climb up to Chart House. There, the bustling, casual steak-and-seafood restaurant with live music will present you with its signature version of the Bloody Mary–the Bloody Malia. This concoction consists of a house-made mix that includes plenty of chili pepper water. While you can expect more of the chili pepper water flavor over tomato juice, the drink is more on the savory side as opposed to plain spicy. You shouldn’t have any problems having it go down. Sure, you might be tempted to dip your poke or pork chop pupu into your drink, but that’s a bridge you’ll just have to cross when you get there.