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Bali Hai, Lynnfield, MA (restaurant) |
tikigreg
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1122
From: ClubTiki
|  Posted: 2003-11-16 09:27 am Permalink
Name:Bali Hai, Lynnfield, MA
Type:restaurant
Street:93 Moulton Drive
City:Lynnfield
State:MA
Zip:01940
country:USA
Phone:(781) 593-8600
Status:operational
Description:
Another eastern polynesian dining establishment that has somehow managed to escape the wrecking ball. Although it can be seen from busy Rte. 1, you need to get off the main road and wind your way through a number of residential streets to get to the entrance. Once there, you are greeted by the quintessential A-frame building, which appears promising, even if it could use a bit of maintenence. The lobby has tribal drums suspended from the ceiling, which is cool, but they also have seen better times. The rest of the decor is an amalgam of interesting styles, but very little tiki. The main draw is the drinks! They still use their original logo-stamped mugs to serve their concoctions in. Selections include Sufferin' Bastard, served in a tall Kon-Tiki mug; Fogcutter, Dr. Funk, offered in a matte black Island Chief; and the signature Bali Hai. If you're nice enough, they will sell you a couple of the mugs. For food, we ordered a "Happy Talk" appetizer, a large plate of chicken wings, spare ribs, shrimp toast, and crab rangoons. Pretty tasty and less than 10 bucks! The Bali Hai is worth a visit if you're in the Boston area and have some time to spare.
[ This Message was edited by: tikigreg 2005-08-23 12:16 ]
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stentiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 24, 2002
Posts: 891
From: Huntington Beach
| Posted: 2003-11-28 7:43 pm Permalink
Hey Tikigreg!
Thanks for posting this.
Here are couple more pix:
Inside
Bali Hai Mugs (there are more, but these are the two I was able to get while there).
I had a couple of mai tais there and sampled their egg rolls. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. Pretty strong mai tais but the bar was more of sports lounge rather than tiki. Still worth a visit if you're in the area.
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Aloha,
Arty
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JTD
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2003
Posts: 407
From: J'ville
| Posted: 2004-09-13 6:43 pm Permalink
Just stopped by there last week. Same review from me. I will add that the drinks are not only strong, but relatively inexpensive, $4-5 a pop. I got the same two mugs (the signature mug still had its OMC label) for $7.50 apiece.
At 4:30 in the p.m., it was tough to get a feel for the place. There were about a half dozen folks in the lounge. Nice folks, but definitely there to look at the tube. Nobody in the restaurant.
Humuhumu - Please add to Critiki when you get a chance.
-JTD
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 820
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-09-13 9:04 pm Permalink
If anyone has a hankering to take some pics of all of the light fixtures in there and post them, I'd sure appreciate it.
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dogbytes
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 2241
From: seattle, wa
| Posted: 2004-09-13 9:32 pm Permalink
i appreciate the updating of this thread.. we'll be in New England in october ~ i'll take pictures (new camera, hope they turn out ok!)
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 820
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-09-14 12:22 am Permalink
Dogbytes, thanks in advance for any attempt you may make. The pics don't need to be great. I'm just trying to identify major types and variations of Orchids of Hawaii lamps and this place looks like its got a lot of them. So far I can identify the ones I call hex multi, dodecahedron, and cage. There are parts of at least five others I can't see enough of to ID.
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 820
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-09-14 12:53 am Permalink
Hey, anyone know when the place was built?
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DrFunk75
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 10, 2004
Posts: 15
From: Newburyport, MA
| Posted: 2004-09-15 6:14 pm Permalink
Tikijackalope:
Besides the Kowloon, this is one of my favorite places up here. I in fact go to the Bali Hai once or twice every week. From talking with the bartender Jack, the place has been around since the very late fifties or early sixties. They did have a fire in 70 or 71. They obviously were able to salvage some of the decor. This place has been owned by the same guy from the beginning. You might have seen him if you went there. He is the older, somewhat heavier guy with the thick black glasses. He must be doing well because he drives a brand new Mercedes.
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dogbytes
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 2241
From: seattle, wa
| Posted: 2004-10-17 6:06 pm Permalink
we had a nice dinner at the Bali Hai ~ ordered the Treasure Island (Lobsster, shrimp, chicken, beef and roast pork, sauteed with vegetables, served over rice (chow fun) noodles, garnished with fried won tons. also enjoyed the pyrotechnic display of the Flaming Ambrosia
(basically sweet and sour pork with pineapple and marichino cherries) rum set ablaze tableside. seems all the New England Chinese restaurants favor the super thick batter on the fried items
i didnt see tikis, but there were at least 2 of each of these lamps. bought the menu and both mugs. sorry that the pictures arent the greatest, realize that im only 5'2", so the angle is odd.
glad to see this cantonese restaurant survive ~ its not far from the splashier Kowloon. similar menu items also huge portions with lots of meat.
Shell lamp 
Six-sided Lamp 
tapa lamp 
drum lamps 
bamboo lamp 
another shell lamp 
woven lamp 
six-sided bamboo 
china-hat lamp 
pointy lamp 
elicia
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 820
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-10-18 12:23 am Permalink
Dogbytes, great pics - thanks! I've never seen about half of those types.
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rupe33
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 08, 2004
Posts: 317
From: DC Metro Area (MD)
| Posted: 2005-08-18 7:02 pm Permalink
Shortly after visiting Kowloon up the road, my brother, Dad & I went to Bali Hai. They're just a few miles apart, an incredible tiki 2=for-1 if you're in Massachusetts. We took the recommendation to eat at Kowloon, which had a huge range of food. The Bali Hai was a bit more divey, although to be fair we were there at 10pm on a Thursday night, and mainly it was locals about. A couple of women asked me if I was a tourist (while taking pictures), and I said, "Nope, just a fan of tiki bars" for some reason. Drinks were great, and I got the 2 mugs that are pictured above, both with their original Otagiri stickers- wow! They also sold me a "souvenir" drinks menu, although they had to search awhile to find the least damaged one of the lot in circulation.
Here are the shots I got:
the sign on the road:
Overview of the main dining room, which was empty. The huge lightbox in the back is a luau scene - very cool. The lamps have been very well documented in this thread already.
A view of the lobby, as you walk towards the door:
The sign over the door - they should make a mug out of that face!
A bit of the drinks menu cover
Impressive detail in the wrought-iron railings on either side of the door. Which are probably going to be blocked by smokers if you visit.
Not sure what happened to the first part of this sign:
Mugs still available as of July 2005!
A closer look at the large luau lightbox:
You can see my Kowloon photos from the same trip here:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=10145&forum=2&hilite=kowloon
Thanks to everyone in the recent thread who helped us to decide which one to eat at! I think we made the right choice.
Cheers,
Rupe
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johnman
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
Posts: 452
From: RI
| Posted: 2005-08-20 7:37 pm Permalink
I managed to find a site for the Bali Hai:
http://www.2nite.com/balihai/home.htm
I've passed this place so many times on my way to the White Mountains but it always looked closed. The fam and I are heading north again this weekend but this time I'm stopping! Hopefully I can score a couple of mugs.
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BrickHorn
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 03, 2005
Posts: 178
From: Texas
| Posted: 2005-10-03 6:23 pm Permalink
The wife and I made the trek up to Bali Hai for dinner this past Friday. Aside from the exterior, cool mugs and nifty old-school tiki drink menu, I was fairly disappointed.
The interior decor is very bland. Yes, the lamps and lightbox scene are cool, but they form the entirety of tiki-related decorations in the entire place. The remainder of the decor screams "crummy Chinese restaurant!"
The drinks were strong, but unremarkable. Although they arrived in different mugs, the Bali Hai tasted exactly the same as the Fog Cutter.
The food was fairly good, but the pu-pu platter did not come with the little grill that forms the centerpiece of any tiki appetizer.
The service was impatient and not overly friendly.
Overall, I'd still recommend that any Bostonians interested in Tiki bars check out Bali Hai. As bland as the experience was, one has to have realistic expectations. Beggars can't be choosers; there just aren't many tiki palaces still in existence. Besides, the mugs are pretty cool (yes, I bought one of each for $7.50 per). That said, the Kowloon provides Bostonians with a much more enjoyable escapist Tiki experience.
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I, Zombie
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 14, 2003
Posts: 539
From: the Les Baxter Grotto (Minneapolis)
| Posted: 2005-10-17 7:33 pm Permalink
Been to the Bali Hai and Kowloon a number of times. Unfortunately, I've never had any luck at Kowloon. Looks great, but the food and drinks have never been very good. Bali Hai was really good about 5 years ago, but has steadily gone down hill to the point that I don't think I stopped there last time I was in the area.
That said, if you haven't gone to either, definitely worth taking a chance whenever you're in the Boston area.
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Suffering Bastard of Stumptown
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 09, 2005
Posts: 648
From: PDX
| Posted: 2007-02-19 09:03 am Permalink
My wahine and I went to the Bali Hai last night on our way back to Maine from IKEA. 
I was not expecting much, so I am glad to say it exceeded those expectations.
It's not an amazing place, but it is certainly sincere. It's not trying to hard to be anything more than a polynesian-feeling place with some nice decor, decent food and a bland bar.
The food was better than I expected, and in fact the teriyaki beef was the best I have had since I left Seattle 6 years ago. And they did give us a lot of food for the money.
The drinks were, as others have said, quite strong and for only $4, one can get drunk pretty quick. in fact, this was the first time I EVER had to ask my wife to drive home! And I only had two drinks!
They also did sell me two mugs. One was the aforementioned Bali Hai signature mug, and they also sold me a crossed-arm bisque mug with their name printed on the back.
What they wouldn't sell me was what the Suffering Bastard arrived in because they said they don't have enough to sell.
It's a modern mug, but it has their name printed on the back. I had my camera phone, so I took these pictures:
A couple things I liked better about the Bali Hai than the Kowloon is that we didn't have to wait forever (it was a Sunday evening and it was about 1/3 full) and the food is arguably better. And hell, the drinks are cheaper, even if they aren't well defined.
So I would go back.
..sbim
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