Tiki Terrace Dining RoomLast week I visited the Tiki Terrace in Des Plaines, IL.  Des Plaines is just  a short drive from downtown Chicago.  I went there for lunch on new year’s eve.  From the outside I would have never guessed what waited for me inside.  The Tiki Terrace was adorned from floor to ceiling.  It felt like I had just stepped into a tropical tiki jungle.  Come to find out later from our waitress that the owners, three brothers, had hand carved and created the many Tikis throughout the restaurant.

Arriving late, we got a table and our waitress, Diana, told us that the kitchen would only be open for a few more minutes, but they were nice enough to stay open to make us lunch still.  To start out I had a Mai Tai.  The Mai Tai wasn’t your traditional Trader Vic style Mai Tai, but it was still very good.  It was sweet with an orange flavor, and you could also taste dark rum, and Orgeat Syrup.

Tiki Terrace Mai TaiAfter the Mai Tai I had a Tropical Itch.  The Tropical Itch had a Cherry, Pineapple, Rum flavor and was quite delicious as well.  My third drink was a Vanilla Ginger Martini.  The drink menu says they make their own vanilla bean and ginger flavoring every week.  I really enjoyed the Ginger Martini it had a perfect balance of ginger and vanilla.  I would definitely recommend this martini.

For lunch we started with the Pohana Pot Stickers and the Egg Rolls Bora Bora.  The pot stickers were good.  They had a delicious shrimp, pork filling.  However, I loved the Egg Rolls Bora Bora.  These made from scratch egg rolls had a very thin crispy shell that was excellent, and the filling was very meaty and tasty.  These could be the best egg rolls I’ve ever had.

I had the Honolulu Coconut Chicken for my main course.  It was an enormous portion of crispy, coconuty, deliciousness. We also tried the No Ka Oi Burger which was a Teriyaki glazed burger with pineapple and wasabi mayo on top.  It was very good, but a bit on the greasy side.

Egg Rolls Bora BoraI had a great time at the Tiki Terrace and can’t wait to get back sometime for dinner.  They also have a dinner show that I want to see sometime. Our waitress Diana was very friendly. We talked to her for a while and she gave me some tips on some other great Tiki locations in the area.