The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar

07/03/2008 Posted by caravaggista

okay, while living in the bay area, i used to come here for an occasional happy hour. the drinks were good and the free buffet - decent. a few months ago, my mom and i came up to sf for a friend's wedding. my friends live around the sunset and richmond district. however, we decided to stay at the orchard garden (great hotel). exhausted, i had one of my friends meet me at the hotel and decided to walk somewhere closeby. we wanted to go to a place, where you can bring mom, to drink and have fun. wise choice... the filippino band was amazing. playing everything from top 40 to class rock 'n roll. and, we could tell they enjoyed jamming. (appreciated their non-cheesy renditions). since, we never had eaten a meal at this establishment, we ordered appetizers and drinks. after tasting the fried rice and everything else we ordered, we regretted not ordering a meal. the food was good. and, would have cost as much as what we spent on appetizers. (i am definitely going back for food). another thing i enjoyed about this place - you can come dressed however you would like. it is also a place you can come dressed in the attire (which you would never wear again, otherwise) you purchased to attend the opera or that wedding in 2005. its fun to get dressed up - the kind of "dress-up" wear you would watch your mother put on when she would go out on weekends or used to don when you were first in college - going to a nice restaurant with your group of friends- and tried to be "adult." this is definitely the place where you can wear your pearl choker and cocktail dress.

Pros: the food, drinks atmosphere, and diversity of crowd

Cons: none

04/11/2008 Posted by hobotourist

It feels like like the perfect venue for a Goldman Sachs office party or something. We could picture a senior VP getting drunk on Mai Tais (which are quite good actually) and hitting on an intern as the faux Polynesian band belts out Journey. Nothing against Goldman Sachs really. We were just being juvenile and imaginative (drunk). I guess the festive mood does have an effect. Just remember to visit this place with low expectations and take in all the cheese. It's like an episode of Montel. You want to turn it off but your having too much fun enjoying how bad it is. And for that it get two stars instead of one.

03/23/2008 Posted by OaklandCocktailian

They just reopened Thursday after renovations, seems unchanged. 6 of us, we ordered ~10 drinks over the course of the evening. The Singapore Sling and Mai Tai were terrible, the French 100 - a champagne cocktail - was totally flat - no sparkle at all, the service was so slow that it was too difficult to send the drink back. The bus-boy cleared away my 'souvenir glass' without asking. The Planter's P*nch was pretty good, the shitake egg rolls were excellent as was the almond garlic tapenade on flatbread. The band was entertaining, some of their songs were quite good - fun to dance to. The decor is incredible, the monsoon rain is fun - if heavily chlorinated. It was $245 for 6 people - two appetizers, 10 or 11 drinks, and the $7 per person cover charge for the live entertainment. How can this place have a 5 star rating when it gets so many well deserved bad reviews? FWIW, we throw cocktail parties and really know good cocktails, we have all of Jerry Berry's recipe books, we know what they are supposed to taste like.

Pros: the most amazing faux polynesian bar I've ever been in

Cons: bad drinks, overpriced, poor service

07/18/2007 Posted by heidyliza

I took my aunty at Tonga room for her birthday along with my sisters and it was bad the minute we arrived at the place.....I stopped in front of the Fairmont hotel and the valet attendant asked if we were checking in and I so no we are having dinner and he said that I am not allowed to do valet parking not unless I pay $50 for a valet parking, I thought it was rediculous for him to say I am not allowed to park there but I told him I didn't care if I have t pay that amount and he kept asking me at least 4 times and I was very offended just because I am Pacific Islander driving a very expensive car and I am young he assumed right away that I cannot afford to be there, that was very rude. When we got to the restaurants the lady set us on the cocktail side not asking if we were ging to have dinner or what not. Finally I told her we want to have dinner and she gave us attitude, the food was not very good and for the price it is absolutely not worth it, average chinese food nothing special. I do not like that place especially the valet parrking which I found out I didn't even have to pay for parking the attendant simply didn't like us because he felt like he was below us..... And we just wanted to have a good birthday celebration ft my aunty.

05/10/2007 Posted by recycleplease

I was very disappointed in this place after reading all the great reviews. I went here for my birthday and the hostess was very rude. She wanted to remind my party that we all had to order an entree to be seated. I'm assuming because we all looked young and might not have been able to afford our meals? The food was not as delicious as I had hoped and definitely not worth the money paid. I felt that you could get much better food for much cheaper elsewhere. However, the waiter was very nice and brought out a free piece of cheesecake for me. I don't like to be a negative customer and usually always try to look on the bright side of things because but this place really didn't deserve my money.

Pros: Fun environment

Cons: too expensive for mediocre food, horrible hostess

01/12/2007 Posted by neveready14

We arrived during happy hour and it was wild. We all decided to stay for dinner and were seated at a great table overlooking the lagoon. The food and service were excellent. We ordered several entrees for the table and shared. What a way to go. The Salmon, Chicken Curry, Mongolian Beef, Pepper Beef and Rib Eye Steak were out of this world. Our waiter has worked there for years and knew the place inside and out. My friends and I just went for happy hour and by the time we left the band was finishing their last set. The music was upbeat and the dance floor was packed. The Tonga Room should be on everyones destination list. It was more than just dinner, drinks and dancing with friends. The Tonga Room was an adventure.

Pros: Ambience, Food, Service, Dancing, Music

01/06/2007 Posted by foramit

Its a waste of money and time. The service is horrible. The only reason this place survives is perhaps because of tourists. The wait staff and the server were all rude and rarely available. Its more like a communist regime where one cannot complain, eat and drink what's served and if served in time.

Pros: Ambience ( After lot of thinking)

Cons: None

10/27/2006 Posted by jyeltson

The Tonga Room was a great experience. The food and service were outstanding. I had visited the Tonga Room for dinner a few years ago and WOW has it improved. The decor is incredible, the food was outstanding, and our server was very attentive to our every need. What a night we had. Dinner, Dancing, and Tropical Storms with great food, exciting drinks, and a great wine list. The Tonga Room is a place everyone should experience either go during Happy Hour, Dinner, or late night drinks and dancing.

Pros: ambience, food, service

10/02/2006 Posted by gmcres

What a horrible experience...It was freezing in the restaurant, the wait staff was rude and condescending, the food over-priced, the drinks wimpy...I could go on. Don't waste your money there.

09/20/2006 Posted by libby_enright

i suggest the happy our - you can get some food and the drinks aren't as expensive... i went with a group for a friends pre-birthday celebration, very fun and decorative which made for a great time!

Pros: Ambiance and service

Cons: expensive drinks