Kong's Jungle Lounge

A little while back, a mini tiki trend began to emerge in Sydney. First, Grandma's Bar served tiki drinks, the exotic, fruity, rum-heavy cocktails of Polynesia. Then Freaky Tiki spread the tiki love to Newtown, its gaudy, colourful bar offering big bowls of cocktails. Kong's Jungle Bar is one step up, a full-on tiki den that mixes tiki drinks with Polynesian-fusion food and uses artefacts and themed artworks as decoration. They say three's a trend, so consider this trendy.

AS YOU'D EXPECT, the cocktails are big, strong, fruity and potent. They're not the most delicate or delicious you'll try but they knock you off your perch pretty quickly. A Tiki Punch laced with Bacardi 151 (Bacardi rum, coconut milk, apple, cherry, $18) comes out on fire. Everything else arrives with big fruity garnishes and, of course, lots of rum. The picks of the bunch are the pina colada (Grunters Wipeout, Bacardi rum, coconut milk, $14) and the Jungle Mojito (a regular mojito with passionfruit, $14). For wine drinkers, there are just eight Australian drops, none of them earth-shattering.

THE FOOD IS AN INTERESTING MIX of Polynesian, Japanese and south-east Asian. There are some hits - edamame beans with shichimi togarashi salt ($9.50); crispy corn tortilla chips with a tangy snapper ceviche, avocado and coriander ($16.50); or melt-in-your-mouth pork belly pieces with watermelon and coconut salad in a sugary, sticky sauce ($18.50) - and some misses, such as the bland hot fries with soy and wasabi mayo ($9.50) and marinated lamb skewers ($18.50). The food, developed by former Nobu and Jamie Oliver's Fifteen chef Adam Dundas-Taylor, hasn't quite found its stride yet and some dishes seem a bit pricey. The bar specials are OK, though - a beer-battered barra burger and a Vietnamese meatball hot dog (both $17.50).

TIKI DECOR IS GOOD FUN, with its loud patterns and kitsch furnishings. Some tattered suitcases sit in one corner, while huge, ridiculous straw chairs inhabit another. Maps, masks, flowers, statues and cushions are scattered around the room and a DJ pumps out reggae and slack-key guitar. It all puts the food and drink in context. That is to say, none of it takes itself too seriously.

THE ACTION IS REALLY HAPPENING next door to the basement cocktail bar, where a huge, almost hidden nightclub is hosting a 14th birthday party for the club owner's son. There's no booze, of course, but we walk between the nightclub's bathroom and the adjoining cocktail bar with our jaws on the floor at the sight of teens gone wild. Kongs will go off in summer, methinks, although the crowds aren't quite there yet. The two-month-old bar, opened by Sean Finlay, previously of 191, Grand Pacific Blue Room and Gas, hasn't really been discovered. This might be because the cryptic sign on Spring Street, which itself is pretty dead and sterile at night, has only a picture of a tribal mask to alert people to what's beneath. Perhaps Bondi Junction isn't quite ready for the tiki invasion.

YOU'LL LOVE IT IF you don't mind a novelty themed bar.

YOU'LL HATE IT IF you dislike fruity, rum-based cocktails.

GO FOR pina colada, pork belly, ceviiche tortilla.

IT'LL COST YOU cocktails $14-$18, wine by the glass $7.50-$12, beer by the bottle $8, food $9.50-$22.50.

Kongs Jungle Lounge Address 110 Spring Street, Bondi Junction, 8021 8122 Open Tues-Wed, 5pm-midnight; Thurs-Sat, 5pm-3am