By naming a cocktail after the Titanic, are you cursing the alcoholic vessel to a similarly tragic fate?
Apparently so. Regardless, I still had to order the Thai-tanic at Swing Thai on Tennyson Street, if only to prove my theory correct. One sip in, and I was smiling smugly, passing the horrendous radioactive- green concoction around the table for supporting face-flinches, of which there were many.
Sure enough, this cocktail – vodka, melon liqueur, triple sec and pineapple juice – is bright green trash. It wouldn’t taste better sitting next to a pool, or even on a Caribbean beach. I sweet drinks – pina coladas, Red Bull and Cuba libres included – but this sugary nastiness was intolerable. The proof: At the end of this big pre-Lakeside dinner a few months ago, the glass harboring the Thai- tanic was the only one with any liquid leftover.
Nobody could finish it. It was that bad.
But that doesn’t keep me away from Swing Thai, where the food is consistently tangy and thoroughly satiating. I’m a regular at the East Alameda Avenue and South Colorado Boulevard locations, but my new favorite is the new Swing Thai in the Tennyson arts district, which is a livelier outpost complete with a bar and a seemingly more active, walk-about clientele.
It was there where we pre-partied for a trip to Lakeside not long ago, and it was a goal to try every cocktail on the menu – not as impressive as it sounds, but still an accomplishment given that the five specialty drinks vary greatly. It was also impressive because this was our warm-up for the Wild Chipmunk, the legendary Lakeside roller coaster famous for its endless jerking and yerking. A few other natives at the table and I were Chipmunk veterans. But Hoyt, Megan and a few others were rookies who used the lubrication as liquid courage.
The table favorites were the Thai Island Iced Tea and the Mango Mojito, both of which were fruity but still allowed the alcohol to breathe and spit a little fire. The Mango Margarita was fun, especially because it’s rare that tequila meets such a tangy, fruitful match.
Swing Thai
Three Denver locations, including 4370 Tennyson St., 303-477-1994
Funky: Drunken noodles and drunken friends – plus the charming plants on each table.
Skunky: Stick to the sake 0r Thai Island Iced Tea.
