Rhum opened recently, and given the festive Tiki Bar theme, a bitter cold weekend in Maine seemed like the perfect time to head out for some umbrella drinks. The atmosphere is upbeat, and the Tiki theme is carried throughout with multiple touches including a thatched roof edge around the bar, colorful lights, and other fun Polynesian accents.

We stopped by Rhum on Valentine’s Day for a quick drink and appetizer before heading to a show at Port City Music Hall. We didn’t realize it when making our plans, but the two destinations are located close to one another which made for an extremely convenient night out. We almost missed the entrance to Rhum. It’s actually behind the building by the back parking lot.

We got there a little after 4:30 pm, and it was busy but not overly crowded when we arrived, so we were able to find a couple of seats at the bar, thanks to a nice couple that scooted over for us which opened up a couple of seats together. While we choose to sit at the bar, there were also some seating areas along the outer edge that had comfy looking chairs and couches.

After settling in and looking through the menu, we decided to share one of their rum bowl drinks for Valentine’s Day. They had a few options for shared drink selections on the menu, including a Mai Tai, Fogcutter, and the Junglebird. The Junglebird has compari and cherry bitters in the ingredients list, so I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. Fortunately, another couple sitting next to us had ordered it, and they kindly let us have a taste to see if we’d like it. It was bitter, as the ingredient list implied and a little too strong for me, although the couple that ordered it thought it was fabulous. It’s just a matter of personal taste. In the end, we went with that evening’s drink special called the Rhum Romance which came with two oysters on the side. It was fruity and sweet, exactly what we were looking for. Rhum also had many other individual fruit drinks on the menu, and a surprisingly good selection of craft beer.

The food options were limited, but interesting. The menu has a selection of raw bar items along with various other small plates. We went with the pu pu platter which included appetizers such as edamame, shrimp toast, crab rangoon, pate, and pork although I think they vary the selections so it might be different when you go. It was a nice mix of flavors and hit the spot.

We didn’t stay long as we had tickets to a show at Port City Music Hall later that night, but it was a fun start to our night out. While I enjoyed the visit, it did lean towards the expensive side with our one drink and platter costing around $70.00, so I’m not sure it would be cost effective to hang out for a night, but I’m really happy that we dropped by for a visit. It was a nice taste of summer on a cold winter’s night.

Rhum Tiki Bar