Matiki – Vienna’s craft cocktail bars

Vienna’s first, and one and only, tiki bar is hidden away in a cellar bar on the Spittelberg’s Gardegasse. Inside, the interior and the cocktails will take you somewhere tropical, so don’t be ashamed to turn up in your Hula skirt or Hawaiian shirt (ok, actually, you should always be ashamed in a Hawaiian shirt). For those not familiar with the concept, a tiki bar – that has been experiencing something of a revival abroad – is a particular kind of bar that is inspired by a romantic ‘aloha’ idea of cultures from the tropics that typically serves up plenty of rum-based cocktails. Matiki ticks all of the boxes here, and goes one step further by serving up their rummy creations in cups shaped as totem poles. But it ain’t just all show here; the mixing crew know what they’re up to. The two brothers behind it, Matty and Arik Vinnitski, whose mad cocktail skills you might have come across already at known cocktail bars such as ‘If Dogs Run Free’, or ‘Miranda Bar,’ finally opened their own home of crafty cocktails.

The atmosphere is as comfy as your grandpa’s smoking slippers and so are the chairs. Meanwhile, whatever you choose out of the story book looking menu, the cocktails are fresh and colourful creations. We spent our time here slurping at a popular tiki classic known as a Navy Grog, which came with a bombardment of flavours and a cone ice cube bobbing about in it (we’re guessing it was a volcano). Second time around we got a original creation, Bombaclot (a mix of fresh fruit juices and a Jamaican rum) which had the effect of injecting the alcohol straight into our brain cells (meaning we got all giggly drunk). So if you’re into rum, this be your new haunt rummy.