Kowloon Tiki on the Beach

Of 7 billion people on the planet, I don't think one has my combined love of Kowloon Restaurant and Revere Beach. So Kowloon Tiki on the Beach is a dream come true. This restaurant faces the ocean and I love this entrance. It's a tribute to the original Kowloon in Saugus, but when you walk inside, this place just screams fun. Look at those blue floors designed to look like the ocean. Hardcore Kowloon lovers will find some nostalgia throughout the restaurant, but I think maybe the most exciting part of this restaurant is bar number two. These windows roll up so you'll be able to have a scorpion bowl and a pu pu platter just steps from the beach.

Bobby Wong runs the show at the Kowloon in Saugus, and this restaurant was his brainchild.

"It's a fun place. There's nothing like it on the beach right now. The decor is amazing. The tiki huts, the tiki faces. Actually the tiki drinks and appetizers like the pu pu platter, things like that. So we're leaning into that part of the Kowloon, but also we're adding additional items onto the menu that makes it a more fun, different experience for a lot of the people on the beach."

The Kowloon Pu Pu Platter is famous. You have to get it if you come here. It starts with those big fresh white meat chicken fingers. So delicious when you put them in some duck sauce. The crab rangoon is stuffed and fried right here. I've always loved their chicken wings. The spring roll is really crispy, and they round it out with boneless ribs.

A new item on the menu I wasn't expecting is calamari. This is fried rings only with some hot peppers, and for dipping they have a sweet pineapple and chili dipping sauce.

New is good, but I'm old school at heart, so I still love the Saugus Wings. My mom actually named this dish decades ago after the Wongs invented it. It's a big meaty wing. It's sweet and garlicky and sticky. The only thing I don't like about it is how messy it is. But I'm going to have about six or eight and sprint into the ocean to rinse myself off.

"Thanks to the Andelman family, thank you very much for making the Saugus Wings probably the most popular item on our menu. We cook it up with the sweet sauce and add a bunch of garlic, and we mix it all up. Then we bring in the chicken wings that were fried, finish it off on the wok, and put it all together. It's great. It's really great."

If you're coming to Kowloon Tiki on the Beach, I think you have to order at least a couple things from the section called From the Tiki Hut.

Believe it or not, there's a Smashburger on this menu. This is two seared Wagyu patties, pineapple, American cheese, Kewpie mayo, a piece of pork belly, all on a seeded roll. This thing is salty and savory, sweet. It's like a big tiki party in your mouth.

I never thought I'd see lobster sliders on a Kowloon menu, but I'm so glad that they're here. This is big chunks of fresh lobster, a nice piece of pork belly, housemade pickles to give it some crunch, all inside a soft Hawaiian roll, which I guess makes sense because this is a Polynesian restaurant.

The Huli Huli Chicken is real Polynesian cuisine. They marinate this in a sweet pineapple sauce for 24 hours. They sous vide and then cook it, giving it a lot of flavor and texture. And in a nod to Bobby Wong's childhood, he serves it over fried rice with broccoli and Spam.

There's a Makimono section on the menu. I love the crab with avocado, but my favorite is the shrimp tempura. I love getting that crunch and the sweet shrimp up against that sticky Japanese vinegary rice. I put a little wasabi in my soy sauce to give it a little bit of heat. Dip my sushi in there. Soft, crunchy—it's got everything you want.

This close to the Atlantic Ocean, you may want to order the Exotic Seafood Fantasy. This features lobster and shrimp, which is sautéed. Then the chef decided to fry the scallops to give this dish some texture, served over carrots and pea pods in the pan.

My go-to dessert at Kowloon all these years was fried ice cream. But here in Revere they have added fried dough, perfect for the beach. Triangles of fried dough with cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce, and a side of vanilla ice cream. Hot and cold—the perfect end to a meal by the beach.

Revere Beach has a proud history. It is America's first public beach, but with restaurant legends like Kelly's Roast Beef, Bianchi's Pizza, and now Kowloon, I'm ready to call it America's Tastiest Beach.

"For great food, awesome cocktails, and a great vibe, you have to come to Kowloon Tiki on the Beach."

One more Mai Tai. I'm not driving.