The Tonga Room is a tiki bar in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, and it has been serving tropical cocktails since 1945. The centrepiece is a swimming pool -- the hotel's original pool, now surrounded by thatched huts and tropical foliage. A band plays on a barge floating in the middle of the pool. Every twenty minutes or so, the lights dim and an indoor rainstorm pelts the water while thunder rumbles through the speakers.
It is gloriously kitsch and completely sincere. The mai tais are strong, the pu pu platter is what it is, and the whole experience feels like a time capsule from a more whimsical era. Go for happy hour to avoid the steepest prices.