The Lagoon is one of three "experiences" located at Midnight Oil in Long Beach. It is described a Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired room, but it also has some tiki décor so we stopped by to check it out after visiting another nearby tiki bar.
The Lagoon has a speakeasy style entrance. Once you enter Midnight Oil, walk towards the end of the bar and look for a wooden mask on the door. Push on the left side of the door, and you will enter The Lagoon.
This is definitely a small room with eight seats at the bar, three seats against each wall, and a long narrow table in the middle. Creature from the Black Lagoon décor includes some artwork and figures, and lots of greenery on the walls. Tiki décor includes various lamps, puffer fish, ropes, netting, and coconuts. There is also some leftover décor from the "Roadkill" pop-up they had in the room last year.
We stopped by at 8pm on a Wednesday night, and we were the only ones in the room for our 30 minute visit which is always a little strange. We sat at the bar and scanned the QR code to look at the menu. The cocktail menu is very small with only seven cocktails, three frozen cocktails, and one mocktail. There are also around a dozen food items and a dim sum menu.
I had the Monkey Delight cocktail (Hamilton 86 rum, Amontillado Sherry, Kin-a-Peel banana, lemon, $14). It was very boozy with a very light banana flavor.
She had the Mexican Pharmacy cocktail (Tequila 1800 Coconut, Tequila 1800 Blanco, Pineapple, Coconut, Orange, $14). This was really good with a nice mix of coconut and pineapple flavor. I wouldn't have guessed it was a tequila cocktail.
The drinks are reasonably priced at $13 to $15 with only the Old Fashioned costing $17. The food items are also reasonably priced, but we ate earlier in the evening. I didn't catch her name, but our bartender who was going back and forth between The Lagoon and The Apothecary was friendly and checked on us often.
It was cool to stop by and check it out, but the room and drink menu are very small, so I don't see us coming back. read more