Equal cravings for Disney pins and blackened fish pointed me to the Premium Outlets on I-Drive. After a quick stop at the Disney Character Warehouse, Adam and I took up a booth inside Kafe Kalik. The restaurant is cozy without being cramped, and the booths are elevated. The interiors are warm yellows, dark woods, and splashes of colors through wacky wall 3-D wall art.
Adam and decided to share two entrées — double the food options! Adam ordered a Grouper sandwich with sweet potato fries, and my downfall was the blackened Mahi Mahi with fried yucca and coconut jasmine rice. We also took advantage of the two-for-one drafts during happy hour; Adam ordered a Caribbean reddish brew and I settled on trusty Yuengling.
The rectangular hunk of Mahi Mahi was seasoned outside was tasty but the inside was somewhat dry. Fried yucca is meant to be crisp on the outside with a firm but potato-y inside. Kalik’s fried yucca was cut maybe too thickly, which would explain the hard time I had biting through the yucca. Maybe a long boil before frying would have helped soften the yucca further. The coconut jasmine rice was garnishexd ith a fresh orange slice, which added a zesty flavor to the rice. At Adam’s suggestion, I also splashed the rice with the side of mojito dip. Yum! I’m not a coconut fan, but I could eat this rice due to the lack of any coconut flavor at all.
At the heart of Adam’s Grouper sandwich was a thick, juicy, battered and fried fish fillet. The fish was dressed up with lettuce and tomato wrapped in a large sweet roll kind of bun. I’m not a tartar sauce fan, so hurrah that the sauce was served on the side. I still liked the sandwich even after Adam sauced it down. The sweet potato fries were thin and crunchy, the exact two things Adam thought sweet potato fries should not be. Conversely, I’m a thin-and-crunchy fries fan.
Service was fine but liesurely, and pricing was about $15 per person. There was thumping-loud live music outside. Sit inside if you covet the ability to hear your date ‘s side of the conversation. I would return to Kafe Kalik if I’m on that side of town only to keep checking things off my Have-Tried List. The Yelp consensus is that Kalik is not known for consistency, so I’m willing to give it another shot for a tastier experience.
Kafe Kalik • Menu • Yelp • Google Maps
T: (407) 248-0889
