Restaurant Review - Kafe Kalik, Prime Outlets Mall, 4969 International Drive, Orlando, FL

Way, way, down at the north end of International Drive is the Prime Outlets Mall, with high end outlet stores galore. Joining this group of retail is now Kafe Kalik, an upscale Bahamian restaurant. The interior is beautiful with florals, bright colors, dark woods, and a sheet of "rain" at the entrance. There's also a Straw Market (gift shop), sushi bar, and gelato counter. I never knew Bahamian cuisine was known for gelato and sushi, but there you have it.

We visited during lunch which looks to be the best bargain as all the prices go up (way up) during dinner time. The menu is huge with a lot of very unique flavors, mostly concentrating on seafood. The "sushi" is actually Caribbean rice rolls and as I far as I could tell, all of the fish items were cooked, not raw. The Junior Junkanoo kids menu stays the same for lunch and dinner and offers a burger, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, chicken in the bag, pasta, ribs, cracked conch in the bag, or grouper fingers from $4.95 to $6.95. All kids meals come with a soft drink and most include fries.

On our first visit, we started with the West Indies Curry Crunch rice rolls ($8.00) which is honey coated mahi mahi with tempura flakes, wrapped in rice like a sushi roll. It is served with traditional pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce but also with a tamarind soy dipping sauce and julienned calabaza. The roll was very good as is but I did dip it in the tamarind soy sauce and it was even better.

The server also brought to the table a basket of goodies including johnny cakes (like small corn muffins), flatbread slices, plantain chips, and regular tortilla chips. Watch out -- we found out the hard way that some of the johnny cakes come with jalapenos as my 5-year old found out. Accompaniments were guava butter (and you could really taste the guava!), regular butter, and a "pigeon pea relish", a Caribbean-style salsa with tomatoes, beans, and onions. The relish was delicious with all of the items and it went quickly.

Grandpa had had the jerk chicken platter before (which he declared as excellent), so this time he and Grandma shared a Banana Boat combo ($27.00), a choice of three of the Caribbean Rice rolls. They chose the Bump and Grind, Fat Annies Refrigerator Lobster Maki, and Johnny Canoe Crabby Cali (I swear these are the names on the menu for these rolls). The best was the Lobster roll with a sweet sauce, which had lobster, shrimp, crab, avocado, cream cheese, and veggies rolled in rice. The Johnny Canoe was really like a California roll, with a slight Caribbean twist.

BB ordered the Kids Ribs ($6.95) but had helped out a little too much with all the rice rolls so was not really hungry when his large kids plate of ribs came. He got four big, meaty ribs in a guava barbecue sauce. It came with fries that were slightly sweet. Grandpa helped him finish the ribs and said that the sauce "grew on him". I got the Grouper fingers platter ($11.50) which was very lightly fried and also had a slight sweet taste to the batter. The fish was good and tender but I think I would have liked it to be a bit more crispy. I also got the peas and rice which was good but I was hoping for more taste, maybe more of a coconut flavor. I actually preferred the island cole slaw (the server snuck me a cup of it to try) which was very light and fresh tasting and a good companion to the grouper.

The next visit, it was just me and the kids for lunch. This time I got the soup and sandwich lunch combo ($9.50) with two Guava Hog BBQ sliders and a cup of the conch chowder. The chowder was a nice size and was slightly spicy with big chunks of veggies and conch and, well, some sticks and stuff. I know they were probably fresh herbs but I would have preferred to have those large pieces of herbs strained out or removed before serving. The sliders were small but after the soup, it was enough. The guava pulled pork was sweet but not overly so and was tender. LB got the kids cheeseburger ($4.95) and BB got the pasta, with Alfredo sauce ($4.95). Both boys ate pretty well, although we did have to ask for more sauce for the pasta as it was very skimpy. And I was glad that LB didn't want the pasta as it was fettuccine which he doesn't like.

I don't know if it is supposed to be the island way, but the service can be pretty slow at times. The kids ended up watching a video of parades in the Bahamas that kept them entertained so make sure you have something to keep your kids occupied.

Dessert time! We decided on the Mini Trifle Creme Shooter desserts ($2.50) which are a good deal for the price. Basically, it is cake, topped with your chosen flavor of gelato and then topped with whipped cream. Plus, we each got to choose our own flavor of gelato instead of having to choose one to share like with the bigger gelato dessert. There are eleven tropical flavors to choose from including mango, passion fruit, rum raisin, key lime, tangerine, etc. LB chose banana, I chose coconut, and BB ordered the chocolate gelato. I liked how they were all presented slightly differently with rainbow sprinkles or toasted coconut flakes. All were great, but we all decided that the chocolate was the best; it tasted like rich chocolate pudding.

There was still a lot on the menu that I have yet to try, and this time I'm going to order the chocolate gelato as well.

Kafe Kalik website: http://www.kafekalik.com/

Restaurant Musings - Another Orlando area restaurant bites the dust

Well, another Orlando-area restaurant has closed - Amira's kosher deli in Altamonte Springs. We had just eaten there two weeks ago and the boys really liked it! It seems that on a daily basis we are learning about restaurants that are closing because of the economy. And most of these are the mom-and-pop restaurants because they don't have the deep pockets of the chain restaurants to be able to sustain themselves during economic downturns. I shudder to think we might end up with a chain-restaurant only dining landscape soon. That would be a very sad thing.

Here are a couple of restaurants in the area that have closed recently; you can add your own mournings in the comments section.

Amira's: Great place to get a totally stacked corned beef sandwich and potato pancakes. My kids also loved the pickles they serve as soon as you sit down at the table.

Jockamo's: My dad loved the crawfish boils. My kids and I liked the beignets. Where else in the area can you find New Orleans food?

Restaurant Review - Biergarten Restaurant, Germany Pavillon, Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort

After shopping "around the world" at Epcot recently, we stopped in to have lunch at one of my favorite family-friendly eating places -- the Biergarten restaurant in the German pavillon. Part buffet, part dinner show, the Biergarten has many things to entertain and feed both kids and adults. For kids, and picky adults, there is macaroni and cheese and roasted chicken on the buffet. For adults, there are 12 ounce beers (yikes!) as well as beer and wine flights if you'd like to try out some new drinks. For everyone, there is the Oompah band that plays for about 20 minutes every hour and includes lots of interactive and fun instruments such as the accordian (a must for the polka dances), cow bells, a wooden xylophone-like instrument, and the huge Alpine horns (think the "Riccola" TV commercials).

The lunch buffet is served from noon to 3 PM at $10.99 for kids ages 3 - 9 and $19.99 for adults (yes, 10 year olds are considered adults at Disney).

The inside of the restaurant resembles an outside courtyard of a small Alpine village at night. And in here, it is always Oktoberfest! Tables are for eight people so if you have four or less in your group, you might be seated with others. Don't worry, after a few 12 ounce beers, you will be best friends! After being seated at one of the long wooden tables and having the server introduce us to the other family already seated there, our server took our drink orders. LB asked for water while BB asked for sweet tea. Whoops, he forgot that, at Disney, they only have unsweet tea so he asked for a Coke instead. Grandma ordered the unsweet iced tea and I perused the wine and beer menu (alcoholic drinks are not included in the buffet price). What's nice is that all of the servers actually are from Germany so you can ask them questions about their country, or how to pronounce some of the beers or wines. My server, jokingly, wouldn't take my pointing at the Riesling wine I wanted and instead worked with me until I was able to pronounce it myself. Then, we headed to the buffet!

On one side of the buffet are cold items such as salads, a huge variety of cold meats such as bologna and sausages, and cheeses. Next come the cute pretzel shaped rolls, which are super yummy, and other types of bread and rolls. The soup was Potato Leek and was hot, very creamy, with soft pieces of leeks mixed in -- it was great to dip the pretzel bread into it. There are several hot selections including meatballs, pork, salmon fillet with a light dill sauce, bratwurst, and an accompanying condiment bar with hot mustard, sweet mustard, relish, chutney, catsup, and what became my favorite -- a curry catsup. I also discovered a pork shank gratin that was bits of pork shank (which tasted like corned beef to me), mixed with a light sauerkraut, and topped with mashed potatoes and cheese -- I went back for seconds on that. At another hot station were glazed carrots, roasted potatoes, pork schnietzel with hunter sauce (like a dark beef mushroom sauce), and a carving station with sliced roast pork and meatloaf.

Of course, the challenge with every buffet is who goes up with which child and helps them choose what to eat. LB, my picky eater, just wanted a pretzel roll and mac-n-cheese but I snuck some meatballs on his plate as well and he ended up actually eating them. BB was great, trying a little bit of everything, including a few cold sausage and each of the veggies. Grandma also noshed on a little bit of everything.

The Oompah band came on and involved everyone with singing along and dancing. My boys were mesmerized and would quietly sit in their seats and eat. You can't beat that! Then, of course, came the Oktoberfest toast with the band leading everyone to raise their glasses and sing: "Zicke-Zacke-Zicke-Zacke Hoi, Hoi, Hoi! Prost!", which always makes me think of the German guy in the Man Show (remember the Man Show from Comedy Central?).


There are also desserts on the buffet such as Bavarian cheesecake, Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce, fruit salad, a Black Forest cake roll, vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles, and cookies. Grandma ended up making us a "dessert sampler" plate for us with one of each thing and we all shared dessert. It was all really good but my favorite was the strudel with the vanilla sauce.

As it is a buffet, items will periodically change. Again, non-alcoholic beverages are included, and you can even change your drink and get coffee or tea with dessert. Plus, the band will honor any birthdays or anniversaries in the audience, and will sing you traditional German songs to celebrate. At the dinner buffet ($13.99 kids/$28.99 adults), there are additional items such as sauerbraten and herring but based on the large increase in price for adults, we prefer to go for lunch.

It's a great way to relax and have fun and good food at the theme parks, and everyone will enjoy the show.

Quick Bites - Ostrich and Buffalo burgers at Fuddrucker's

At the Fuddrucker's restaurant in Crossroads in Lake Buena Vista, I noticed that they have a "healthy choices" menu with different types of burgers such as turkey, veggie, and yes, buffalo and ostrich. I was very intrigued by these exotic offerings, so with the help of one of my co-workers, we split an ostrich burger and buffalo burger.

Cost: The exotic burgers are a bit more expensive than the regular burgers at Fuddrucker's and they only come in the one size - 1/2 pound. For comparison, a regular 1/2 pound beef burger is $5.69 while the Ostrich burger is $8.49 and the Buffalo burger is $7.99.

Looks: The buffalo burger looked more like a beef burger than the ostrich did, which makes sense. The ostrich burger was a very light brown, almost grey, with what looked like black pepper flecks scattered throughout the meat.

Taste: The ostrich burger was not greasy at all, though it wasn't dry either. To me, it tasted like veal. Unfortunately, I am not a big veal fan so I wasn't too keen on finishing the burger. My co-worker didn't fancy the taste either, so we ended up putting lots of condiments on it and finishing the burger. The buffalo burger, however, tasted just like a regular beef burger and we had no problem finishing that one.

Nutrition: Are these really healthier choices? I asked the question on the Fuddrucker's website and the nice people at Fuddrucker's sent me their nutritional information for all of their food products. Guess what? The ostrich burger really is better! Here's the breakdown: Ostrich burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 390 calories, 60 calories from fat, 6 grams of fat; Buffalo burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 520 calories, 330 calories from fat, 36 grams of fat; Beef burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 656 calories, 504 calories from fat, 56 grams of fat.

Taking all into consideration, I might be tempted to get another buffalo burger when I go to Fuddrucker's, but I'll probably pass on the ostrich. If you like veal, though, you might want to try it.

Restaurant Review - bd's Mongolian Grill, 300 S. State Road 434 , Altamonte Springs, FL

South of 436 in Altamonte Springs is bd’s Mongolian Grill, a mid-West chain now in Central Florida. For those of you not familiar with the Mongolian barbecue concept, basically you choose the raw ingredients you want in your meal, present it to a cook, and he or she will grill it up for you.

We went to bd’s Mongolian Grill for lunch and perused the menu while deciding how much we wanted to eat. Pricing is by how much you want to eat rather than what ingredients you choose. There is a One Bowl option ($8.99), a One Bowl plus soup & salad ($10.99), Unlimited bowls plus soup & salad ($13.99), or, you can order a Mongo Rice Bowl ($6.99) if you don't want to bother with coming up with the ingredients yourself and want the cook to make it all for you. There is also a vegetarian option for all of these if you aren't going to add any meats. Pricing is more expensive at dinner (about $2 - $4 dollars more depending on your selection). The only difference at dinner is some of the more premium meat selections are offered such as NY Strip and scallops. Kids prices are by age and include the soup & salad bar, which is great for me since my older boy loves veggies and soups. Kids ages 7 – 11 are $5.99, ages 3 – 6 are $4.99 and 2 and unders are free. Kids prices stay the same at dinner.

Before deciding, I looked over the soup and salad bar. When we went, the soups were chowder and chili. I thought it would be wonton or egg drop or some sort of Asian soup so I was surprised. Also, the salad bar was pretty standard, nothing too different. Because of that, I decided to get the One Bowl option. Actually, I wish there was a Two Bowl option, or an Unlimited without the Soup & Salad but those don't exist.

Here’s what you have to do to make your stir-fry:

Step #1 - Put your raw meat into a bowl. There were pastas, sausage, beef (ribeye), Krab (the "fake" variety), shrimp, calamari, mahi-mahi, pork, chicken, tofu, and others. The selection changes periodically, for example, there was duck available for the holidays.

Step #2 - Add veggies to your bowl, such as mushrooms, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, red skin potatoes, pea pods, pineapple, carrots, baby corn, and broccoli to name a few. There was even raw egg, jalapenos, and cilantro! The bins of food were kept continuously stocked. Both times I went up, a worker was refilling any bins that were low. They were all kept filled to the top, which is really nice.

Step #3 - Put the sauces you want in a different small black bowl. The goal, I believe, is to fill up the small bowl to get the most flavor. There were Asian sauces, both spicy and non-spicy, such as Garlic, Soy, Ginger, Szechuan, Kung Pao, Teriyaki, and Thai peanut. There were also other sauces like barbecue, marinara, spicy buffalo, and a lemon sauce.

Step #4 - Add spices and "mix-ins" to either bowl, things like chopped peanuts, coconut, curry powder, red pepper, garlic powder, sesame seeds, etc.

Then it’s time to bring your creation to the huge circular grill (or to the separate allergy station if you are allergic to any ingredients or want a truly vegetarian dish). The cooks will grill up your raw ingredients for you, cutting up the meat, and then add your sauce at last minute, and finish by sliding your creation onto a clean plate. If you wish, there are chopsticks available at the grill, and even kid's plastic chopsticks available from your server. BB got one of these and he liked it better than the wood-and-rubber-band ones you can get at some Asian restaurants. In fact, we took it home and just cleaned it in the dishwasher!

When we returned to our table, our server had already brought white rice (sticky), brown rice, and tortillas to eat with our meals. They also have lettuce wraps if you prefer.

On our first visit, I tried to make something similar to Mongolian Beef. I started with half a bowl of beef, added mushrooms, broccoli, and garlic, and then filled a sauce bowl with two ladles of Mongolian ginger and one of black bean sauce. It came out really good! Although, after having a big bowlful of raw ingredients, it surprised me how small the food looked on the final plate the cook handed to me. Hmm, maybe I need fill the raw ingredient bowl more next time I come. I added white rice when I came back to the table and ate. Yum!

For LB, I just listened to his instructions as he chose the different ingredients (editing a little when I didn’t think it would come out okay). He had a lot of fun choosing the ingredients he liked. He asked for raw beef in the bowl (I only filled the bowl about 1/4 way), then rotini noodles, baby corn (the only vegetable I was able to get him to add), and then I chose his sauces for the black bowl. He was a bit upset by this as he told me that he did not want ANY SAUCE. I convinced him though and chose a ladle of soy sauce and one of teriyaki. He got into it then and asked I add the sweet & sour sauce as well. Sure! He liked going up with his bowl and watching his food get made. He also really liked the tortillas and ended up eating two of those completely plain along with about half of his actual food.

BB started off with a bowl of clam chowder, then came back up for a full bowl of salad and veggies on the salad bar, and then decided he was ready for a stir-fry bowl. Grandpa ended up helping to choose everything so he told me he was not really sure what he got. But he liked it and said he would like to come back. Grandpa liked his as well but couldn't remember exactly what he put in his either. He was not too happy with the concept as a whole. His thinking was that if he came up with something that he really liked, he wouldn't be able to replicate it next time he came. Plus, he was having a hard time deciding what to put in his bowl. He probably would have preferred a few more recipe cards. Grandma made one of the "holiday special" duck dishes, Citrus Duck, that she found on a recipe card and really liked it, although it was a little sweet. Her only comment was that she would have never known it was duck as it tasted a lot like chicken.

My second time at the restaurant, I decided to try for a more Thai-like dish. I got chicken, noodles (I would have preferred more of a glass noodle as opposed to the pasta-like noodle available), and then added mushrooms, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, cilantro, and brocolli. I loaded the black bowl with just the Thai peanut sauce and added shredded coconut and chopped peanuts. Again, it came out good! I could definitely taste the coconut, due to the coconut milk in the actual sauce and the coconut I added.

Due to the food items available, you definitely don't have to stick with Asian. There were barbecue, burgundy wine, and marinara sauces, plus the pastas, so you could probably come up with some Italian, American, or Mexican dishes as well.

For dessert, we tried the mud pie ($5.99), which was plenty big enough to share with the whole table. It was a huge slice of coffee ice cream pie topped with a thick chocolate fudge sauce and with oreo cookie pieces mixed in with the ice cream. Yummy! Also I got the chocolate mousse ($1.99), which the server said was "tiny" but was actually a nice size -- plenty enough for two. It was very light, not too rich at all.
They also have a nice website at http://www.gomongo.com/ where you can create your own recipes in advance and then print them out and take them with you. If you are watching calories, etc, the website will tell you the nutritional information of what you are choosing (I'm sure it's not exactly the same as what you are going to get, but it's probably close.)

Restaurant Review - BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, 4151 Conroy Road, Orlando, FL

Across from the Mall of Millenia is BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, where the biggest problem you will have is figuring out what to choose from the extensive menu. Besides the microbrew choices, there are burgers, pastas, pizzas, and other specialty entrees.

The restaurant interior is spacious, with light and dark wood floors, large booths, and classic touches such as chandeliers and ornate picture frames. We were seated at one of the oversized booths for dinner with children’s menus for the kids and a book-like menu for the adults. The menu is so extensive that you really need to have an idea of what kind of food you want when you dine here. Do you want a burger or a Chicago-style pizza? A salad or a pasta dish? A sandwich, a stuffed potato, or maybe one of the other entrees? Oh, and don’t forget about the entire microbrew menu.

To buy us some time to peruse the menu, I ordered the Avocado Egg Rolls ($8.95) as an appetizer for the table. These were amazing. Besides being beautifully presented, the crispy egg rolls were filled with large chunks of avocado, cream cheese, sundried tomatoes and other spices, plus a tamarind dipping sauce. The avocado and cream cheese melt together and provide a great flavor combination while the various spices gave some kick. Grandma, Grandpa, BB and I dug in. LB wouldn't touch it because of the "green" stuff inside. It was so good, I might come back and make it my meal one day.

From the kids menu, both of my boys decided to get the two mini burgers ($4.95 including drink), BB choosing his with all the toppings and LB asking for nothing on the bun but the burger. Other choices on the children’s menu are spaghetti, deep dish pizza, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, and mac-n-cheese, all for $4.95. They both gobbled up their burgers. I loved the happy face potatoes that came with the kids’ meals which are like French fries but are round and indented with a smile and two eyes.

Grandpa ordered a sample of the Berry Burst Cider ($1.95 for a 5 oz. taster), and the Chili Cheese Angus Burger ($9.25), with a Wedge Salad ($2.75 with an entrée). The cider was light and very fruity and didn't taste like beer as I thought it would. If you are not sure if you will like some of the beers, BJ’s also offers microbrew taster sets where you can try several of the beers in 5 oz servings. The Wedge Salad was a hunk of lettuce as you would expect but with big crumbles of bleu cheese in the dressing as well as a sprinkling of chopped tomatoes and onions as well. The burger was served open-faced and was completely covered with chili, cheese, and thin-sliced onion rings. Grandpa, who is normally a healthy eater, could not finish the meal but declared it delicious.

I ordered the Parmesan Crusted Chicken ($10.95), a pair of flattened chicken breasts, coated with Panko breadcrumbs and fried, with sides of white cheddar mashed potatoes and broccoli. The chicken had a crispy parmesan cheese crust and was topped with a buttery white wine sauce. I couldn’t get enough of the sauce and dipped every piece of chicken in it and some of the broccoli as well.

Grandma had the BJ’s Favorite deep dish pizza, the mini-size ($9.50). This is a supreme pizza with meatballs, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, onions and topped with chopped tomatoes. She was glad she asked for the mini as it was loaded with toppings and was a generous serving. The crust was surprising light and crispy and not too greasy.

For dessert, we tried the Pizookie, a cookie baked in a mini deep20dish and topped with ice cream. No one could agree on if we should get the chocolate chunk cookie with vanilla ice cream or the triple chocolate cookie with chocolate ice cream. Our server helped us out by offering to do a half and half Pizookie for us. When the dessert came, it was just as our server said it would be, chocolate chip cookie with one scoop of vanilla ice cream on one side of the dish and a triple chocolate cookie with chocolate ice cream and a piece of Ghirardelli chocolate on the other. The dessert was very rich with the soft cookie and the melting ice cream on top and we polished it off.

I would definitely return to BJ’s as there are certainly some more dishes I want to try on the menu, including some microbrews as well. If you go at lunchtime during the week, there are some nice lunch specials for $6-$8, most including a salad.

Website: http://www.bjsrestaurants.com/

Help! I need a Brunch place for Easter and Mother's Day!

I always have this dilemma this time of year. Where can my whole family go for brunch for Easter (coming up April 12) or Mother's Day (coming up May 10) that the kids will like, the adults will like, and it won't be outrageously expensive? A couple of years ago, we all went to the Gospel Brunch at House of Blues Orlando and loved it. However, I always like to try new things. So, I'm asking you, my readers, to recommend a place for a family-friendly Easter or Mother's Day brunch. Just click below on the comments link and tell me all about it! Thanks!