Brought to you by a group of Michigan missing folks, Kalamazoo Cafe is an added flavour into a street I have dubbed the “American food row” on Aman Suria. Recently opened and currently understated, the peeps of Cafe Kalamazoo wants to bring to you the familiar taste which they have experienced while living in the States. I went there last Friday after ditching our initial plan to go to Kota Damansara. Rain as most KL residents know, signifies doomsday and even no Fridays are TGIFs with rain. Passing by Aman Suria, we looked around and finally settled for Cafe Kalamazoo just a few shops away from Betty’s Midwest Kitchen.
We decided to seat outside since the weather was fairly cool and we were attended too promptly. After looking around the menu, we were still lost and undecided. Luckily, the attentive waiter came to our rescue and helped us around the menu by explaining the dishes we were soon to order. Happy by his explanation we chose lots of stuff from soups to appetizers before settling with our mains.
For starters we had:
The Soup of the Day which was a stunning Mushroom soup. I liked the bits of garlic and potato pieces in the soup which added so much flavour to it. The little darling however, thought that onions were preferred although garlic was nice as well! Also, we though that we could do with just one bowl, but apparently not and so we ordered two bowls for the four of us! :) The soups cost us something like Rm5 each?
Next up were the Buffalo Wings:
A classic serve of fried wings tossed in American Hot sauce, these buffalo wings were delicious. I liked these wings better than the ones in TGIF. When it reached us, it still was crispy on its edges with a nice spiciness to it. Definitely spicier than the ones at Fridays but this was good and come on, as Malaysians, we definitely aren’t worried about heat. However, I did not quite like the sauce which I believe is meant to be the Blue Cheese dip. Also, I do not quite appreciate the celery accompaniment as most of the celeries sold in M’sia are fairly old with a fibrous outer layer which sticks so annoyingly to your tooth @.@. But mind the flaws, the attention should be the wings in which I found to be nice. It costs us Rm8 I think.
After the Dogfood experience @ Betty’s, I was not deterred in trying other dishes which involved fries. And so,I ordered the Chilli Cheese Fries without any hesitation :P
Most of the toppings were nice, but the cheese not so. Not sure what sort of cheese I have would preferred but I think the fries would be lovely even without the cheese. My dad in particular found the Chilli Cheese Fries delicious. A combination of meat, and bean sauce went well with what the quality fries already had to offer. However, we agreed that it was a tad too salty. Maybe, spicier might be better? ahah the little darling might die from the heat as she cannot eat things that are too spicy.
After eating these happily, our mains arrived and, oh yeah, we were surprised!! It felt as if we were eating in at a much fancier restaurant.
This was the oven baked pork loins with pineapple chutney for that added acidity which it needed. Underneath that well arranged slices of meat is the mash on an serve of blanched beans. The meat unfortunately felt overcooked, but I have had plenty of this sort of meat before and it was not really overcooked. Instead, it was the healthiness of this particular cut. It is not fatty but instead, is pure meat. The chicken breast of the pork? Maybe.
Next up was the roast beef which was visual pleasure as its best. It felt like the food was made for the camera and not the camera was made to snap the food. Fantastic effort in plating. At least amateurs like me loved it.
The plating was almost flawless in this dish that you would almost expect it to taste just as fine. However, it was a little bit of a let down because the beef was not tender as I hoped it to be. I never liked meat roasts which are tough. However, a clever combination of spinach and tomato were wrapped inside brought some uniqueness to it. So to add, the orange sauce drizzled over it felt special too! However, the orientation of the vegetables felt rather odd to me. Maybe pasting the chopped spinach around the beef would allow the juices to be contained and help make the beef more tender? But then again, that would be weird because the roast beef will not be turn out roasted. OK confused.
The last dish we ordered was Callahan’s Roast Chicken.
I do not know who Callahan is and don’t intend to find out (ignorant brat), but I can’t help but praise the crew who set this up. You know you have had a thousand roast chicken which are dry and so you let you dad order it. But when it comes out tender and tastier than ever, you are left gobsmacked. Mom voted this as the main of the night. Juicy, tasty, and well cooked. It deserves all its praises.
By the end of the night, I was filled to the brim.While I know Yobi would definitely not like my dish of the night because he literally hates chicken haha, I must say that the Callahan’s Roast Chicken was yummy and I liked it the best. However, I believe that no hype should be made because people might be let down by their expectations led by me. Nonetheless, I must thank the helpful Kalamazoo crew for being informative and helpful. Their service felt personal at times. Next time I will be back for their Fresco toast which seems to be well received. Maybe some crab rangoons too?
Till then,
WenY
