Firelake MOA

I visited Firelake again recently for a girlfriend getaway at the Radisson Blu at the Mall of America with Kelly and Michele.  After reviewing the dining choices at the MOA we realized there are not a lot of great options there.

Kelly ordered the Blue Smash drink and it looked cool! It was made with fresh blueberries, vanilla simple syrup, fresh squeezed orange juice, Zaya 12 year rum and ginger ale.

We started with broccoli tots, which were deep fried chopped up broccoli with Boursin, white cheddar, smokehouse bacon, potato crust. The dipping sauce had a good kick to it. These were oddly good.

Our second starter was the Dirty Fries- hand-cut frites, Eichten’s cheese curds, Pinot Noir reduction, oven dried mushrooms and truffle salt. They were serviceable fries. I wished for more of the cheese curds.

Kelly had a salad with rock shrimp.

Michele had the Roasted Tomato Soup & Hook’s Grilled Cheese Hook’s 2-year aged Wisconsin cheddar cheese and brioche.

I had the I had the rosemary rotisserie chicken entrée with cheddar mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were good, but I did not detect a lot of cheese flavor in them.

We found the service to be excellent and the food was quite good also. The menu had a pretty wide variety and a lot of local themed and sourced items.


Firelake
2100 Killebrew Dr
Bloomington, MN 55425
Phone: (952) 881-5258
http://www.firelakerestaurant.com/moa.php

Firelake food truck

Food truck season has been off to a slow start this year due to the endless cold weather and lingering rain. There have been a few nice days and some trucks have been out regardless of the weather. 

A new truck out this season is from the restaurant Firelake and it is a winner so far.

I had the waffle battered fried chicken sandwich with spicy ranch, pickles and bibb lettuce. The chicken was very good with a thick, crispy breading, not at all greasy. I did not taste a lot of the spicy ranch, just a little bit. I might have to ask for some extra on the side next time. The chicken was cooked perfectly, very juicy. I ordered chips but was given sweet potato fries by accident, I love them, so when they told me to keep them if I wanted I was very happy. The sweet potato fries were wonderful too. Very thinly cut and very crisp with a nice smoky ketchup for dipping. It added a nice bite of acidic flavor to counter the sweetness of the fries.

The prices are very affordable too. The sandwich was $5 and fries are $3 extra, but the sandwiches come with potato chips if you don’t want to pay extra for fries. I’m looking forward to trying the Blue ox burgers and the turkey burgers next time. Walleye cake sliders sound interesting as well.

Too bad this truck is only out for a limited time. I’ve been reading they are only out for one month to promote the newly remodeled downtown restaurant, so we do not have much longer to enjoy this truck unfortunately. This is good food and affordable too. I wish it would stay out indefinitely!

Firelake truck

Twitter: @FireLake

Firelake

My friend Stephanie and I visited Firelake at the Mall of America recently since I wanted to do a bit of shopping at the MOA. It might have been a bad idea to visit the MOA on a Saturday as it was quite busy. However, Firelake was a bit of an oasis since it is just slightly detached from the mall. It is accessible via a skyway on the second floor of the mall, but as you get closer to the hotel the atmosphere changes a bit. It is a lot quieter and the Radisson Blu has a very modern design. It looked like a nice hotel and it’s about time they built a hotel that is attached to the mall. The design of the restaurant is very open and modern as well, but with some wood accents throughout.

We had a reservation and we were seated immediately. Our server stopped by right away and suggested a couple drinks. We needed a few minutes and it took some time before he stopped back again. About the time we were wondering where he went he came back to take our drink orders. It took awhile for our drinks to arrive and once they arrived we placed our orders. The food came out in a decent amount of time, but it took a long time for the server to check back with us. Later on, I wanted another glass of wine and the server was nowhere to be found until he came to take an order at another table. Once we were finished there was a long break between when the dessert was delivered and out bill was delivered. After our cards were ran we did not see the server again. It seemed like he should have been checking back with us more often and on the floor more.

Stephanie had the honey cured duroc pork chop. She substituted sweet potato spaetzl for the loaded fingerling potatoes, which had with blue cheese, scallions and crème fraiche on them.  The pork chop was good.  Stephanie said she did not recall tasting the apple-pecan flavor that should have been there from the smoking, but the bacon marmalade that was on it was very good and that may have masked the apple-pecan flavor. The fingerling potatoes were really great with the blue cheese and crème fraiche. Tons of flavor.

I had the rosemary rotisserie chicken entrée with cheddar mashed potatoes. The chicken was very juicy and tender and I liked the slight saltiness of the rotisserie rub. The mashed potatoes were good, but I did not detect a lot of cheese flavor in them. The portion was quite generous.

We had the dark chocolate truffle tart for dessert.  Dessert was good, but not too memorable. The chocolate flavor was good, and not overly sweet.

I think Firelake is a nice addition to the current dining options at the Mall of America. It seems a bit more upscale and relaxed than restaurants in the mall itself and the menu is quite extensive with some interesting choices. I think the menu has a wide enough variety, there is something to please almost anyone, which is important in a hotel setting I’m sure. The prices were on the higher side, but they had less expensive options like sandwiches, pizza and flatbreads as well.



Firelake
2100 Killebrew Dr
Bloomington, MN 55425
Phone: (952) 881-5258
http://www.firelakerestaurant.com/moa.php