Slew of goodies from the all vegan, all gluten free restaurant Fika in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

First off, not an advertisement.

Visiting some of the in laws in the area, my girlfriend and I decided to stop at Fika before we left and were super impressed. We’re admittedly probably too critical of places we visit but the TL;DR is that we both absolutely loved this place and had very few complaints.

We ordered a lot: crispy tofu sandwich and chickpea sandwiches with sides of kale caesars to go, biscuits and gravy, tot and sausage hash, and chicken and jalapeno cheddar cornbread waffles with a mango lassi to top it off.

We ate the crispy tofu (B+) and chickpea (B, not pictured) sandwiches as leftovers before leaving, and the kale caesars (B+) the next day. The crispy tofu sandwich was still crispy even though we ate it cold (!?) and the chickpea tuna popped off: the dill and especially pickled red onion made it seriously delicious. The only true fault we could find is that they weren’t particularly “packed” with chickpeas. As for the crispy sandwich, we were mostly just confused as to why they put four “tenders” on the sandwich rather than a single slice of fries tofu. The kale caesars were awesome as hell but admitted… not light. Fried onions and a heavy-on-the-parm dressing made for a delicious side, but not exactly an ideal reprieve from some already deep fried delectables. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fucking great — just don’t opt for it (or any of Fika’s sides) if you’re looking for something less heavy.

As for what we ate in person, the jalapeno cheddar cornbread “chicken” and waffles were great. The waffle wasn’t remotely spicy, which was a bummer, but it had a great peppery and cheesy flavor you’d expect. The tofu was well-seasoned and had an almost glassy crunch from the frier. A.

The biscuits and gravy were the only mixed bag for us. The biscuits were light yet satisfying with a seriously craveable chickpea sausage (even if it came off pepperoni-esque at times), but their gravy wasn’t what I typically expect from biscuits and gravy: more of a chicken gravy than a white gravy with a very slightly gelatinous consistency. Still good, but definitely the weakest thing we got. B.

Tot and sausage hash was sort of an “I dunno if we should bother ordering it…” sorta thing, but we went for it anyway and thank God we did. Their ”goat cheese” comes off to me more likely a creamy gruyere and my sweet hell is it delicious. That on tots with some delicious pickled sweet peppers and there’s not much more to ask for. The side of homemade cinnamon raisin bread and (also homemade?) jam just made it peak. Seriously excellent. A+.

The mango lassi was brain-freezingly refreshing with a massive blast of mango. They have accentuating rose water, vanilla, agave, coconut cream, orange juice, and banana, but the mango’s the star. The only real knock I see here is that it lacks the yogurty flavor a traditional lassi has, but it was still delicious. B+

To top it all off, this is the cleanest restaurant I think I have ever seen. Almost… too clean. Any little bit of grime really stood out (like a greasy forehead mark on the window), which is as pathetic a nitpick as you can find, so I don’t hold that against them in the slightest. I ain’t gonna tell you to be less clean!

All that said… if you didn’t already get where I was going, Fika’s phenomenal and worthy of an immediate stop if you’re in or around the city.