Recently, we were invited to experience Carnival at Bahama Breeze at the Cherry Hill Mall. This celebration commemorates Carnival, which is a massive, colorful street fest that honors the vast heritage and culture of the Caribbean islands.
Editor note: While “Carnival” is over, they have extended some of the offerings through the end of 2024. In fact, you can still find the Carnival Flight and Jerk Mahi Mahi on the menu!
If you can’t make it to the islands, Bahama Breeze locations bring the islands to you—how perfect! The restaurant celebrates all things Caribbean through food, drink, ambience, and live entertainment.
Let’s get one thing out of the way, we are already big fans of Bahama Breeze. Yes, it’s a Darden Concepts restaurant, but the Cherry Hill Mall location employs many local people. In fact, our server Gabby—who was EXCEPTIONAL by the way—is a local creative arts student. She is especially interested in content creation and multi-media. We also met a few other employees who are local and passionate about South Jersey’s food scene.
We especially want to give HUGE shout-outs to Sierra and Sabrina on the management team, too. Not only are they fabulous at their jobs, but they exudes such warmth and friendliness. They genuinely take great pride in their jobs to ensure guests have an incredible experience.
Anyways, back to our Carnival experience, Bahama Breeze goes all out with this celebration, complete with special menu items, drinks, and even live entertainment. We’ll get to the latter in a moment.
Our experience was truly memorable from the time we walked in the door until we left. Then again, we’ve always received outstanding service any time we have gone regardless of being invited. The restaurant is lively and festive, and we pretended that we were whisked away to Barbados or Trinidad and Tobago!
Their tagline is “Island Times and Good Vibes,” and it truly lives up to the good vibes. It’s hard not to feel like you’ve stepped into an oasis of happiness and frivolity at Bahama Breeze. Good food and drink add to the festive atmosphere!
Of course, we started our experience with the Carnival Drink Flight, which consisted of the Trinidad Sour, King Carnival, and Barbados Rum Punch. Who doesn’t love a drink flight?! These colorful, tropical-inspired libations kicked off the party in style with fruity flavor. They were all very good and well mixed.
For starters, we thoroughly enjoyed the Jamaican Jerk Wings, Conch Fritters, and Coconut Shrimp! You can’t go wrong with any of the apps. Perfect for sharing, too.
For our main courses, we enjoyed the Jerk Mahi Mahi and the Island Snapper. Caribbean cuisine is full of fresh fish and seafood, so Bahama Breeze features many different land and sea entrees in a variety of styles that reflect the cuisines of the Caribbean diaspora. Both pieces of fish were cooked perfectly, tender, and moist. The accompanying rice and sauces complimented each one delightfully. Everything was so flavorful!
The pièce de résistance of the whole experience were the desserts. I barely had room for it, but they insisted. I was like, “OK, I’ll just try the Flaming Pineapple Butter cake” as that was featured on the Carnival menu, but they were like, “Hold up, you MUST try the Key Lime Pie!” And because I love key lime pie so much, I was powerless to refuse.
I am SO GLAD we did because that was one of the best key lime pies I’ve had in a long time. It’s a HUGE slice, stands really tall, and has so much flavor. The pies are baked on premises daily, and they told me something I didn’t know — you can order a WHOLE key lime pie with just with 24 hours advanced notice. THAT IS AWESOME!
But that Flaming Pineapple Butter Cake was fun! I took a whole video of them lighting it on fire, but for some reason, it didn’t take (stupid phone!) But I do have a little of it on fire. It’s more dramatic in person especially when they light it on fire. Sorry about that.
The entire time we were there, we were treated to the most wonderful sounds of the islands by the live band that was performing. They have live entertainment every Friday and Saturday! It really adds to the festive atmosphere there.
The most amazing part of this story is that Bahama Breeze has been at the Cherry Hill Mall for over 20 years. They are obviously doing something right. It’s a great place for a lot of different occasions – date nights, girls or guys night out, family dining, or for ANY reason!
By all means, when considering where to dine out in South Jersey – consider Bahama Breeze. You’ll have a great time; the food is tasty, the drinks are awesome, and the service is impeccable, imho. This has been our experience every time we have gone there.
It’s also a great choice for Happy Hour! Enjoy half price appetizers and drink specials.
2000 Route 38
Cherry Hill, NJ, 08002
(856) 317-8317
We appreciate the invitation to try the Carnival offerings. Opinions are our own.
All photos by Marilyn Johnson should not be used without permission.
SJFS is dedicated to food, dining, restaurants, and drinking in South Jersey. Got a news tip? Email southjerseyfoodscene@gmail.com.