Welcome to Kat Saka’s Kettle! Kat Saka, a Batuuan farmer known for collecting various spices, has set up shop in Merchant Row within the Marketplace of Black Spire Outpost. This bustling section of Batuu combines the best of shopping along with the popular Outpost Popcorn Mix at Kat Saka’s Kettle and even some delicious sausage bites nearby at Ronto Roasters. Lets dive in to our Kat Saka’s Kettle review!
Theming
Located within the busy Marketplace, Kat Saka comes from humble beginnings as a farmer and maybe doesn’t have the resources that Chef Tuggs does over at Docking Bay 7. As such, Kat Saka’s Kettle is located in a humble, but popular alcove in the Marketplace.
One of the interesting things about the Marketplace specifically, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as a whole is the lack of signage. Nowhere does it say “Kat Saka’s Kettle” (in English, at least), and that lack of signage gives the whole experience an incredibly authentic feel. Actually, the only signage that does “say” Kat Saka’s Kettle is the menu board, where the venue’s name is written in Aurebesh at the top. There is actually quite a bit of Aurebesh throughout the land, as you would expect for an authentic setting within the Star Wars universe.
Once inside, you’ll notice some canisters and bags used to hold the spices and grains that Kat Saka has collected. A shovel sits in the corner for a less-than-precise measurements of those grains. One of my favorite theming details is the change in the flooring from brickwork walkways and square tile ordering areas, to the nicely patterned tile work in the first part of the queue as seen below. Disney Imagineers have talked at length about their many field trips to historical marketplaces around the world to inspire their design of the marketplace on Batuu. They would often point to marketplaces in Marrakech, Morocco and Istanbul, Turkey. It’s hard to imagine that there isn’t a specific place in one of these real world marketplaces that doesn’t have the exact same pattern as what you’ll find under your feet at Kat Saka’s Kettle.
The main draw of Kat Saka’s Kettle is, of course, the Outpost Popcorn Mix. Two large kettles sit on either side of the cash register, churning and keeping the popcorn ready to be served to hungry visitors to Black Spire Outpost.
Food
There is only one item on the menu at Kat Saka’s Kettle, the Outpost Popcorn Mix. In addition to the popcorn, guests can purchase a MSE-6 Series Repair Droid (Mouse Droid) souvenir popcorn vessel for $19.99. That price includes the Outpost Popcorn Mix and there is a limit of 1 per guest, per transaction. So, how was the popcorn?
Outpost Popcorn Mix – $6.49
a colorful blend of sweet and spicy flavors
The Outpost Popcorn Mix is a very interesting offering. It’s probably not as divisive as the Blue and Green Milk, but it’s not a complete slam dunk either. We’ve heard a variety of descriptive terms for the popcorn, which makes us think that the mix might be a bit inconsistent. For us, the Outpost Popcorn Mix tasted like fruit loops. That’s probably mostly driven by the purple fruity grains. The red grains were supposed to be spicy, but we didn’t pick up on that very much. Overall, we actually enjoyed the Outpost Popcorn Mix and would have it again.
We got our popcorn served in the MSE-6 Series vessel. The vessel is fun and there is plenty of in-canon material to link this little guy all the way back to A New Hope. While the popcorn vessel is fun, the plain paper bag that the popcorn comes in is anything but fun. There is certainly some room for improvement on Disney’s end to enhance the presentation here.
Also available at Kat Saka’s Kettle are the thermal detonator Coke bottles for $4.99 plus tax.
Thank you for reading our Kat Saka’s Kettle review! If there is anything that we missed or if you have any questions, please reach out in the comments below or on our Twitter or Facebook pages.