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Crab Hut: A Revisit

I was depressed. You see, because of some scheduling conflicts, I was going to miss the LSU Alumni Crawfish Boil this year. And after seeing the wonderful Crawfish photos on Passionate Eater, well, talk about a double whammy! Which is why, I talked Mr S into grabbing some crawfish, and other stuff at Crab Hut on a recent Sunday. Not that it took much encouragement, mind you. And even though I grab a lunch now and then at Crab Hut, it's mostly for the french fries(don't ask). Eating Bugs is not something to do solo. Unfortunately, we both forgot that the Sunday we chose was Mother's Day(shame on us), and the place was packed. But somehow, we managed a table amongst the large parties. The menu at Crab Hut has come a long way from my first visit. Now there are fresh oysters, various soups, and in a homage to their roots as a Vietnamese Owned business, the addition of Crab Hut Rolls, a version of Cha Giò Cua. As much as I perused the placard and menu, Mr S had other plans, and moved straight to ordering without even a glance at the menu.

We started with a dozen Fanny Bays from Canada:

For $15.99, these were better than I thought they'd be. I'm not a cocktail sauce-tabasco-whatever  on your oyster kind of eater. I like mine with just a touch of lemon, in this case lime, which added a different, almost sweeter flavor to the oyster. I'm never looking for the "biggest, meatiest" oysters. I prefer a nice "liquor", and relish a great after-taste. These were decent, much fresher, and better in flavor than what I expected for the price.

Fried Okra($4.00):

Nice and crunchy on the exterior, creamy on the interior. Served along with some Cajun Aioli.

The one thing, I "had to order". The Cajun Fries($4.00).

Before you write me off as totally insane; yes, I know that "these are only crinkle cut fries with Cajun seasoning". But there's something about  this slightly spicy, crunchy(they've always been fried perfectly) fry, first dipped into a bit of malt vinegar, than ketchup, that I really enjoy. We all have our guilty pleasures, don't we? Call me "Kirk, the Carb King" is you must.

Mr S ordered 3 pounds of Crawfish ($8.99/lb). What freaked me out was that he ordered them "Hot". Now, in my previous experiences with Crab Hut the "Medium was yesterdays Hot". So I expected to have my lips burned off.

But I was wrong, it wasn't the burning hot I expected. So either Crab Hut is now showing some restraint, or my tolerance has gone up light years! These were cooked perfectly, the tail meat firm, but not hard or mushy. Because Mr S is fond of the "Full House" seasoning, which is basically everything but the kitchen sink, I never got the full flavor of the Crawfish. Next time, I'm getting them my way, with Old Bay...before Crawfish season is over.

Mr S also ordered 2 pounds of Little Neck Clams (7.50/lb):

Ordered with Garlic Butter, medium heat.

These were soft and tender. In fact, I enjoyed them more than the Crawfish. Garlic Butter sauce mixed with the juices from the clams, with bread......

We made a mess, and felt proud of it. I can't believe we ate the whole thing......

Crab Hut is not a traditional Louisiana Crawfish Boil. Like the Boiling Crab in Garden Grove, Crab Hut has each of its Cheliped gripped onto 2 worlds. A Cajun Seafood joint, with a Vietnamese flair, a pretty nice marriage if you ask me.

Service has always been very friendly. Do not wear your Sunday's best unless you have the best dry cleaner in the world. Bibs, towelettes, and a roll of paper towels are always provided. Nowadays, I don't even try to park in the lot, probably one of the worst in the area, I go directly to the side street. As you can tell, prices are reasonable.

Crab Hut
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
858-565-1678

Open Daily from 12noon - 10pm

More on Crab Hut from yummyfoodsandiego.com can be found here.

CrawDaddy's

It's kinda amazing how the mind works.......most days, I can't remember where I park my car...but at any given moment, I'll remember all kinds of stuff...like opportunity cost. Where the heck did that come from? Sheesh...opportunity cost is one of the 2 things I still remember from Econ class(the other being Elasticity...like you really wanted to know). Opportunity cost often hits home when trying out restaurants......every decision has a cost. In order to try 'A', you give up a chance at lunch at 'B'. When it comes down to it, this can be a pretty depressing way of looking at things....

On a Sunday a few weeks past "Mr S" called and asked if I'd like to check out CrawDaddy's the new Asian Owned Crab/Crawfish boil restaurant that recently opened in the spot formerly occupied by Jamillah Garden.

Mr S and I arrived at about noon, and found the restaurant to be empty.

The interior of CrawDaddy's is neat and clean, and in an interesting touch, the butcher paper covering the tables seem almost discreet.

The place has a sports bar kind of feel. Brown woods, high ceiling, but really cold A/C.

Mr S is a fairly big eater, and started ordering right away. Starting with a pound of Crawfish(market price - on this visit $8.99/lb) with Spicy Cajun seasoning:

Based on my previous experience with Crab Hut, I almost freaked when Mr S ordered this seasoned "spicy". When the bag of "bugs" arrived I was ready to have my lips burned off....but this was mild, very mild......that is not to say there was not flavor, we both thought the flavoring pretty good.... But Mr S ended up dumping half a bottle of Hot sauce on this. The Crawfish were not the best....the meat was watery and mushy. I asked if these were live or frozen, and was told these were "fresh"(not live or frozen, but "fresh"). I know that Crawfish aren't very big this time of the year, so I can understand that these were on the skimpy side...but it didn't seem to be cooked correctly.

Large Shrimp(1lb - $10.99/lb) seasoned with Garlic Butter:

Again ordered "spicy" these were also really mild. Not enough garlic flavor, and too much butter. The quality of the shrimp was good, and these were cooked to perfection; plump and juicy.

When Mr S ordered the Jambalaya($10.95), I had my doubts:

When the plate arrived, I perked up. This "red"(uses tomato) Jambalaya looked promising! This was a mixed bag...the seafood; shrimp, crawfish, et al, were tasty and cooked to perfection. I could actually make out the slightly smokey flavor of the sausage. On the down side...this was much too dry, there was not enough spice, and other than the seafood and sausage this was fairly bland. I expected the zip of some cayenne, the hint of some oregano and thyme, and some smokiness beyond the sausage.

The Seasoned Fries($3.50):

These fries were on the dry side, and also confirmed that the Cajun Spice used was much too mild. I did enjoy the Cajun Aioli.

Of course I had to have the Fried Okra($5.95):

Nice creamy okra in a crunchy cornmeal batter. This was by far my favorite of the day. My only complaint was that the okra were haphazardly battered, and some pieces had a huge coating of batter, while some pieces had barely any at all.

At the end of the meal, Mr S shook his head, and said, "maybe we should have gone to the other place." Yes, opportunity cost.... Still, I held on to this post for a while...because, well, the young men working here were very nice, and I really wanted to like the food. So I decided to give it another go. This time solo.

I ordered the Fried Catfish($7.95):

This was quite a generous portion of food, five large catfish fillets, crusted with a thick ground cornmeal batter, making for some major crunch. Again my major problem was with the execution, three of the fillets were decent, flaky, yet moist...two of the fillets tasted a bit off, slightly sour, and very muddy. Well....it was a bit too much food for me anyway...

This time the fries were seasoned a bit better, and were crisp on the outside, and moist on the inside:

In the end, I enjoyed the very laid back atmosphere at CrawDaddy's. The Guys working there do a good job. Perhaps the laid back attitude also reflects the inconsistencies I perceived with regards to the food. The portions are generous, and the prices very reasonable.

CrawDaddy's
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Oh yes...opportunity cost:

 

My Louisiana Holiday - Days 1-3

My name is Omar. I'm new to posting on mmm-yoso, and I'd like to thank Kirk and Cathy for encouraging me to eat and talk about eating.

Over the holidays, my wife and I spent 8 days in Louisiana, visiting some Cajun friends near Houma (just below Thibodaux); stopped in New Orleans for the weekend; and returned to the bayou country for Christmas. Here's what we ate:

Seafood Gumbo

We arrived in rural Louisiana on Tuesday evening, and weren't in the house 15 minutes when our friend, Mr. Mike, laid out bowls of his seafood gumbo. We were happy to eat it for him. To Louisianans, gumbo is food, party, compliment and favor, and as prepared by Mike, who spent years buying shellfish from bayou watermen, it's a blessing.

Flavored by the "trinity" (peppers, onion and celery), Zatarain's Creole Seasoning®, smoked sausage and sweet Gulf shrimp, oysters and blue crab, Mike's gumbo is one of those dishes that you don't want to fill up on, because you don't want to stop putting that taste in your mouth. My friend, like many Cajun cooks, caramelizes his vegetables to deepen the gumbo's flavor, but doesn't "cheat" the process by adding roux, okra or filé spice. "If you want it thicker," he says, "cook it longer, or add filé from the table." For what it's worth, you can start arguments by passing this advice along to the wrong cook.

Though Mike taught me how to make the dish, I've modified the recipe, so when we get together, we often "discuss" our preferences.

The biggest difference: Mike turns out a pot of gumbo in a few hours; mine takes three days.  Also, Mike uses water; I use seafood stock flavored with toasted shrimp and crab shells. A third point of contention: Mike cooks his shellfish in boiling gumbo broth and serves the dish once they've cooked through. I prefer to pull my pot off the flame when the shellfish go in, letting them cook like pho meats while the broth cools.

More about gumbo:

1. To a large pot of water, add toasted crustacean shells and heads, a few fish heads if you have 'em, bouquet garni, and some carrot and onion; let the stock simmer for several hours, then rest it overnight.

2. On the second day, strain the stock well and bring it to a slow boil. Brown your "trinity" of vegetables well, then add them and spoons of peanut butter-colored roux to the stock to deepen the liquid's flavor. Once it has a savory rich taste and a tiny bit of thickness (think very thin gravy), add browned-off smoked sausage bites (preferably andouille) and shellfish, which can include: sweet Gulf shrimp, crab , small oysters, and, if they're convenient, crawfish tails.  Cut the heat under your pot, let the gumbo cool, then send the whole thing into the fridge overnight.

(n.b. Crab can include cooked claw meat, cleaned raw half-bodies, even frozen scraps from your last crab feast, but it *has* to be blue crab; neither snow, king, Dungeness, spider, rock nor any other type offers the sweet, buttery flavor the gumbo needs. You can buy live, soup-sized blue crabs at 99 Ranch or Vien Dong markets, most of the year-round.)

3. A day or two later, slowly heat some or all of your gumbo and serve it over bowls of rice. For the table, some pepper sauce (I prefer Cajun Power® Garlic Sauce, but Tabasco® or other brand will do), Creole seasoning (Zatarain's® or Tony Chachere's®), and filé spice are appropriate.

Crawfish

Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Mike and his wife, Ms. Ruth, drove us west towards Avery Island, where we intended to visit the Tabasco plant. Instead, we toured the Joseph Jefferson Home (circa 1870), on Jefferson Island. The 22-room mansion, "listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is surrounded by the Rip Van Winkle Gardens ... and features a fourth-story cupola, 350-year-old-oak trees, heirlooms, period paintings, rare Louisiana pieces, and fine examples of American and French Empire furniture."

Along the way, we stopped at Landry's Seafood & Steakhouse (not related to the national chain) in Jeanerette, LA for a bit of lunch. The place was all but empty, and the friendly young woman who served us seemed relieved to have company. We evaluated the lunch buffet, finding little more than fried shrimp and red beans and rice, then ordered from the menu.

Lunch along the highway is a dodgy proposition. Each of us ordered something different, and while some dishes satisfied (crawfish platter), others ranged from disappointing ("stuffed" crab) to roundly rejected (seafood gumbo).

My lunch included: crawfish au gratin (greasy, but tasty), crawfish étouffée (good flavor, but needed spicing), batter-fried crawfish tails (light and not greasy at all), cold crawfish salad (hard to mess up), crawfish bisque (wow...take some of this home!), some onion rings, and a fried crab "finger," donated by my wife. I'd stop for this plate any time I was passing by.

My wife's "stuffed" crab (what we call "deviled" crab on the East coast) looked promising on arrival. The portion was large, but the filling was gummy and over-spiced, and it was served at room temperature. 

The gumbo, as mentioned, was not a hit. I enjoy playing "guess what's in here?" and this dish was too simple: "sip... water... roux... vegetables... shellfish... done." I'd guess the gumbo hadn't cooked more than an hour, and its roux tasted "black" - darkened to a tar-like consistency - a flavor that, like smoke on meat, can be wonderful if it's used cautiously. Maybe the dish would have improved by suppertime, but we didn't stick around to find out.

Landrys Seafood & Steakhouse
20371 Highway 90, Jeanerette, LA
(337) 276-4857

More about crawfish bisque:

This very Cajun dish was traditionally made in late spring, at the end of crawfish season, when friends and family would gather to share the work of "cleaning" lots of crawfish heads and tails and making a very large pot of bisque. Everyone counted on taking home something for the freezer.

Here's a recipe for crawfish bisque from Chef Frank Brigtsen, owner/chef at New Orleans' award-winning restaurant, Brigtsen's, and here's a great article about Chef Frank.

Boiled Blue Crabs

Back home, we talked about the day and old times, and napped a bit; as Christmas vacations went, this one was shaping up nicely. Dinner was a snack of some boiled blue crabs Mike had in the fridge. These were mediums, it not being crab season, but for people who love blue crab, volume can make up for reduced size.

In Louisiana, crabs aren't steamed, they're boiled, which prompted another recurring discussion at the table. He said that boiling gets the spice flavor into the crab meat; my wife (from Philly) and I (from Virginia) said steaming preserves the delicately sweet, buttery flavor of the crab. But, since I've never met a blue crab I didn't want to hit with a mallet, I had this conversation with Mike while plowing through the pile of sooks on the table. Everything you ever wanted to know about blue crab can be found here or there.

Fried Seafood #1

Mike, a big kidder, phoned before my trip began to say he'd run out of fish; if I wanted to do a fish fry while I visited, he said, we'd have to catch them first. I told him I was glad I hadn't asked for hamburgers.

So Thursday was Fishing Day, except it rained so much that we cancelled our trip and went Christmas shopping, instead. At lunch time I suggested Dave's Cajun Kitchen in Houma, a diner Mike and I had visited a year earlier. 

Owner Dave LeBeuf provides what is a favorite sort of place for me: small (maybe 15 tables), Formica floors and vinyl tableclothes, and from the back of the dining room you can see into the kitchen. The place is jammed at lunchtime; businessmen, plumbers, bank clerks and rained-out fishermen all know that Dave's serves up  good food and plenty of it.

Besides salads, gumbos and daily specials, the menu offered lots of platters, including: shrimp, fish, oyster, crawfish, crab and frog legs. I've never tried frog legs. I'm not squeamish; it's just that those things don't have enough meat on 'em to suit me.

For starters, I had a cup of shrimp and okra gumbo.  Oh, that gumbo. It's the only one I've ever seen Mike smile about; the one that made him compliment a waitress, the one he came back for. It had the sweet, smoky, rich flavor you get from mixing with Gulf shrimp and andouille with a well-made roux, and the okra had been cooked down to eliminate the slime.

For my main, I ordered a platter of "stuffed" shrimp and fried oysters, and my wife had catfish and something I've only seen along the Gulf coast: fried crab "fingers". Dave's definitely knows how to fry; the dusting of seasoned flour surrounding each of my bites was perfectly crisp and without a hint of grease, and the fish and seafood each bite contained was moist and intensely flavored.

As good as my meal was, though, I should have ordered what Mike got: an oyster po-boy. Simple in design, elegant in presentation, this sandwich relies on the skill of the baker as much as it does the quality of the oysters and the fryer; great po-boy bread is lightly crusted and yeasty, soft and chewy, and hard to find done right. Dave's does it right.

Dave's Cajun Kitchen
6240 West Main Street
Houma, LA 70360
(near the corner of State Route 24 & Bellaire Dr)
(985) 868-3870

Fried Seafood #2

We took Mr. Mike and Ms. Ruth to dinner Thursday night at Copeland's in Houma (apparently a franchise vs. company-owned). I hadn't been to a Copeland's in years, but the menu included a broad selection of Creole dishes, and importantly, the thick, tender juicy steak I'd been craving for a week.

What a disappointment. My ribeye was thin, tough and fatty and overcooked, and the "caramelized onions" were greasy, slightly wilted chunks of white onion. Usually, I send such a plate back and choose something else from the menu, but since I didn't want to upset my friends' meals, I picked at my food and waited for my wife to get full.

She got the seafood platter, a monster plate of fried oysters, shrimp, crawfish tails, crabcake and catfish served with onion strings, fries, corn fritters and french bread.  I can't say why, but she also got some sort of twice-baked potato that she raved about all evening. I waited her out, then loaded up on "leftover" oysters and crabcake. Copeland's does know how to fry.

Copeland's
1534 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Houma, LA  70360
(504) 873-9600

More about Copeland, the man:

The chain was started by 63 year-old Al Copeland (also founder of Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits), a riotous character famous in New Orleans for: getting rich, going bankrupt, recovering nicely, brawling, getting married a lot, and prompting the Louisiana Supreme Court to rule that he does not have an inalienable right to burn as many Christmas lights as he likes.

Wednesday Wanderings.......

CrawDaddy's Opens:

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, so I guess since a second Crawfish Restaurant has opened in the former location of Jamillah Garden, just a block or so away, Crab Hut must be a smashing success.

Unfortunately for me, on the day I visited they were closed. So I'll visit on another day. For those interested here's the posted menu:

The address is:

4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111.

Here's another restaurant that I just noticed during my last visit to Ba Ren.

Not quite sure what to make of it......

Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe Closes:

Last week, I was in the Little Italy area, and noticed that the sign for Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe had been covered in tarp. Here's the sign posted in the window:

The good news is they're looking for a new location, so I hope they find one soon. More info by Gil on What We Dig. Here's what's opening up in the spot.

A burger place....next to the Waterfront Bar & Grill?

It's Sanma Season....or at least that's what it seems like. I don't remember the last time I had Sanma Shioyaki (salt grilled Sanma). For those who don't know what Sanma is; it is Pacific Saury, more commonly called Mackerel Pike.

Though I've never developed a taste for the intestines, I love simple salt-grilled Sanma. Good oils, great flavor, the oceany skin..... So your trusty neighborhood sushi place should have, or be able to get Sanma. This one is from Sammy's.

One of these days soon, I'd like to try my hand at this:

I've been seeing raw monkfish liver, otherwise known as Ankimo at a few Japanese Markets, and it seems a pretty easy thing to make.

Still, I would feel really bad if I screwed it up....if you've had bad Ankimo, you'd know what I mean! But, good Ankimo! Sigh...... The Missus calls it a cross between the best salmon pate and crab eggs. Maybe....just maybe....

I hope everyone's having a great week! More restaurants tomorrow!

Southern Style Kitchen

A few weeks ago, we had what is now a pretty common discussion....."I'd like something different to eat, anyplace new?" I recalled seeing a restaurant with an interesting name,"California Style Chicken" on the 6900 block of University. I remember being curious as to what was "California Style Chicken"....for some reason those silly commercials with the "Foster Imposters" came to mind. I managed to convince the Missus to take a drive out to "Cathy country" out in La Mesa. And lo' and behold, no more California Chicken. It is now Southern Style Kitchen! So it was time to ditch the Chicken, and start with the Kitchen. BTW, I think that "New... New... New!" sign looks pretty, um, well, old.

The sign mentioning items like Okra, Chicken Gizzards, and "Cajun Giant"(versus just plain Cajun) Catfish looked promising.

We walked in, and other than two guys eating at one table no one else was around....

Than suddenly, this little whirlwind of a Vietnamese Lady pops up...."WHAT.YOU.WANT?" She kinda caught me off guard, so she repeated herself "whatyouwant..." And the pressure began. After all, she looked like she wouldn't hesitate to slap me across the head if I screwed up. So we started ordering, and found out something interesting; there are two types of sides, "regular ones" like green beans and mac and cheese, that you can order with combo meals, and "Special sides" like sweet potato fries, that you have to order ala carte. I had made a mistake...but no slap across the head, ruler cross my knuckles, nor was I made to go to the back of the line....of course there was no line, so that was a moot point, you see, even if she wanted me too....um lets get on with the story.

I ordered a 3 piece Fried Chicken combo ($6.29):

Yes, there are 3 pieces of chicken here...a wing is hiding behind the dry croissant. As fried chicken goes, I wasn't too impressed, it was hot, the coating was decently crisp, and the meat was slightly moist. But I thought the chicken had no flavor, both the coating and the chicken, was under seasoned for my taste. The Missus thought the flavor was okay, but I just wasn't too happy with it.

Now, if I thought the chicken was flavorless, the Cole Slaw was even worse.

This tasted like package cabbage mix with really thinned out mayo-water, with a few drops of vinegar thrown in.

The Missus ordered the 2 piece Cajun Catfish($8.39).

The only thing remotely "Giant" about this was the price, over 8 bucks. I will say that the fish was well seasoned, though not spicy in the least bit. The corn meal coating was excellent, and the fish tasted moist and fresh. Back to the lady....when I asked her for some hot sauce, she stuck her arm out at a perpendicular angle, pointing to the rear of the restaurant. At first, I thought she was kicking me out of the restaurant. But I went in the direction she pointed and found a red squirt bottle of hot sauce on top of the trash receptacle. There was a young Vietnamese guy standing at the counter when I asked for the hot sauce, all he could do was shake his head and give me a bemused grin. By this point though, I couldn't help but laugh, this lady was the caricature of every surly, grumpy, impatient, terminally annoyed, Asian restaurant waitress.

We didn't laugh at the side of green beans:

Gluey, tasteless gravy, poured on over cooked preprocessed green beans.

On the other hand, the Deep Fried Okra($2.29) was very good:

The Okra had been fried to perfection, the interior soft and almost creamy, the exterior golden brown, nicely seasoned, and crisp. For me, this was the best item we ordered.

In the end, I can't see myself returning. I felt the prices were a bit on the high side for the quality and quantity of food. The service was curt to the point of  laughter....I'm still shaking my head as I type this.

Southern Style Kitchen
6990 University Ave
La Mesa, CA 91941

Crab Hut

*** An updated post can be found here

I remember first reading about Vietnamese Owned, Cajun Seafood restaurants on my good blogging buddy Elmo of Monster Munching's site. He wrote about his meal at the Boiling Crab in Garden Grove. On future trips to the area I soon noticed several other of these Crab/Crawfish Boil places with names like the Cajun Corner and Rockin' Crawfish popping up. And so it seems a new "fad" was founded. Not quite as popular as the current Fro-Yo craze, but quite popular nonetheless.

If you think that a Vietnamese Owned Crab Boil restaurant is a bit of an odd combination, you wouldn't be the only one. But after considering that there are over 5,000 Vietnamese, and Vietnamese Americans Shrimpers fishing the Gulf of Mexico, it is much easier to connect the dots. According to this article, the Owners of a restaurant called Cafe Artist in Garden Grove decided to see how well crawfish would do in their restaurant, and the rest as they say, is history..... So I guess it just makes sense that the former Pho restaurant Bolsaa, has now become Crab Hut.

The Missus, a big fan of crawfish, displayed amazing restraint, by resisting the urge to be the very first customer when Crab Hut opened its doors. Instead, she decided to wait a few weeks, to let the restaurant settle into a "groove". So when the time finally arrived, She could hardly contain Herself.

On our visit to Crab Hut we found the restaurant's interior and environment to be...well, an interesting combination of various themes. First off, the ex-Pho(faux-Pho???) restaurant meets Gilligan's Island motif was a bit odd, but it could be because I had eaten at Bolsaa a few times. The ubiquitous Pho restaurant counter was still visible, and all the tables looked the same, except that they were covered with brown butcher paper.

Add to that, the loud techno pop music, combined with the large Plasma television showing Sponge Bob Squarepants, and you get a pretty surreal experience. There was a group of Young Men and Women working, all of whom were very nice and helpful.

You'll notice right off, that the prices are very reasonable; crawfish at $7.99/lb, shrimp at $8.99/lb. The process is simple you order seafood by the pound, and select a flavoring, "Cajun Sensation", "Garlic Butter", "Lemon Pepper", or "Full House"(which I think is akin to taking your cup  and working your way down the soda dispenser at the 7-11). A roll of paper towels is deliver to your table, along with some lime and a container of ground black pepper.

On this visit, along with our seafood we also ordered the Catfish with Fries($8.99). After all, why not finish the job off with something fried?

First off, I need to say that whoever fried this up deserves a raise! Or at least some praise. The round cigar shaped pieces of fish was breaded and fried perfectly, crunchy on the outside, and uber-moist.

The Cajun Fries were also fried perfectly. Both the fish and the fries were dusted with Cajun seasoning, but you could still taste the fish and potato. The only thing I didn't care for was the overly mayonais-sey tartar sauce. I wish Malt Vinegar was available...maybe next time I'll bring my own bottle.

Soon enough our seafood arrived in large plastic bags, first the Crawfish ($7.99/lb) ordered with "Cajun Sensation" at medium heat.

This pile of bugs included one piece of corn on the cob, and a few slices of sausage. The crawfish were cooked perfectly, though we found the tails to be on the small side. Not the meatiest, nor tastiest crawfish I've had, but pretty good overall. The flesh of the crawfish showed no signs of being frozen, that would be mushy, lumpy, dried out meat, or meat that had shrunk away from the shell. The medium spicy was more hotter than I thought it would be, and at times the flavor of the crawfish was lost.

This was still much better than we had anticipated.

I had a pound of Shrimp ($8.99/lb) with the same seasoning. Like the crawfish, this was cooked perfectly, the shrimp was nice and moist, and very tender.

These were meant to be eaten shell and all. I thought there was a bit too much sauce, and like the crawfish I thought the flavor of the shrimp was overshadowed. The Missus thought these were good, though She preferred the Crawfish. I thought the shrimp were much better.

In the end, we felt like this meal was an excellent value. I'd recommend that you NOT wear anything that will not survive stains(of course bibs are provided!). The service was good, and so was the food. We found the hours to be a bit odd, Crab Hut opens at 2pm during the week, too late for lunch, and too early for dinner. Of course, I'm not sure that you'd want to deal with a pound of bugs, and return to work with shrimpy hands and stained clothes. We were ever so thankful for the entire roll of paper towels and the towelettes at the end.....but Sammy and Frankie still kept sniffing at my hands for the entire evening!

Crab Hut
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
858-565-1678

The LSU San Diego Alumni 19th Annual Crawfish Boil

Now what better way to spend part of your Memorial Day weekend, than to attend a honest to goodness crawfish boil? Very few things in life top good food, people in a festive mood, and really bad sunburn! First off, nope we're not LSU (that would be Louisiana State University) Alumni, but managed to snag 2 tickets from a friend who somehow managed to get a whole table. Not an easy task, there are "only" 2500 tickets sold for this yearly event. Tickets aren't cheap, either, 50 bucks a head...but you'll see that it's worth it!

The event was held at the Qualcomm Stadium practice field...which I think is now a rugby field, and is put on by the San Diego LSU Alumni Club.

We arrived just before noon, and the party was already in full swing.

 

Must be the great music, right?

You'd be partially right, the music was great, and the mood festive, but I think it's what's written on  the sign to the right that also motivated those with parrot hats and flamingo sun glasses to get "their groove on". On a serious note, the sign "Free Beer" always concerns me, but I really need to tip my hat(without parrots or flamingos on them) to the organizers of this event; it is a family event, everyone was having a great time, and we never saw any hint of any trouble at all. There was a line of "shuttle buses", limos, and we even saw two taxi cabs arrive as we were leaving.

I counted 3 booths serving up Red Hook, Bud, Bud Light, and Bacardi Ice, so there was never a long wait.

Having never attended this event before, we really didn't know what to expect...so note to myself for next time; the crawfish isn't served til 130pm. Also, I saw several people bring in fruits and various appetizers, though no outside beverages are allowed. Worried about dehydration? That's covered...there are tubs of of iced bottled water and sodas located in different locations.

At that moment in time, I wasn't worried about dehydration, and it felt much too hot for beer, but man I was hungry! Luckily, I saw the sign....."Thibodaux Bayou Boyz"

While standing in line contemplating what to eat(the Missus said she was "waiting for the good stuff"), I saw the interesting "tub" pictured on the right, hmmmm.......

"Spicy Cajun Eggs"($2.00), I just knew I had to check it out.

These were your basic pickled eggs with Cajun spices thrown in. I happen to really like good pickled eggs, and though these eggs had not been pickled long enough, I thought these were rather good. The Missus decided to have a taste, and found that She didn't care for pickled eggs. I loved the look on Her face, though! The Missus loves boiled eggs, but I don't think She'll be grabbing for the jar of pickled eggs anytime soon!

I also got the Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya($4.00):

I was a bit underwhelmed at the "look" of the Jambalaya, but it turned out to be pretty good, with lots of flavor. Even the Missus(who was still holding out for the "good stuff"), enjoyed some of it.

Just as I was finishing up we noticed that the line waiting for the crawfish was getting kinda long, so we divided up our resources. We had the "beer team" go out and grab some beer, before the 2pm deadline, the "table team" used the provided newspaper and masking tape to cover the table, and also tried to consume the liquid refreshment as fast as the beer team to bring it to the table. We went and stood in the crawfish line.

The drill was simple. Each table was provided with a "table ticket" which was used to get a box of crawfish and fixins'.

You could smell the crawfish boilin' as you stood in line. At 130pm the line started inching along.

The crawfish had been cooked in those large vats, and than separated into boxes to be carried to each table. Sam, who was waiting in line with me was worried that we wouldn't have enough crawfish....

Our time finally arrived and we carried our box to our table. Now I'd heard the weight of 50lbs bandied about as the amount of food in the box, I'm not quite sure but as Sam and I carried the box to our table, it felt a bit lighter than 50 lbs.

But any doubt that this would be enough food evaporated when we dumped the crawfish out on the table.

Also provided were two large bags, one which contained some of the sweetest corn I ever had, and the other potatoes.

Ayaka could hardly contain herself!

What a spread....now this is food porn!

By this time the Missus had already started in on Her "bugs"....... but I had to take one more shot of Scott, aka, "The King of Crawfish", or was it "the Baron of Brew", or maybe "the Rajah of Red Hook"?

Whatever he called himself, he sure wasn't the "Emperor of Eating", the Missus easily ate twice as much as he did.....

I'd been told that the crawfish was trucked in from Louisiana. True or not, it was good eating, we did find that the smaller "bugs" had much more flavor, especially the heads...man suckin' dem heads! In what was a double bonus, several people didn't eat the heads, so they gave them to either Sam, the Missus, or yours truly. And we kept eating, until we were stuffed and ready for a nap.

This wasn't our table, but it was a good facsimile of what most tables looked like as we were leaving. We did notice that they didn't eat their corn, and the thought of grabbing the bag of corn and making a run for it entered our heads....

As we left, we made sure to "reserve our spots" for next year. As the Missus made the turn out of the parking lot(She had not imbibed, so She drove), She told me, "well, that should be enough for at least a whole year!" After a short nap, She looked at me and said, "you'll find this funny, but I could eat another few pounds of crawfish!" Sigh......

We both enjoyed this event, it is well organized, and all details are planned out well. It also dispels the belief that free beer means trouble. Though a competitive game of Bocce Ball...well that's a different story!

Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe

*** Bud's has closed, hopefully to reopen in another location soon. You can see an update here.

Located on busy Kettner Boulevard, right next to that Little Italy landmark the Waterfront Bar(I'll save that for another day) resides Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe.

I've been to Bud's several times in the past, but recently, it occurred to me that the Missus had never eaten at Bud's, so we had to make sure to correct that oversight.

Bud's is a tiny, well lit, and clean little restaurant, and serves up some really good Cajun and Creole food.

We arrived right at 5pm and were seated immediately. I knew exactly what I wanted to start out with. The Jalapeno Cornbread Muffin(.50/ea):

Don't know what it is, well.....that's incorrect, I know exactly what I enjoy about these muffins; they aren't too sweet, have a nice, but not too overpowering butter flavor with whole kernels of sweet corn in them. Also, I love the added "zing" provided by the minced pieces of Jalapeno, that give the muffins a bit of an "edge". The Missus thought that he muffins weren't "grainy" enough, and too "oily", but I bought four more to go.

We started out with what I usually order when I'm at Bud's; the Fried Oyster Po' Boy($8.95). We split the sandwich and thought of it as our appetizer. Here's my half:

In what was a very astute strategic move by the kitchen crew, the Missus's half had twice the amount of oysters than mine. We both enjoyed the crunchy, gritty cornmeal coating, and the briney, oceany(fresh), oysters. The Jalapeno "Tartar" Sauce, was closer to a mildly spicy aioli, which balanced out the flavor of the Oysters instead of over-powering the Po' Boy.

The Missus ordered "A Taste of New Orleans"($15.95), which is a Catfish Filet over a bed of Crawfish Etoufee, and some rice:

One taste, and you'll know what makes this rich, velvety Etoufee work; it's the sweet Crawfish meat, nice balanced seasonings, neither too spicy, nor too meek, and most of all butta'! All started with a dark roux. Rich, yet so good. The Catfish was coated with a cornmeal batter, and was nice and moist, without a hint of muddiness.

The only thing that threw the Missus, was the "Converted" Rice, which I explained to Her is perfectly normal for the region.

I have always enjoyed the Gumbo at Bud's, and strangely enough, the Red Beans and Rice. I'm not a big fan of Red Beans and Rice, but the slightly smokey-sweet-rich flavor of Bud's version is my favorite. Since I had not had the Cajun Jambalaya at Bud's, but didn't want to give up my Gumbo, nor the Red Beans and Rice, I ordered the Cupa-Cupa-Cupa($11.95):

After tasting the Jambalaya, I told myself that I should have ordered the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy($7.95), with a cup of Red Beans and Rice($1.50) and a cup of Gumbo($4.95). The flavor of the Jambalaya was underwhelming, the rice dry, the bell peppers and celery undercooked. Even dumping several spoons of hot sauce on the Jambalaya really didn't help.

But as disappointed as I was with the Jambalaya, the rich smokey, and slightly spicy Gumbo, and the Red Beans and Rice came through to save the day.

In spite of the parking battleground that is Little Italy, Bud's is worth a try. The portions may seem on the small end, but the food is deceivingly rich. The food is also not overly spicy, but Hot sauce is provided should you need it; we believe you won't. Service has always been excellent and friendly, without being cloying. You can always get the food to go as well, but the fried stuff won't hold up for very long, so you might as well just have a seat, and have (More then) a few muffins.

Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe
2034 Kettner Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92101

Hours - Tues-Sat Lunch 11am-3pm
   Dinner 5pm-9pm

Papa Doc's Restaurant

*** Papa Doc's has closed.

So the phone rings, and I answer. The voice on the other side goes "you know it's addictive, right", who else could it be? I asked "so, you want to go to Magnolia's again"?, "No, of course not. I want you to find another place". Well it seems that the Missus is going through a slight "Soul Food" addiction. Which left me to try and find another Southern Food restaurant. I remembered hearing about a place on University Ave, East of College, called Papa Doc's. So I thought we'd give it a try. We found Papa Doc's in a little strip mall in East San Diego.

As we entered the interior of Papa Doc's we gasped, the restaurant was beautifully adorned, in stark contrast to the generic, dusty, strip mall it occupies. The entrance was bordered by two large fish tanks, and there was a lovely mural on the rear wall. There were videos of gospel programs that they have on premises playing on the flat screen televisions.

The menu was full of favorites like baby back ribs, fried halibut, fried catfish, and one tempting dish called "Slap Yo Mamma Meat Loaf" ($13.50). I decided to order the Fried Chicken Dinner ($13.25); I was told that they make it to order and it'll take about 18 minutes. No problem. I thought the Missus would order the Fried Catfish ($11.25), but instead asked the server, who ended up being the Co-Owner Diane, about something called The Trout Platter ($21.25), she asked if this dish is fried and received an affirmative response, to which she replied "I'll have that." There's a little note on the bottom of the menu which states, "Sorry, no calorie or carb watchers here." Sounds like my kind of place.

We were immediately served some piping hot corn bread muffins:

These were moist and very buttery, it's good that these were served hot, they would not have been as good cold. We scarfed these up in no time. About 10 minutes later my Fried Chicken was brought to the table:

I had ordered Corn Bread Dressing and Collard Greens (what else?) as my sides. The greens were a bit of a disappointment, very dry, with almost a fishy taste, though there were pieces of ham hock, the flavor seemed off. The corn bread dressing was a 180 degree turn, it was moist, with a nice richness and a bit of spice, and a slight grainy texture, with onions, delici-yoso! The 4 pieces of chicken were still sizzling when it reached the table, and stayed hot for the entire duration of the meal. The batter was simple, yet very good, with good amounts of salt and pepper. I handed a piece of the batter to my wife who tasted it, and said, "better than pork rinds!" Which is a complement of the highest order in this household. I'm also glad that the four pieces were all "dark", 1 drum, 2 wings (lot's of batter, yummm), and 1 thigh.

By this time the "Trout Platter" arrived:

The one thing about this "trout platter" was that there was no "trout" on it. On this plate were 3 halibut fillets, 3 snapper fillets, 3 catfish fillets, and 3 very large shrimp, on a bed of fries. All fried, of course. The shrimp were excellent, large, moist, tasty, and fresh; the best thing on the plate. I ate them tail and all, if they had "heads" I woulda' ate them too. The catfish was also excellent, nicely seasoned, very moist and tender. The Snapper was good, a bit thicker, but still tasty. The Halibut was a bit too thick for this type of frying, and ended up being dry, and bland. All of this was served with a nice tartar sauce, lemon and hot sauce. Again there were the totally routine fries, though these were better than those we had at Magnolia's last night. Next time we'll have catfish, shrimp, and fried chicken.

So how does Papa Doc compare to Magnolia's? The food at Magnolia's is alot more refined and lighter. Papa Doc's will "stick to your ribs" and you'll need to take a nap after. Papa Doc's was more like "home cooking". They're both good and worth a try.

Some Notes: Papa Doc's serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The service is very nice and friendly! "Papa Doc", David Cannon came out and made sure to stop at every table and say hello, he also had to come out and see who was eating the "Trout Platter".

Time to give my arteries a rest.....

Papa Doc's Restaurant

6523 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

619-583-3627

Magnolia's Authentic Southern Dining and Cocktails

I'd been waiting a long while to visit Magnolia's. Located in a strip mall anchored by a Food For Less Supermarket, Magnolia's is a little gem, on the Euclid Trolley stop. What hastened our trip was that Magnolia's had been featured on a local news cast, so I had to move it up to the top of my list. We also had our dinner a bit earlier than usual, so there would be no crowds.

The first thing you notice about Magnolia's are the raised ceilings and warm wood seating. The seating in the booths are all cloth lined, giving the place a very warm feel. There are several tables out front and a large outdoor eating "patio" out back. We were greeted with smiles and requested a table outside, it was a really nice, almost fall like day; perfect setting for Southern Cookin'. Looking through the menu with all the Southern favorites we made our decisions. We ordered fried oysters to start ($8.50).

We were served 6 large and very juicy, briny oysters, coated with a thin layer of cornmeal, and not a bit of grease! The cornmeal was nice and grainy, combined with the juicy oysters, this was a real treat. Just a squeeze of lemon and a touch of cocktail sauce and I was in oyster heaven! Next up was the smothered chicken ($12.50), this came with two sides; and I chose, mashed potatoes and collard greens.

Smothered chicken is just good, simple old fashioned family style Southern cooking, and this was no exception. The gravy was creamy and nicely complemented the dark meat, however the white meat was a bit