Cajun Restaurant Suggestions

Although Mr. Clancy's boudin and gumbo quenched our cajun craving for a while, an episode of Man v. Food has reignited the itch. We are looking for any suggestions on Cajun food. Only Joe's OK Bayou comes to mind. Any other places? Please note: J. Gumbo doesn't count. They serve something there but it certainly isn't Cajun in our book.

Also,
Dave, I am going to get in touch with you soon to see if you can make us some hot boudin for a crawfish boil my husband wants to do before they go out of season. The hotter the better.

Furlongs?

Although Mr. Clancy's boudin and gumbo quenched our cajun craving for a while, an episode of Man v. Food has reignited the itch. We are looking for any suggestions on Cajun food. Only Joe's OK Bayou comes to mind. Any other places? Please note: J. Gumbo doesn't count. They serve something there but it certainly isn't Cajun in our book.

Also,
Dave, I am going to get in touch with you soon to see if you can make us some hot boudin for a crawfish boil my husband wants to do before they go out of season. The hotter the better.

Joe's OK Bayou was the first restaurant we visited when we were preparing to move to L'ville (it was right next to our hotel). We've been back a couple of times since then (most recently last Saturday for lunch with Carol and Bob Carnighan) and have always found it very satisfactory. The crawfish are previously frozen (and I suspect imported from across the big pond) but that didn't prevent me from eating almost 3 pounds of the little critters on Sat. The Red Beans and Rice, Gumbo and Shrimp Creole have all been quite good...very flavorful and well seasoned. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend "Joe's" to anyone with a "Jones" for a good Cajun meal.

[Robin Garr]

Joe's OK Bayou, Furlong's, the J. Gumbo's chain (best is the one on Frankfort in Clifton). Also don't overlook the new Selena's at Willow Lake, which is based on a Florida indie that takes its inspiration from a New Orleans favorite. Cafe Lou Lou does some Louisiana stuff (and it's great!) and Cafe Beignet (within The Fish House at Winter and Barret, near Lynn's and the Monkey Wrench) does a passable imitation of Cafe Du Monde with somewhat less interesting people-watching.

Steve,
You found the boiled crawfish to be good? I was hoping you would say that. Did it being previously frozen have a major effect?

Robin,
Yes. Cafe Lou Lou does have some good Cajun selections. I went during the Mardi Gras season and had AMAZING gumbo there. Again, it was AMAZING. If J. Gumbo's (including the Frankfort location), could even come close, we would eat there. I know this was a discussion a while back but although the place gives you a lot of food for a good price, to us, outside of the Zapp's chips and the decor, Cajun isnt exactly what comes to mind.

Has anyone tried Furlong's recently? If you have, how would you rate it for Cajun food? I remember the old Furlong's came pretty close on some dishes.

We went to Furlongs a couple of weeks ago - I had gumbo, and red beans and rice, and my husband had fried oysters. He liked the oysters a lot, and I thought the RB & R were ok (unfortunately, I make my own from a recipe a friend from Opelousas, LA gave me, and it's my standard), but I really did not like the gumbo - it seemed to have been made with beef stock, which I didn't like. My husband makes a mean gumbo, and I guess I just like his better.
We've tried Joe's and J.Gumbo on Frankfort, and for our money, we've decided to just make our own Cajun food!

Boiling frozen crawfish makes a world of difference. If you can't get them live and boil them as such, there isn't much reason to bother. Freezer the crawfish and then boiling leads to a chewier tailmeat and duller flavor in the head juices. It is a shame live crawfish are so hard to come by around here.

I can't remember how extensive the other Cajun offerings were, but I did enjoy the Crawfish, Shrimp, and Andouille Sausage Etouffee at Baxter Station recently. I also remember that the special the evening I went was a Cajun Pasta. May have been a pre-Mardi Gras special, but man, the food was good.

Although Mr. Clancy's boudin and gumbo quenched our cajun craving for a while, an episode of Man v. Food has reignited the itch. We are looking for any suggestions on Cajun food. Only Joe's OK Bayou comes to mind. Any other places? Please note: J. Gumbo doesn't count. They serve something there but it certainly isn't Cajun in our book.

Also,
Dave, I am going to get in touch with you soon to see if you can make us some hot boudin for a crawfish boil my husband wants to do before they go out of season. The hotter the better.

Oops, I'm a boob and forgot to post the text. Give me a buzz the day prior and it's no problemo! Thanks!!-Dave

Steve,
You found the boiled crawfish to be good? I was hoping you would say that. Did it being previously frozen have a major effect?

Robin,
Yes. Cafe Lou Lou does have some good Cajun selections. I went during the Mardi Gras season and had AMAZING gumbo there. Again, it was AMAZING. If J. Gumbo's (including the Frankfort location), could even come close, we would eat there. I know this was a discussion a while back but although the place gives you a lot of food for a good price, to us, outside of the Zapp's chips and the decor, Cajun isnt exactly what comes to mind.

Has anyone tried Furlong's recently? If you have, how would you rate it for Cajun food? I remember the old Furlong's came pretty close on some dishes.

Elizabeth,

Yes, actually they were pretty tasty. MOF, I had a pound leftover from lunch on Sat and they were very good reheated (2 minutes in boiling water). I recall being told that most (if not all)the L'ville restaurants that serve crawfish serve the frozen variety, simply because of the expense and product lose when flying in live bugs. Please note that I have no independent knowledge of this, just what I was told. I'm not familiar (yet) with any of the other Cajun food opportunities in L'ville, so I really can't compare and contrast (I've always loved that expression).

I hate to say that I prefer the chains in the area over the "originals" that I've tried in our area. I did NOT like Selena's any of the three times we have went now (the first was the first week of opening, then about two months later, the last two weeks ago with friends that insisted on going). I do not find the food to be extremely flavorful. I have found the service lacking all three times.
I would LOVE to find good gumbo! I definitely need to check out the boiled crawfish in the area. That's one of my favorite meals when in New Orleans! Where is the recommended place for this in our area??

c

My wife was born and raised in New Orleans and can do a pretty mean gumbo. She does red beans and rice every few weeks, but we have a shelf full of Blue Runner creole red beans we bought on our last trip to Louisiana,so she just adds some Cajun Trinity, a stick of butter and some smoked sausage and they're good to go. I stopped in the Chinese grocery on Preston last week (used to be Da Hwa but is now called something else) and saw they had raw, heads-on shrimp for $5.99 a pound, as well as oysters. We're going to stop in tomorrow and get a few pounds of shrimp to make barbecued shrimp (the real stuff with butter, worcestershire & garlic, not the kind that actually uses barbecue sauce). If the oysters look good we might get a sack and fix some charbroiled oysters as well.
She can fix crawfish bisque with stuffed crawfish heads, but it's pretty time consuming to make so I don't get that too often.
We both agree that Lotsa Pasta does the best muffuletta in town. The bread's not exactly right but it's pretty close.