An Occasion for Cajun

For the past five years, I have been intrigued by a restaurant just off the I-17.  It didn't seem to matter what day of the week or what time of day, the restaurant's parking lot was always full.  Even the name didn't give me a clue what type of restaurant it was, mainly because I was stumped at how to pronounce it.  The sign reads "Pappadeaux".  So those of us who took Spanish rather than French in high school are clueless as to what type of food might be served.  But this Fun Frank Friday, the crowd drew me.  We arrived just before 5pm and it was already difficult to find a parking spot.  Obviously a lot of people enjoy this restaurant for it to be that busy that early.  We walked past the patio where they were setting up for a live band and when we reached the hostess stand we were surprised that we could be seated immediately.  After passing several full tables, we arrived at our table, received our menus and were asked for our drink order.  And kudos to the restaurant the serves Coke products.  So naturally, I had a Coke.

I was expecting this restaurant to be a typical upscale, "Red-Lobster"-type, fish market but the culinary delights in the restaurant have more of a cajun influence.

 So the first appetizer that really jumped out at me and I had to try was naturally the frog legs.  Deep fried and served with french fries next to sides of ketchup and tarter sauce.  The frog legs had a a light batter with a slight Cajun spice that was noticeable but not overpowering.  The meat of the legs were moist and tender to the point of falling off the bone and melting in your mouth.  A lot of people will tell you that frog legs taste like chicken.  It does have the texture of chicken but there is more of a fresh water fishy flavor to it.

The next appetizer that we had to try was the alligator.  Most of my past experiences with alligator would be described as tough and chewy.  Few people know how to do it really well.  Pappadeaux is one of those few that have it down to a perfection.  The alligator is served with a Creole dipping sauce and crispy potato strings.  This is an appetizer that I would have chosen as a full course meal if it were an option.  I could have eaten the large order and then some.  Too bad I had to share with Patti.  It was lightly battered and deep fried but without a heavy oil aftertaste that tends to happen to most deep fried foods.  The meat itself was sweet and tender, I'm now thinking about raising some gators in the back yard just so I could have more of my own.

 Shortly after our appetizers were served, our waitress brought us some bread.  A lot of restaurants will bring you a few slices of warm baked bread, a few rolls or maybe just a tiny loaf that serves maybe two people.  To my surprise, they brought us an entire foot-long loaf of warm baked bread.  I'm not a fan of most restaurant bread but this loaf's crust was soft and tender with a slight crisp but not overfilling or too chewy.  

The menu had excellent variety of choices but few descriptions, from crawdads to lobster.  I had a difficult time trying to choose just one entree.  I finally decided on the "Big Bay Platter".  This consisted of two skewers of grilled shrimp, a carribean grilled lobster tail and two shrimp montage.  That's right, I said, shrimp montage.  And no, I don't know what a montage is either.  So let me explain that is starts off with a butterflied jumbo shrimp, stuffed with a crabcake filling and topped with light mayo and parmesean cheese.  Is your mouth watering yet?  And yes, it IS as fantastic as it sounds.  The grilled lobster, though it was a little difficult to pull clean from it's shell, the tender meat inside was worth every effort.  The flavor of the grill was such that I did not feel the need to ruin it by dipping it in butter.  The grilled shrimp on the skewer had a wonderful carribean sauce but it was not able to hide the fact that the shrimp was a tad overdone and more chewy than I had expected based on how wonderful the other items had been.  The entree is usually served with green beans and dirty rice but our waitress reminded us that we were free to substitute any side dish if we so choose.  I opted for the garlic bread rather than dirty rice.  I was expecting a slice or two of bread with garlic and butter on it but lo and behold out came another foot-long loaf of bread sliced lengthwise and toasted with butter, garlic and slight sprinkle cheese.

Patti chose the Costa Rican Mahi Alexander and substituted spaghetti squash for the dirty rice.  A large Mahi fish filet grilled and blackened surrounded with scallops, shrimp and craw-fish in a creamy white wine sauce.  For the size of the filet, I expected it to be dry but in actuality it was flaky and tender throughout.  The scallop, shrimp and craw-fish actually gave the fish extra complimentary texture with each bite.  While the blackened spice gave the fish a kick, it was softened by the creamy sauce.  I was reluctant to try the spaghetti squash with it.  I thought it an odd choice and not a good fit with this entree.  But I have found it was just the opposite.  When you think outside of the culinary box you can be pleasantly surprised.

By the time we finished we were too full to even consider dessert and still took enough home for a left-over meal.  Surprisingly the food was just as great a second time.  So if you are looking for a good time on the bayou, and you haven't tried the frog legs or alligator yet, I recommend you try it now.