Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food – Page 3

COMC: Stockdale’s Fine Southern Cuisine

August 11, 2009 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

****Stockdale's has closed

You'll be able to tell, how long ago our visit was based on the photos, thus the "COMC" (Clearing Out the Memory Card) preface. We've been meaning to return but I don't forsee that happening in the near future, so I thought it was about time I posted. Actually, getting to Stockdale's was an interesting enough story. Stockdale's had been on my list for a while, and one day the Missus came to me asking about some of those restaurants. I mentioned Stockdale's, and told Her that the restaurant was located in the former location of Papa Doc's.The Missus told me that Stockdale's sounded like a great idea, and made plans for dinner….. without me! A couple of weeks after Her dinner with friends we made it to Stockdale's:

You can tell by the "decoration" about when this was, right? The interior didn't look like it had changed much since it was Papa Doc's.

Because the Missus had tried a bunch of things with Her friends, She was able to make some suggestions regarding the menu.

Based on Her previous visit, She had determined that the Fried Snapper was the best of the trio of fishes offered. and went with a Fried Snapper entree ($11.95):

The Missus was right, the snapper was moist, the breading well flavored, it was spot on. The Missus got Hushpuppies and Collard Greens as Her two "sides". The collard greens were bland and disappointing, and I thought the hushpuppies bland, and on the greasy side. The Missus, who has never met a hushpuppy She didn't like, thought they were fine.

I ordered the Fried Chicken ($11.95). I was told that the Chicken is cooked to order, even on buffet nights, so it would be a 20 minute wait. For piping hot fried chicken? No problem:

The chicken was delivered piping hot, and each piece was fried to a perfectly. I found the flavor to be on the bland side, and the batter to be very light, but not in an unpleasant way. I had also gotten the collard greens. I also ordered smothered red potatoes, which was pretty good. I wish the potatoes were a bit softer, as some pieces were hard. The gravy was also light, but had a nice flavor. In fact, I think smothered chicken might be the way to go.

Knowing that the Missus loves Fried Okra, I ordered some Okra as an extra side:

These were lightly battered and a bit short on the seasoning, but not bad.

We were the only customers in the place during our visit, and found the service to be very warm and welcoming….in a downhome way. Stockdale's claims to serve "Alabama style" Southern Cuisine, but I'm not quite sure what that is. The location is in the corner of a strip mall off of University with there's lots of parking. Stockdale's also offers "all you can eat" buffet nights – I believe 6-8pm Mondays is AYCE Fried Chicken and Fridays is AYCE Fried Catfish, you may want to call to verify. Overall, I thought the food ok, and perhaps we'll return, but I'm not sure when.

Stockdale's Fine Southern Cuisine
6523 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

(619) 265-1494

Hours: Mon, Wed-Thu 1100am – 800pm
Fri-Sat 1100am – 1000pm
Sun 1200pm – 800pm

Lightning Jack’s BBQ – Clairemont

August 30, 2008 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, BBQ, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

**** Lightning Jack's has closed

I'm sure you've felt this way…..totally pooped, half-way wiped out, hungry, and looking for something close to home. Which is why I ended up at Lightning Jack's, in the "food court" area of Clairemont Town Square.

I'm not quite sure why I decided to pick up dinner here…in the words of Captain Jack when I told him I bought BBQ from Lightning Jack's; "what the hell were you thinking?" Yeah, what was I thinking? I walked into the tiny restaurant, looked around, and almost decided to turn around…..but something kept me there.

And the gentleman running the place was very friendly…so I made a decision to just go for it. Looking over the menu, I noticed that the ribs were "St Louis Style", which made me understand that the type of ribs used were Spareribs. But I wondered if the sauce was St Louis style, a basic spicy-sweet tomato based sauce….sort of like what Phil's uses(more of that in a future post). A friend once gave me a bottle of Maull's which is supposed to represent that style of sauce. So I asked the Gentleman behind the counter what style of BBQ Lightning Jack's serves. His response? "Ummm…uhhh(blank look), we use a lot of liquid smoke!" Not very promising, but I ordered a half-rack($10.49), which came with a roll, and a side. I chose Baked Beans, which the Missus loves.

The ribs were dry and tough, and the only smoke I could detect was from the super liquid smoked sauce(the Guy wasn't kidding).

My eyesight is getting pretty bad, but I couldn't detect a "smoke ring". Which kinda goes against what the menu says:

I think I need to see the "pit smoker" if I ever eat there again.

The Missus enjoyed the beans, which I thought was very bland. I also ordered some Steak Cut Fries ($1.80), which was a very generous portion of thick cut fries which was probably the best thing about the meal.

I also ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich ($5.99), which came with 1 side. I asked the Guy if I could just get some Hushpuppies with it, and being the amicable Gentleman, he said, "no problem".

Before the big sandwich reveal, let's read what the menu says:

For me that says a Hickory Smoked Pork Butt……. I haven't had North Carolina BBQ in North Carolina, but have had said style at Mike and Ed's and Country's in Columbus, Georgia, and Dusty's in Decatur, Georgia (near Emory University – Brunswick Stew….). And I can honestly tell you, this wasn't it. The pork was on the tough side, and you really could only taste the sauce……same sauce as the ribs. And no "pile of coleslaw"……

The Missus thought the Hushpuppies were okay. Since the Gentleman was nice enough to give us this instead of some other side, I'll give it a pass. I will say that I'm glad I still have my teeth after eating them.

In retrospect, perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh. But I try to be consistent….if you say you make Sichuan food, I'll expect Sichuan Peppercorns or at least something that is representative of the basic 23 flavors of Sichuan cuisine. Likewise, if you say something is North Carolina style BBQ….. If I didn't know better, perhaps my opinion would be very different.

I really don't even qualify as a novice when it comes to BBQ, and I've only eaten in 1 of those hallowed BBQ havens. I had lunch at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City in 1997. I did have decent BBQ at a couple of places in Fort Smith, Arkansas (the only one whose name I can remember is Jerry Neel's), a couple places in Atlanta (i.e Dusty's and Fat Matt's Rib Shack), Columbus, Georgia, and one really good shack in Fayetteville, Arkansas. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. Still, I think I've come far from the kid who only had Tony Roma's while growing up in Hawaii.

As for Lightning Jack's, the service was nice and friendly, and the prices are relatively reasonable.

Lightning Jack's BBQ
4705 Clairemont Drive (In the Clairemont Town Center)
San Diego, CA 92117

Bud’s Louisiana Cafe

August 21, 2008 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

After what seemed like a very long wait, Bud’s Louisiana Food Shoppe has reopened in, of all places, Tierrasanta. You may have to look carefully, but you’ll find it, right there past the Roundtable Pizza.

Like the previous incarnation of Bud’s, this is a fairly tiny restaurant, and even though the tables are crammed in fairly close together, I think this location is much more relaxed.

The menu is pretty much the same, from the Cup’a-Cup’a-Cup’a (a cup each of Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice, and Jambalaya) to the various Po Boy sandwiches. The prices for the sandwiches are about a buck more, but the entree prices have remained the same.

Since I just finished watching Memento for umpteenth time, I think we’ll work a little reverse chronological thing here, and start with my latest meal. It was a Fried Oyster Po Boy($9.95):

A good amount of cornflour battered oysters, fried to perfection, crisp, and mildly "gritty", with a nice soft, molten center. The baguette was good, crusty with a bit of "chew". I’m not a big fan of the "Jalapeno tartar sauce" at Bud’s, I find it a bit too runny, but in this case it did no harm. This is probably my favorite sandwich at Bud’s.

Man, did I enjoy this, even at close to ten bucks. And I was glad to have eaten at Bud’s on that particular day. Why? Well, because the Missus And I had lunch at Bud’s a week earlier……

On that day, I started with a cup of the Seafood Gumbo ($4.95):

There was a good amount of seafood in the gumbo, though the flavor was a bit "flat"…..I added a bit of Crystal Hot Sauce, which pumped up the flavor a bit. All good except the okra which was too slimy.

I had thought about the Oyster Po Boy, but with the Missus’s "encouragement" went with the Fried Catfish Po Boy ($9.95):

The perfectly fried catfish was quite good, moist, with a nice, crisp crust. And with none of that muddy flavor which I’m not fond of. Everything else was not so good. There was too much of the runny tartar sauce, which ran out of the sandwich creating a little pool in the bottom of the paper liner. The bread was hard, and, well, hard….it seemed to be a bit past its "due date".

The Missus went with the Crawfish Etouffe ($11.95), which looked marvelous:

The dish had a ton of crawfish tails, and was quite rich. In fact, I’m sure that this version used a good amount of butter. It would have been a wonderful dish except for the disturbing starchy flavor that left a rather unpleasant aftertaste.

If this had been our first visit I may have never returned. But we’d been to Bud’s several times at their old location, and I thought I’d give it another go. Or maybe, like the main character in Memento, I suffered from a case of Anterograde Amnesia? If that was the case, I’m glad I did.

Bud’s Louisiana Cafe
10425 Tierrasanta Blvd
San Diego, CA 92124

Lunch: Tues, Wed, Thurs – 11am – 3pm

Dinner: Thurs, Fri, Sat – 5pm – 9pm

Silly Blogging Day-Cathy eats unusual food at all these places too.

August 10, 2008 Cathy Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog. Kirk doesn’t want to blog today, neither does ed (from Yuma) that leaves me to let you have insight into my little life…

Hi again. It has come to my attention that some people think because I live in the East County of San Diego yet contributes to this blog, that I am not overly adventurous with my eating, seeing as how a majority of my posts center on Mediterranean foods and taco shops…but that is so untrue. I just try to not ‘overlap’ posts with Kirk. Truth be told, he and I have extremely the same palates and before I started blogging, I accused him of ~~stalking~~ following me and The Mister to restaurants, since we had both been there for a meal and then Kirk posted about them a few days later.. like for 3 months in a row…

Anyhow, these are photos just to show you I eat at all these exciting places also, and like it.

The Mister and I chose Crab Hut for our anniversary dinner.

Garlic bread.
Shrimp with half lemon butter, half Old Bay…medium heat level.

Half a pound of corn. A meal.

Last week, we went back. We could not decide, wanted something fried…so just got the Appetizer Boat ($14) cajun fries, fried okra, onion rings, fish fillets, fried shrimp, potato poppers(potatoes, cheddar and jalapeno), Crab Hut rolls (crab meat, shrimp, pork, taro and carrot in rice paper, fried) served with a variety of sauces…The fry cook here deserves to be paid more. Always, *always* the fried foods here are so perfectly prepared! Here are the accompanying sauces for the boat of fried wonderment! Here is the same old same old 1/2 lb of shrimp…medium heat, 1/2 Old Bay, 1/2 garlic butter… and here are leftovers… As a treat, here is an Old Bay seasoned whole Blue Crab. This brought back such memories. Many, many years ago, when living in Virginia, The Mister and I would get a dozen of these and a six pack of beer and sit on our deck, cracking crabs, getting really messy-and drunk. The taste of fresh blue crab is …perfect…

Ah, other places I eat… Most of you recognize this place setting- Little Sheep. Kirk took The Mister and I here for our first visit, and we have been back on our own…many times. This is an average meal- two broths, 3 meats, 2 types of dumpling (one is always lamb), tofu in some form, some sort of green and then something to eat without cooking (in this case the lamb skewers)

We really like it here.

Then there was the day- the infamous day not that long ago-when Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and I met for lunch. For first time. Ever. The magic of blogging. What did we order? I got the tapioca noodle based shrimp and ‘crab’ soup… Both Kirk and ed got the Bo Kho. Kirk says this place makes a mean Bo Kho.

Oh, where did the three of us choose to eat? Not saying.

Then there is my latest passion, Yum Asia, (with clear noodles, please) from Asia Cafe. Great in the hot weather.

I have been here once a week for the last five weeks, each time with a different man. Never mind. I have had cravings for the Nem Khao ever since ed (from Yuma) brought me here the first time.

The pork larb is particularly juicy flavored and made with just enough heat so you can taste the meat as well as enjoy the spices.

The fried spring rolls are mostly meat and served with mint and parsley as well as lettuce, which is also used for the Nem Khao.

So, anyhow, that’s it for now. I didn’t have enough to do a single post about any of these places, and might not have said much except I love the way the food tastes, so you get to just vicariously enjoy. Links to Kirk’s bloggings about all but one of the above restaurants:Crab Hut Little Sheep Asia Cafe . The first five people who can correctly guess which restaurant was chosen as a meeting place for the three of us for our first lunch together will get an e-gift certificate from Peets.

Crab Hut: A Revisit

June 2, 2008 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Seafood

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

January 31, 2008 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Seafood

*** Crawdaddy's has closed, and is now a Karaoke/Shoju joint.

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:

Wednesday Wanderings…….

November 28, 2007 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

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

October 7, 2007 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

*** Southern Style Kitchen has closed.

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

July 2, 2007 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Seafood

*** 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

May 27, 2007 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Festivals & Events, Seafood

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!