Category: Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

*** 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 has closed

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 tasteless and dry. This was a half chicken, maybe I coulda’ gotten all dark meat? The mashed potatoes were the “natural smashed” type and were good. The star of the dish were the Collard Greens; man I haven’t had greens this good since I worked in Atlanta for almost a year a while back. At first bite sweet, the middle of your tongue tastes the “green” (like luau leaf!), and there’s a slight bitter aftertaste, and the “likker” was wonderful, delici-yoso!!!

Here’s a picture of the Crawfish Ettouffe($15.00).

The ettouffe had a nice level of spiciness, but was not as thick and as flavorful as those I’ve had in the past. Maybe the purpose was to feature the taste of the generous amount of crawfish (there was alot!) in the dish. Very nice though not the best I’ve had.

Here’s the Fried Catfish($12.00).

As with the oysters before, the catfish was wonderfully breaded, moist, not greasy, and just fantastic with the homemade tartar sauce; which is fairly surprising as we both hate tartar sauce. This was catfish heaven! The hushpuppy’s were a bit dense for my taste, but the Missus loved them. The fries were no big deal, just routine, and the cole slaw was much too sweet.

I also ordered a side of fried okra ($2.50), that were not bad, but not “wow”. We were also served cornbread muffins, moist, and really nice and gritty, though not sweet enough for my tastes, again the Missus loved them!

No room for dessert today, though the menu features such comfort favorites as sweet potato pie and peach cobbler (all $5.00).

The verdict, stay with the heavenly “fried” foods, get a double (or triple) of collards. Sides (lagniappes) such as red beans, candied yams, or black eyed peas are also on the menu. The orange line stops right across the street, so it’s really “trolley convenient”. The service is warm and friendly. We’ll definitely be back!

Magnolia’s
342 Euclid Ave (Market Creek Square)
San Diego, CA 92114
(619) 262-6005