Pat's Fisherman's Wharf

My group took a different approach to Black Friday. We sleep in late. Have a late breakfast then head somewhere out of town for a late lunch. This is the first year we have done this but I think I will endeavor to make it a tradition. I had wanted to go to Cafe Vermillionville but they were not doing lunch. I polled my group and asked for suggestions. Our enthusiastic friend suggested Pat's. A cousin of hers loves the crawfish etouffee camp style. I also had been contemplating going here for awhile. I went to the original Pat's years ago and wanted to see what they had done to the new one. The original Pat's burned down a number of years ago. Pat's Wharf had been built before that because Pat Huval's ex-wife had got the original in the divorce settlement. Looks like Pat is trying to build a little village and museum on site. He n0w has a hotel and some out buildings from the area including a syrup mill. Be forewarned the prices here are very high. Below is some onion rings ordered for the table. Light flour coating fried to perfection with a outstanding tarter sauce for dipping


A dinner salad that has to be ordered extra.

I had ordered the crab dinner. This is the cup of crab gumbo that came with it. It had no salt in it at all. After I put salt in it the flavor came up. They must have a base gumbo because the broth had little crab flavor. They added a good amount of backfin crab and some green onions.
They bring the rice on the side which I consider a plus.

I also was craving raw oysters and ordered a half dozen. Very small and virtually tasteless. New members of the group (Towanda and Engineer) who were sitting far down from me ordered a cup of Corn and Crab Bisque and Crawfish Bisque. I got neither a taste or a photo. Not really their fault. If I would have spoken up they would have shared but this was not a review run but a fun run. They both seemed to enjoy the food.

Here is the famous Crawfish Etouffee Camp Style (Mother Huval's recipe) gotten by our enthusicatic friend. She thoroughly enjoyed it. My taste was OK but it seem to lack flavor. Probably better with fresh crawfish

The blurred picture is my sister's Broiled Red Snapper with vegetables. She seemed well pleased with her dish also.

This was our baking friend's Eggplant Casserole with Shrimp and Crab. This was also ordered by Towanda. After my taste I agreed with both of them that the flavor was excellent but the texture left something to be desired. It was very liquid. I made the comment that it would make a great base for eggplant dressing. That was proven when rice was added to it and tasted. Accompanying it were some excellent sweet potato fries. Almost got my hand slap because I was pinching them

The Engineer got Fried Shimp which look fantastic and he ate with enthusiasm. Below is my crab dinner. From left to right a Crab Boulette, Backfin crab with cocktail sauce, Fried Crab Fingers, Stuffed Crab, Soft Shell Crab sitting on the etouffee rice, Crab Pie, Crab Stuffed Bell Pepper, Crab Etouffee. The pie had the etouffee in an undercooked crust. The standouts were the stuffed crab, and the ettouffee. The boulette and bell pepper stuffing was a bit mushy. The soft shell tasted like it had been fried in old oil. Nothing really bad but not excellent.

The other restaurant I have been to in Henderson mine you it was 20 years ago about the same time I went to Pat's is Robins. Robins as I remember was better than Pat's. Maybe next time. Pat's is definitely a tourist destination and while they feature some good bayou cooking the prices are a little rich for repeat visits.

http://patsfishermanswharf.com/index.html