WOW Cafe & Wingery 509 Bertrand Dr Lafayette 337.269.4669‎

Another BB adventure that went wrong for a variety of reasons. Below is Ms Naomi's Gumbo This traditional Louisiana favorite is a collection of flavors and spices that reflect the diversity of our Louisiana culture and Cajun heritage with onions, celery, garlic, bell peppers, spicy cayenne, smoked andouille and our secret blend of spices. Served over steamed rice. Sorry this is no way indicative of my Cajun heritage. To me this is the ultimate nasty a** thick Creole New Orleans variant with a really horrible spice blend. The description should read "Served under a pile of rice" One bite was all I could take

In the Chopped Salad area I got the Kentucky Club Lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, mixed cheese, croutons & honey mustard dressing. First of all the chopped part was good. However someone needs to explain what a chopped salad is. In it everything is chopped to about the same size including the lettuce. You do not plop stuff on a bed of lettuce. If it had been a true chopped salad I would have liked it better. The basic components were good.

I ordered The Bayou Blues Burger. Blackened to juicy perfection with our special signature spice and topped with crumbled bleu cheese. It came out room temperature, was not juicy and had the consistency of shoe leather. The onion rings were also room temp. Now I will tell you why. I got here about 1:30 PM. There were just two other tables of customers both of which had their orders. This burger came out within 10 minutes of my order. The only way that could happen was they precooked things for a busy lunch and did not use them all. I got the remains that had been sitting under a heat lamp for lord knows how long. NOT GOOD

Finally a 6 piece bone in wing with Mexican sauce which is the Chipotle sauce garnished with fresh cheese. Again room temperature so pre-fried and sitting around. The flavor was very good. I like that smoky taste you get with chipotle. However this was way above my comfort zone. Some of the spiciest chipotle I have ever had. I ate as much as I could. What you see is the remains

This is a place I will never return to unless forced by being in a group that wants to go there. They were just wrong foisting their lunch remains on me and not cooking it fresh.

La Suprema 3105 Highway 365. Nederland, Texas 77627 (409) 722-2880

A Bargain Bee adventure. A very popular place. I got there right at 11 and there were cars in the parking lot already waiting for them to open. The interior was a bit shop worn but they have been open since 1970 so that did not concern me. Below is the chip and salsa brought to the table. A medium thick tomato based one with nice level of spice.

Here is where it started to go sideways. This Roy’s Chili Pie A “19th hole favorite,” mound of chips covered in chili con carne, cheese and jalapenos. Perhaps I should have read the description more carefully but when I see Chili pie I assume Fritos will be used. Not here. Their standard chip buried in a rather good chili with yellow cheese on top. As far as I am concerned they should have called chili nachos and I would have chosen something else. Good by not what I was looking for.

The main reason I came here was for the Fish Tacos Spicy fried or grilled tilapia served with cilantro pico in a corn tortilla with a side of black beans. Orders of 3 I like a fried fish taco. Again it went sideways. The fish was fried in a seasoned flour that gave it a nasty tasting crust and the size was too big. An Americanized dish if I ever saw one. This again was not what I was looking for. The black beans turned out to be the best thing on the plate. Tender and smoky.

The other reason I came. Menudo - Mexican tripe soup served with tortillas, onions and lemons (Breakfast of Champions). What was good with this one is that it was served in a small bowl. Most times it is like Vietnamese Pho served only in a swimming pool size bowl. This was excellent with honeycomb tripe and a great pork broth that was not too spicy It made the trip worthwhile. I doubt I will return.

La Suprema

Jolie in Lafayette

ABOUT AND BEYOND
Jolie’s Louisiana Bistro
507 West Pinhook Road
Lafayette, LA
www.jolieslousianabistro.com

Lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 AM - 2 PM

Last year returning from a food show I and a couple of co-workers had lunch here. While it is decorated with George Rodrigue’s work none have the blue dog. Since that is the theme at the sister restaurant it is unlikely I will dine there. I despise the blue dog paintings with a purple passion.

A plate of linen wrapped bread hit the table. It was along the line of a ciabatta and wonderfully warm and tasty. A black cherry and sage butter occupied it. The predominant flavor was cherry.

For appetizer we talked them into giving us a Charcutrie Plate normally offered at dinner. It contained crostini, pickled asparagus, an air dried sausage, and duck pate on in house pickles. Both pickled vegetables were great with a spicy kick. The pate lived up to all expectations. However the sausage was unnecessarily chewy as it was cut too thick. We also got a Roasted Duck Crepe with Boursin (a type of soft cheese) cream. They consisted of pulled duck breast, spinach and halved pear tomatoes, very nice except the sauce was bland. The fatty duck paired well against the acid of the tomato and slight bitterness of the spinach/

One fellow ordered their Caesar Salad with Sautéed Shrimp. It held romaine, argula, croutons with a creamy parmesan dressing. He seemed to enjoy it. My other companion got a house specialty. Zapps Crawtater crusted Gotreaux Tilapia with a Crawfish cream sauce and buttered broccoli. The philosophy of this venue is to source everything they can locally. Zapps of course is made in Louisiana and the tilapia is from a local organic farm that has fish ponds actually huge tanks as part of their system of farming and recycling. I got the BBQ Shrimp in an Abita beer reduction over roasted corn and smoked paprika grits. The sauce was wonderful with a trace of Worchester sauce and the grits a nice consistency with a smoky note. Unfortunately the shrimp were overcooked and rubbery

Service was good and I would return as it has a wonderful menu. Take a look into it

Southern Spice Moss Bluff

OUT AND ABOUT
Southern Spice MB
227 Hwy 171
Moss Bluff LA
337-555-0010


Monday to Saturday 10:30 AM to 9 PM $10 to $30
Sunday 11:00 AM to 2 PM

Where a Mr Bills was once is an outlier of Southern Spice. I have reviewed numerous establishments in this space. I hope this one takes as I tired of coming here

I started off with the Thursday plate lunch, Fried Pork Chops. I usually get the smothered most of the time but I decided to treat myself. Unless you have a huge appetite get the small plate lunch. The regular is trucker size. I received two chops pounded flat and fried perfectly, large scoop of mashed potatoes, corn and black eyed peas. The corn and peas were good, above standard. The potatoes seemed a little gummy. The chops were tender and not dried out but oddly bland. They seem to have not been seasoned not even with salt. This held true for the crust. I generously doused them with the house seasoning that was on the table. It made them better but not as good as if they had been seasoned before cooking. The lunch comes with a two bite dessert. It was cake that day. It is small but it is nice to finish on a sweet note.

Next time I came at dinner time. I started with a small Shrimp and Crab Gumbo. Nice roux with a good broth, a fair amount of shrimp and some crab meat but as usual to much rice. Gumbo is not rice and gravy it is gumbo. Please put the rice on the side. I ordered the Seafood Platter. It came with the usual salad from a bag. The platter consisted of shrimp, oysters, catfish, stuffed crab and shrimp. I got smothered potatoes as my side. Nice size shrimp in a flour coating and nice sized oysters and catfish in cornmeal just as I love them. The crab had a nice stuffing with good clean crab flavor abet a bit bready. The stuffed shrimp seemed a bit odd. When I tried to bite or cut into it the crust had a consistency I can only call leathery. The shrimp and stuffing came out and I was left with a pouch of crust. The smothered potatoes proved excellent. Not exactly a stew but more like great home fries with loads of pepper and onions. I finished with a huge slice of humming bird cake, delicious.

I was looking forward to my last visit. I had spotted a Cajun Cheeseburger on the menu. Sautéed onions on the top and cayenne pepper inside and not a Jalapeno in sight made this a must have for me. I received disappointment. An odd patty half overcooked and half OK with no heat or spice to it at all. The cheese, sautéed onions and bacon that I added soften the blow a bit. I doused it with Tabasco and went to it. Now the onion rings were perfection. Medium cut and fried with just flour, my favorite.

I would expect a branch of an established restaurant would send out a few seasoned veterans to teach the new guys how to do it. However the inconsistencies that came out the kitchens seems to indicate otherwise. Hopefully this will straighten out with time. I hear they will be doing breakfast in the future. Nice addition for Moss Bluff folks

Mr Bill's at Harrys

OUT AND ABOUT
Mr Bill’s at Harrys
2555 Hwy 171
Moss Bluff LA
337-217-0106


9 AM to 9 PM Daily $1 to $18

Yes you are reading that correctly. Boo Guillory of Mr Bill’s fame is back in the game. He comes fully loaded and delicious. For me the test of an establishment like this is the plate lunch. The one I had here was fantastic. It was a deep dark and flavorful Chicken Stew. It seemed as if the meat had been cooked on the bone and then hand pulled. It proved tender melt in you mouth with a mountain of flavor. The stew also contained onions, carrots, and potatoes over a heap of rice. The sides of corn and black-eyed peas held a lot of flavor. A fried pistollete topped it. A truck driver’s dream if ever I saw one.

Next I went after the “Who Dat Burger. This would put a whopper to shame. Starting out with the bottom bun they add jalapeño, mustard, tomato and chopped onions then start building high. They pile on a half pound burger, pepper jack cheese, bacon, and a large onion ring. They follow that by a repeating it topped off with the bun and mayonnaise. It shows up with a table knife stuck through it for stability. Even if you try to squish it down it would not fit in your mouth. I began thinking this would be a K&F job (knife and fork). However inspiration hit. I took the second patty to the bun and just ate like an open faced burger, twice. Oh what a burger it was. The patties were cooked perfectly remaining juicy with lots of beef flavor. The gestalt of the all the ingredients lead to a wonderful experience. I opted for onion rings with it. They do a medium cut with a flour batter and they were good. I finished with a new creation, The Cajun Puff. A fried pistollete split open and then filled with vanilla ice cream with a chocolate drizzle, magnificent

My last time in I got informed after my meal it was complimentary. I guess they figured out who I was. I ordered a Seafood Pistollete and a Meat Pie for appetizer. The pistollete again fried and split with shrimp and crab meat in a cream sauce put inside. The lushness of the filling was cut by a lovely spice level. The handheld pie was fried perfectly and the ground meat filling steamy and moist with nice kick. I also received from the kitchen a five bone rack of BBQ ribs that was the special of the day. They proved fall off the bone tender with a nice smoke ring and a sweet & spicy glaze. I enjoyed a few and not all because I knew what was coming next. The Seafood Platter with sweet potato fries. It comes with a standard iceberg lettuce salad. On the platter is fried shrimp, fried oysters, fried catfish, fried crab cake, fried stuffed shrimp and fried stuffed crab. Both the shrimp in a flour batter and the catfish in cornmeal were perfect. The oysters in cornmeal were a bit small (not really the season) but tasty. Both the stuffed shrimp and crab had great stuffing even if the crust was a little hard. However the crab cake held disappoint for me as the crust was so thick there did not seem to be any crab. The sweet potato fries were excellent. They were a sort of steak house cut and came with sugar cinnamon butter.

All I can say is the man knows how to cook and I would eat anything he would put on the table. It is too bad I will not be able to get there for awhile as I have loads of venues to review.

Coffee Houses

OUT AND ABOUT

Village Coffee
111 West McNeese
Lake Charles LA
337-478-4448
www.zeuscafe.com

Monday thru Saturday 6 AM to 9 PM $1 to $5

This small niche of a place is in the Kroger’s shopping center on McNeese on the west side of the Rite Aid. In this space you get all the comforts of a coffee house. Wooden tables and chairs, sofa and chair, Wifi and great coffee drinks make it so. They no space to really cook but they have made it beverage central with hot, iced, and blender drinks of both a coffee and non-coffee variety. There is small selection of bagels, scones, biscotti, cheesecake, and croissant sandwiches if you are feeling a bit puckish. I started with Café au Lait. It was good but I would rather scalded milk rather than steamed and a darker roast coffee. However this and other coffee house versions are quite acceptable in a pinch. Here they have some signature drinks which are uniquely theirs. First up is the Village Charger. A double shot espresso with Irish Cream and French Vanilla. I am not a big coffee person but I took to this one immediately. I had the Bushwhacker (Kahlua, coconut and half & half) frappe style. In other words put in a blender with ice and zing till smoothie consistency. This one had a big hit of coconut and it exceedingly rich but refreshing. A kind of drink would revive you after a long hard drive or day. They also do smoothies with fruit concentrates. I got a Peach, Pear, and Apricot that truly hit the spot. This is a one stop establishment for whatever non-alcoholic beverage you have in mind





Stellar Beans
319 Broad
Lake Charles LA
337-564-5739
www.stellar-beans.com.com

Monday thru Saturday 7 AM to 3 PM $1 to $8

This long large space has a great coffee house feel. They also have enough area in the back to do food. They do breakfast, soup, and sandwiches. I again sampled the Café au Lait and found it to be as good as any coffee house. I had it with their Breakfast Casserole. It seemed to me to be a cross between a Spanish Tortilla and an Italian Frittata. It consisted of eggs, sausage, cheese, potatoes and peppers. It had nice flavor but the salsa side made it pop, a nice filling breakfast. For lunch I did Soup and Sandwich. That day one of the options was Mushroom and Brie. It proved wonderful with a rich and creamy broth with loads of mushroom flavor. I opted for a Tuna Salad on ciabatta with red onions hold the mayonnaise because I thought the tuna would be mixed with it. I was wrong. The sandwich came out with chunks of water packed tuna, fine quality, and that’s it. It was good but dry. Learn from my experience order this with dressing. I think it would be wonderful. Because of the heat I got one of their Fruit Tea Smoothie. A concentrate of green tea and fruit (you can add whole fruit). I went with peach because peaches are nearly here. It was delightfully peachy and refreshing. This establishment is nice blend of coffee house and as they say edibles with room enough for entertainment on the weekends.







The Porch
4710 Common St
Lake Charles LA
337-564-5769
www.theporchcoffeehouse.com

Monday thru Saturday 6 AM to 8PM $1 to $8


In this small space they are trying to be a coffee house, bar, café and music venue. The seating is very close with little room to maneuver. There seem to be more seating outside. Again I got the Café au Lait and again as good as any coffee house can make it. I ate their Breakfast Pie with bacon, red onions and provolone. When it came out I finally twigged to what it was, a miniature quiche baked to order. I think this is really a good idea. However mine was overcooked almost the point of being inedible, still a great idea and worth another try. Next time in I was ravenous. I started with Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda soup. It was delicious but tasted to me like Tomato Basil. Also due to a miscommunication I got the bowl instead of the Soup in the Pie Crust. Next up was Meat Pie Bites, small turnovers with a spicy and moist beef filling. They bake them here which are fine with me as I prefer them that way. Unfortunately there was a couple not quite baked enough (doughy). I ordered The Porch Special sandwich. It contained sliced roast beef, ham, turkey, Swiss, and cheddar with lettuce, tomato, red onions and pickles. I opted for the Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough bun. It was delicious. Sort like a Darrell’s but not as messy. The sweet and spicy bread brought it all together. Everything in it seemed fresh and tasty, wonderful.

Jackson Deli 3607 Legion St 337-513-9987

Following Eric Cormier lead as expressed in his weekly column I headed to sample the cheeseburger here. As is my wont I added bacon and got provolone for the cheese. As all of Chad's food it was delicious. The side was a bit unusual but delicious. It was cornbread salad with tomato, corn, and green onions. Sorta like a rice salad with the cornbread taking the rices place. I would get it again. I do not go here frequently enough.