Well, We Did it Again

Did what, you are asking. (OK, so you’re not asking. Allow me a little literary license, folks.) We waited until the end of our stay in Lafayette before eating at Steve and Pat’s Bon Temps Grill.

“Like many Louisiana natives, Patrick O’Bryan and his brother, Steve, left the state only to realize the value of Louisiana’s culture and return years later. Together, they had an idea for “swamp edge cuisine” and decided to open a restaurant in the heart of Lafayette’s Southside. They experimented with dishes. including the ‘Pick Any Fish, Sauce and Choice of Two Sides’ which marries fresh fish with sauces such as mango salsa and Satsuma* Creole meuniere and toppers like crabmeat, crawfish and shrimp.

“’It was kind of a whirlwind of a taste and decision process…. Everything was tested out in Steve’s kitchen in Youngsville.’

“Whatever the brothers worked out in those early days came together well, for there’s always a crowd…. Much of the menu…veers from Louisiana comfort food to more sophisticated fare. There’s the crawfish pot pie, for instance, a large homemade pastry filled with…crawfish étouffée, and the apple and tasso-stuffed pork chops served with the restaurant’s signature fried sage sweet potato mash” (Cheré Coen at myneworleans.com).

The restaurant has what I describe as a “Cajun cabin” atmosphere with a metal corrugated roof,

neon beer signs accompanied by Mardi Gras decorations,

and the to-be-expected gator knickknack—this time in the form of a wine holder.

While we were there, two staff members took advantage of the mid-afternoon lull to dust and rearrange the wine bottles displayed behind the bar.

Theirs is one of those menus that makes choices hard. Appetizers include: the Bon Temps Sausage & Boudin Board with an array of Louisiana sausage and boudin, grilled and served with sliced French bread, charred red onion aioli, and Creole mustard; Blackened Chicken Lettuce Wraps with blackened chicken breast served with peanut Thai sauce, mango salsa, peanuts, jicama slaw, and Bibb lettuce; and Tuna and Avocado Tartar with diced raw tuna served on fresh lime marinated avocado with a citrus ponzu sauce and topped with crispy fried red onions. I really wanted to order this last item but our server Joanie did a quick check with the kitchen and, yes, the citrus did include oranges (I’m allergic to them). They were willing to omit the ponzu, but I decided that it just wouldn’t be the same. Thanks to Joanie and the kitchen for making the extra effort.

I had seen a photo of the Seafood Creole Cobb Salad (sautéed lump crabmeat and shrimp, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, boiled egg, and red onion with house-made Creole ranch dressing), and it looked delicious. But I wanted more than salad. But the Mesquite Grilled Meatloaf (mesquite grilled southern style meatloaf served over a bed of our red hot potatoes) sounded like too much.

We both started with cups of the day’s soup—potato, chicken, and spinach.

Not only was this a large “cup” but was also substantial and filling. The soup was garnished with cheese and thinly sliced green onions and tasted of pepper and—I think—thyme. My only complaint is that it could have been served hotter. (Those who have been reading us regularly know that this is a real fixation of mine.)

The soup was accompanied by a basket of garlic bread, and if you look closely you can see the little bits of chopped garlic. No garlic powder used here.

Chuck has no trouble making a decision and quickly decided on the Grilled Chili Butter Shrimp. “That’s what I had last year” I exclaimed. “I really liked it. Don’t be put off by the mashed sweet potatoes. They are raised to new heights here.”

The dish contained two skewers of five shrimp each that had been glazed with sweet chili honey butter and mesquite grilled. The glaze gave the shrimp a little bit of heat and a little bit of sweet and the grilling caramelized the sugars in the honey which produced a mild charred taste. And, since we are in Louisiana, the shrimp were perfectly cooked with that slight snap when first bitten into.

What sets their mashed sweet potatoes apart from others is the fried sage mixed into the mash. He had the choice of an additional side and selected the grilled asparagus.

I didn’t get the chance to try them (and Chuck didn’t offer), but he later reported that they retained a degree of crispness after grilling.

After having been disappointed so many times before, it was with some apprehension that I decided to order the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake appetizer as my main meal. Was this a good crab cake? No, it was an exceptional crab cake.

First, the shell—and the only way to describe it is “shell” – was made with a cornflake and almond breading. When you broke through the coating, a slow river of rich béchamel flowed forth containing lump crab meat plus seasonings. The cake sat on a bed of herbed cream sauce along with a small drizzle of sriracha and had as a topping some sautéed lump crab.

As I have said in the past, the Baltimore-style cake has always been my gold standard. But I admit that if you put a Baltimore crab cake and one of Steve and Pat’s crab cakes in front of me and and told me to chose just one, I’m not sure which I would select.

So little time. So many meals uneaten. And this is a restaurant with a menu of endless possibilities. A true 5.0 Addie experience.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.

*A satsuma is a small seedless member of the citrus family. It is sometimes called a satsuma mandarin, since it closely resembles the mandarin orange. Satsumas are sweet, hardy, and easy to grow, making them a popular citrus cultivar around the world. In season, they can be found at many grocery stores, and enterprising gardeners may want to experiment with growing satsumas on their own (wisegeek.com).