Friday, March 13, 2009
Events / Restaurants Cajun Steamer Crawls With Crawdads
Posted by Carrington Fox on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 5:19 AM
This week's dining review features Cajun Steamer, the festive New Orleans-flavored eatery in Cool Springs, which is the third in a nascent Alabama-based chain. Of all the bayou-tinged decor, the best feature at Cajun Steamer is a large plate-glass window with a view of the kitchen, where cooks trawl giant baskets of mudbugs from stainless steel steampots. Tucking into a pile of fiery-red crawdads, I couldn't help wishing I ate more crawfish, and I'll look forward to heading back out to Cajun Steamer, especially for the oysters on the half-shell and the beignets with homemade coffee ice cream.
If you can't make it out to Cool Springs for crawdads, head over to South Street, near Vanderbilt, where every Sunday starting at 2 p.m. there's a crawfish boil with all-you-can-eat mudbugs for $28.95 until they run out.
Comments (7)
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MS Fox requested that I post my thoughts about her review of CS after I emailed her yesterday.
Taking things a step further--when MS Fox suggests that South St restaurant was a suitable sub for a seafood dinner--again I have to disagree.Every meal that I have ever ordered at South St has arrived at my table---again smelling like bait.Just like Chappys on Church St---the seafood IMO is a abysmal.
IMO the bait smell does not equal good seafood----it's simply not fresh.It suggests to me the same old,same old---pour the 6 month old mystery frozen seafood (probably from China) right out of the bag and into the fryer.Just like Captain D's.
Lunch at Captain D's cost maybe $7---I spent $40 at CS (for two)two weeks ago.
Anyway here is my response to MS Fox's review or CS:
Just a couple ideas about your review of the Cajun Steamer in Cool Springs.
After reading your review all I can conclude is that the wife and I must gone there when the restaurant was having a very bad day.The wife and I loaded up and went to the Steamer for lunch a couple weeks back.
As you described the place was very crowded and there was a wait.I remembered thinking at the time about why the building was designed in such a way that if there was a wait there was nowhere to stand that didn't block the front door.No biggie though and soon we were seated.The decor was as you described---interesting.
We found some of the wait staff to be somewhat "interestng" in appearance also.Almost all were either heavily tattooed,pierced in odd places,had unusual hair color or all three.I'm not a prude on this subject----really I'm not and usually don't care what people do to their bodies.But this one young waitress had a large block type tattoo across her back that read something like "Think and Learn"--I found this a little disconcerting for sure.A lot of these type body decorations could have been covered up with a waitstaff clothed in T shirts--the usual attire in these type establishments.
Anyway---on to the food.
Wife ordered the raw oysters which were all huge and quite tough.She has eaten 1000's of them while we lived in FL and these were simply not good.This is TN so we are lucky to have raw oysters period.She ordered the fried green tomatoes and they were coated with a very thick breading that certainly didn't help the tomatoes.IMO fried green tomatoes are best when they are dipped in a thin tempura type batter.I ordered the boudin balls took one bite and pushed the rest away.Each were heavily coated with a raw mystery meat inside without a hint of spice as the menu had suggested.Fried oysters and a fried shrimp po boy were the entrees.Both arrived at the table and instantly the aroma of "bait" engulfed us.This is always a bad sign and sure enough---it was bad.Atypical frozen seafood poured out of a bag and into the fryer---Captain D's quality at best.For a $40 lunch I expected better.
As a positive you were quite right to praise the French loaf that the po boys were made with.You correctly point out that the loaf is where most po boys go wrong.I was impressed enough that I asked the waitress where the loafs came from--she didn't know but now because of your review I do.
Anyway enough of my rambling--I'm sure that you have to better things to do.Feel free to pass my thoughts on to the Steamers management if you care to.I found it interesting that just a few days before I was going to post on a local food blog of places to NOT go for meal to read your review with a very different take.Alan.
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Hello? Gulf Pride? Fresh seafood all the time. Have you eaten there yet Carrington?
Amos---I have been tempted several times over the years to try Gulf Pride seafood in Franklin.
GP is a 40 mile drive for me. GP website suggests that they are only open on limited days and hours and their website pics suggests that all of their food is served on styrofoam plates.
Styrofoam plates don't get it done for me.
I'm funny that way.I prefer my meals on china.Alan
I was there a couple weeks ago and completely blown away by the quality, right kind of spiciness and freshness. The char-grilled oysters are my new fave, the crawdad boil was perfect, my friend's sides were beyond expectations - not sure how you got such a bum set of dishes. Is it possible they have a not so daily shipment and it's all in the timing?
Good news Alan! They use Chinette now! It's not high class, but you can byow and there's no corking fee. They do lunch until 2:30 wed-fri. and serve until 4 on Saturdays. Which is also when they have the local organic farmers market right outside.
Styrofoam plates = Chinette IMO.
Based on SL reviews might have to reconsider.
Odd opening hours to me for sure.Would any of you consider a "recon in force"--(old military guy here)trip to this restaurant by a gaggle of board posters to check this place out on our own?
Please advise.Alan.
