Having lived on the Northshore for 36 years ,you’d think I’d find myself in Lacombe more than I do. Except for an occasional trip to Sal & Judy’s or the days at La Provence, I’m never that far past Mandeville. But a visit to Sal & Judy’s to pick up a stuffed artichoke caused me to pass, yet again, a place I have often wondered about. A valued listener to The Food Show (airs weekdays 2-4pm on 990AM) has been talking about Janie Brown’s, a spot on the Mandeville side of Lacombe that I have been seeing for years. It looks like someone’s 1980s house, except for the parking lot and sign out front.
Janie Brown’s is indeed from the 1980s, in every imaginable way. Except inside, which looks like a saloon. That sounds bad, but I find it charming. Much too dark for my taste, it is filled with wood and pictures, and a church pew in the bar, presumably for people waiting for tables. After what I just said, it may be hard to imagine people waiting for tables, but I have no doubt that they do. When I arrived at 11am for my visit, the place was empty. In very short order, the parking lot was nearly full with groups of people filing in. At night, it must be packed. These people all looked like regulars, and I’m sure Janie Brown’s stays busy all the time. It has a magical combination: good food, friendly service, and great prices.
The service staff is so friendly that they were welcoming to me and all my weird requests. It was a lovely day outside, and I noticed two wooden Adirondack chairs on the porch with a table in between them. The ashtrays with ashes meant this was their smoking section. I asked if they could take the ashtrays and cover the table for me to eat out there. This was not a tiny request. The long porch housed an extensive collection of plants, and my table was the farthest possible point from the front door. The server would have to work extra hard. They could not have been more accommodating. Tables on that porch would be busy.
The lunch started with a gift from the kitchen: a little bowl of what turned out to be insanely delicious spiced oyster crackers. I love oyster crackers already, but they have borrowed a page from the new trend to supercharge ordinary Saltine crackers with a spice blend. These were terrific, and when I remarked about them, the waitress offered me more. I declined and told her they should sell them in bags.
.jpeg)
I had gone for the softshell crab the radio listener raved about, but I got several things first. There was a gumbo called Lacombe gumbo on the menu, but I passed on it for the corn and shrimp bisque. This was a mistake. The bisque was not very good. It was much lighter in consistency than a true bisque, and it had little flavor. There were a few overcooked shrimp floating in there, but I didn’t finish it, and that is rare.
Next came a kid’s meatball and spaghetti and a half muffuletta. There were two meatballs in this dish and a large amount of angel hair pasta. My first impression of this was that it was pretty ordinary, but I kept eating more of it. I liked the sauce, and the meatballs were a tiny bit firmer than the crumbly ones I prefer, but they were fine. I liked this.
I really liked the muffuletta, though it was missing a few things muffulettas need. I didn’t see mortadella or salami on the sandwich, but I found this an irresistible sandwich I kept going back to. The bread was great. Seeded with the right muffuletta round loaf elements of airy but dense crumb, filled with a nice amount of meats, cheese, and olive salad, and dusted with Parmesan cheese as a garnish, I loved this.
Next came the salad that was served with each entree. I had a choice of four housemade dressings, and I chose Blue cheese. The greens could not have been more fresh, and they were studded with red grape tomato halves. This was a fresh salad at its most basic. The Blue cheese dressing was ordinary, with not a lot of Blue cheese. It was a salad right out of its 1980s time period of origin, which is why I called it Blue cheese rather than Bleu cheese.
The softshell I came for was served three ways. Naturally, I chose badly. (Tom always called that a trademark of mine.) There was the Louisiana fried seafood version, served with toast, fries, and tartar sauce. There was the Amandine version with the toasted almonds and butter sauce, and there was the one I ordered, which was a crawfish sauce they offered to put on the side. These last two preparations were served with baked potato or green beans.
The caller was right about the size of the softshell crab. It was enormous. It was lightly battered and fried golden brown and greaseless. It was everything he promised. But I didn’t care for the crawfish sauce I had ordered with it. After eating a few of the legs ,I took it home and re-prepared it Amandine-style. The way to get it here is the Louisiana fried seafood version: toast, fries, and tartar sauce.
I was glad the caller had so enticed me to get to Janie Brown’s. It is straight out of the 1980s, with that food style to match. But it is good food at a very good value. And it is a charming place with lovely people ready to serve you warmly. And there is nothing at all wrong with that, especially in these times.