Monday, April 23, 2012.
The Hotburger.
A perfect Monday to stay at home, with a lot of work to do and a beautiful day outside. Unusually cool this morning, the temps never really went up, even with a blue sky and sunshine. This must be Indian Winter.
Mary Ann and I lunched at Pontchartrain Po-Boys. I'm glad I got there first, because if she had she would have told me it wasn't worth the wait. The little shop was crammed with people, and a line extending from the kitchen window almost to the front door. Once we got the order in, we stood around for a long time waiting for a table to open up. It never did, but a construction worker offered us the open seats at his table.
That proved to be a lucky break, for a number of reasons. Alex (he gave me his card) had ordered an unusual dish: broiled shrimp and oysters, all in a huge pile between two pieces of garlic bread. He's a regular here, and said that this was one of Pontchartrain's better dishes. I didn't see it on the menu.
Alex's card also noted that soffit and fascia repairs are his specialty. Great! We have a soffit-and-fascia disaster at our house, one I keep deluding myself that I will repair, even though I'm not sure it's such a good idea for me to climb a ladder anymore.
Finally, we were sitting down with Alex when our first course came: a pile of onion rings. I liked them last time, and did again this time. We offered Alex some of them--even the small order is too big for two people--but he already had a lot of food in front of him.
I put my roast beef hunger on hold in order to try something new here: the Hotburger. I didn't have to ask to know that this would be ground beef and hot pork sausage mixed together, made into a patty, grilled, and jammed into a poor boy. The only surprise was that it was a double--two hand-made pucks of this spicy melange. It was a little overgrilled for me, but otherwise excellent. And too much to eat, even in the small size that I ordered.
Mary Ann put a decent dent in a quarter of a muffuletta, stuffed with ham, salami, cheese and olive salad. Like most people, she has fallen for the erroneous idea that all sandwiches are better heated, and all cheese is better melted. This prophet is definitely not respected in his own home.
Pontchartrain Po-Boys. Mandeville: 4700 LA 22. 985-792-0499.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
