Last weekend ML and I took a short drive to Denham Springs. She had discovered a La Caretta there that she claimed was far better, with different menu items, than the one we are used to in Covington. That’s how we wound up in Covington. Tom noticed that the food was better in Covington at the La Caretta in Mandeville that ML and I frequented. he was correct, and we have never strayed since. This type of inconsistency should be something someone should notice at La Careatta, since these are not franchises but are all corporately-owned restaurants. Oh, well.
I was surprised to hear this discovery because we only go to the one nearest our home in Covington. A year or so ago I noticed the same thing in Amite, a brand new and much spiffier La Caretta there, but we did not eat. The idea of dragging poor Tom to another La Caretta outside his orbit seemed too much. He already spent way too much of his life at La Caretta.
When ML suggested this trip to Denham Springs, I was intrigued. Are a lot of the La Caretta’s different? Since this is ML’s favorite place, maybe we could take a drive and do a La Caretta dine-around.
It seemed a fun idea until we went to the La Caretta in Denham Springs. She loved the nachos there. I remain of the opinion that there is no such thing as a plate of great restaurant nachos, because they are soggy by the time you get down to the bottom. But La Caretta has exceptionally bad nachos, in my opinion, because the carnitas there is often mushy.
So I don’t think it takes much to top the nachos at "our" La Caretta, and these were definitely far superior. And she was able to have her favorite salsa there. She is a huge fan of roasted tomato salsa, something she became fond of in DC when we discovered Uncle Julio’s in Bethesda, called Rio Grande there.
But aside from the better nachos and smoky salsa, I found the chips to be sort of stale, and the tamal I ordered as ordinary as the one in Covington, (which I still like.)
On the way home I remember a place when we passed it again called Off The Hook. I had seen the original in Houma a year or two back in one of the road trips I took with Tom. I was curious about it then but even more curious to see this fast food drive-thru version. It was newish and spiffy and we drove through to see the menu, which is all the classics from the bayou.
The following day I returned to eat. There were some closer to where I lived, but those were off the beaten path. I drove through and ordered some gumbo, red beans and rice, and a fried shrimp platter. There was a picture on the order board of some great looking onion rings so I added that to the order.
I drove through the line and picked it up in just minutes, illustrating Tom’s offense at fast food. Both the seafood gumbo and red bean were hot. And the gumbo was so hot it had to sit for a while. The onion rings were hot enough to be a little wilted by the time I opened the container, and the shrimp were also fine.
I was impressed with the red beans and rice. It is definitely not my kind of red beans and rice, because I like clearly defined beans. This was the soupy Popeye’s-style version of the disd. It had plenty of rice for the soup to cling to, but I really liked the flavor of this. If there was meat it was just a tidbit or two.
The gumbo was equally appealing. There was no rice visible in the swampy-looking liquid, but the flavor was very good seafood gumbo. There may have been a bit of seafood in it, but it wasn’t noticeable. I still liked this a lot.
The onion rings were disappointing, and I don’t even know why. They seemed crispier in the pic. I like onion rings, but sometimes there is a quality to them where the onion itself is front and center. I know onion rings mean onion, but occasionally that trait is unappealing. That was the case here. I don’t even know how that happens, but maybe the batter wasn't thick enough to stand up to a "meatier" ring of onion?
For $11.99, this was a very nice platter of fried seafood. There were plenty of smallish fried shrimp. (But I like popcorn shrimp.) The batter was unexceptional, but the shrimp were crispy and great for dipping in the tartar sauce, which was chunky and good. The fries on this plate were borderng on shoestring, with skins on, so this was a quality frozen fry. I’m not a big hush puppy fan, but there were three smallish golden brown hush puppies that I tried only because it’s my job. They were great! Fluffy on the inside, and studded with corn kernels, they were good enough to meet the approval of ML, a hush puppy critic if ever there was one.
I have often wondered why no one has ever done this…a fast food approach to our local specialties. I’m sure Tom wouldn’t have approved, and for all the right reasons, i.e. heat lamps, etc., but this product could drown out the critics. All of this was $30, and for a family looking to save money and still eat this food, it works.
It works so well expect one in your area soon. Enjoy.
