A new restaurant in Hammond is part of a large group of restaurants, mostly Mexican. The empire started with an ordinary Mexican restaurant, which has ballooned now to twelve of the same name. A venue or two has been added to the group, and another concept with two locations, and finally a whole new concept called The Lighthouse Coastal Brasserie. The Lighthouse is currently the only one with that name, but its menu bears a similarity to the other concept with the two restaurants, called simply One Thirteen.
For many years we have been regular customers of La Caretta, the Mexican concept that we have always considered just ordinary. It obviously appeals to us on some level because we've been there once a week for fifteen years. One Thirteen arrived almost ten years ago and has been a darling of the college crowd ever since. I have to admit One Thirteen is a great date place, but the food here has been just ordinary as well. The second fairly recent addition to the group, the second One Thirteen, arrived in Mandeville just last year. To my great surprise it’s as wildly popular as the original in Hammond. But the Hammond dining scene is not as sophisticated as Covington and Mandeville.
What One Thirteen and now The Lighthouse have going for them, (maybe the only thing) is the environment. The interiors are really interesting. These are dining rooms with mainly one thing in common: a lot of money has been spent to decorate them. Too bad none of this creativity was spent on crafting and executing a menu. The menus for both concepts is a hodgepodge of incongruous things with a quality that is less than it could and should be. Full disclosure: I went to the Lighthouse Coastal Brasserie with a prejudice formed over the many years at La Caretta and two visits to One Thirteen.
Once inside the restaurant, I recognized its decor as probably designed by the same person who did One Thirteen. Interesting rooms decorated differently, connected only by the overall look that a lot of money was spent. Service was similar to the service at the flagship restaurant of the group, La Caretta in Hammond. We have been going there for a while because the food is much better than the food at our local La Caretta. Servers tend to be from the nearby college, and are very helpful and efficient at La Caretta, but not so much here. Maybe it’s because there were so few people at The Lighthouse when I went. Service improves when servers are busy, it seems.
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The menu at The Lighthouse is a hodgepodge of trendy menu items. There was rotisserie chicken with sauces like I’ve seen around town., a seafood platter, hummus, tacos, a poor boy, and pasta dishes. I started with crab dip, which was unlike any crab dip I’ve ever had. It came with Lavash crackers. And I ordered seafood gumbo, and a seafood platter, using my sadly now all-too-familiar process of elimination.
Despite the surprise when it came to the table, I did enjoy the crab dip. It was like pimento cheese with crabmeat in it. Usually crab dip is hot in a ramekin with cream and cheese, a rich and creamy substance crackers are dipped into and carried away, sometimes too hot to eat.
The Lavash crackers weren’t as large as usual, and they were spiced. I liked these a lot. They were crispy and strong enough for this thick and creamy cold spread. The flavor was mild and there was a respectable amount of crabmeat here.
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I originally ordered some pancakes as a dessert, just to try them, but a manager came to the table and told me they didn’t have them because I was ordering off the brunch menu, and it was a Thursday. Brunch is only served weekends. The menu here is very large, with all menus in one binder. That makes it confusing for ordering, and this simple practice cost me $10.
When the manager came to tell me what the waitress should have pointed out, I asked for some gumbo instead. It was about as ordinary as I expected. There wasn’t anything terrible about it, but also nothing exceptional.
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The seafood platter was most interesting. I thought it seemd expensive for $35, but it was a very large thing indeed. There were three pieces of catfish so golden it seemed unnatural, but no more unnatural than the size of the shrimp, which were absolutely enormous. I am seeing shrimp so large around town now they almost scare me. That’s what these were.
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There were oysters on this platter too, and they were also very large. These were limp and flaccid, with the batter peeling away from the oyster. Very unappealing to someone who needs oysters to be crispy, and preferably smaller. When I have to cut oysters and shrimp they are much too large for my taste.
The fish was really crispy and fried in cornmeal. This was fine but I’m not that big a fan of catfish, and this was just unusual. I was a little suspicious about this seafood because it was unusual. I asked if it was local and was told it was “Glf” fish, but that could mean any place. I’m not such a purist that it has to be Lousisiana seafood, but was it Mexican? I was told extra large shrimp could be farm-raised, and that places serving local seafood proudly announce it on their menus. I have no idea of the definitive providence of this seafood, but none of it was exciting enough to finish it. I'll give them credit for frying each seafood in a different batter. I did like the hush puppies though. And the fries were fine.
The bill was much high than I expected, so I looked it over and discovered that the seafood platter was $45 instead of $35. I thought it was too high for what it was at $35. When I asked to see the menu to check the price I pointed it out and the waitress told me I also ordered that off the brunch menu. I feel like she should have directed me to the lunch menu, though I know it is ultimately my responsibility to use the right menu. Usually menus are not handed out as a group, but I should have paid attention as well.
I left the Lighthouse with a feeling that I hate, the disappointment of an unsatisfying meal. The only thing worse was how much I paid for it.
