Seafood is everywhere in New Orleans. Just about everybody in New Orleans has his favorite part of town for seafood, or so one would think. The days of Bruning's, Fitzgerald’s, Fontana's, Seymour's, Maggie and Smitty's Crabnet, and about a dozen more seafood restaurants that were present in the peak of dining in West End Park in its glory days ended with Katrina. Every few months on the radio show, we bring up a survey of how many more seafood restaurants have opened. People are always interested in such matters.
These days, the West End Seafood Restaurant District really comes down to Landrys, the Blue Crab and, recently, Felix's. I wasn't knocked out by this population, although we can console ourselves very well with Station 6, New Orleans Food and Spirits, and Two Tony's. All are good, but they're not West End-style, and Two Tony’s isn’t even seafood, though they do have it.
That leaves the Blue Crab as the king of West End seafood houses, which has been on my mind last week. Mary Ann is nuts about this weather, (she calls it “western”) and has wanted to go to Oktoberfest for two Fridays now. Every time we go, it is so crowded I just can’t bear the thought so, she offered Blue Crab the first time. We went yesterday too after nixing Oktoberfest.because we had such a good time last Friday. What made it so special was the fantastic happy hour oyster prices like grilled oysters for a dollar each. We took advantage of this and went through a dozen and a half oysters.
But we didn't stop there. Saturday night, we did this all over again, trying to enter the Oktoberfest on Bayou St. John, then leaving when It looked as if hundreds of people were celebrating. It was hard to penetrate. We'll try again next year and start early. Compared with other Oktoberfests of which I attended in the past, I was overwhelmed.
That left Mary Ann and me dinnerless. I offered a repeat of the Blue Crab. I knew we would not get the happy-hour oyster deal again, but there was still a large menu for us to pick from. MA got a sweet butternut squash soup du jour, and I decided to eschew all things fried when we sent back some fresh cut onion rings that were a mess. Truly an aberration here. Their fried stuff is always good. Except today’s onion rings, so I got grilled chicken and vegetables, which was surprisingly quite good. Last time MA got a single boiled crab whose market price was nearly $8 She loves the boiled seafood here too. It was especially fun out there last night because it was the third Saturday of the month, when a Zydeco group comes from Lafayette and the dancing begins on the lower patio. Yachts pulled up and parked and it was a party. Great atmosphere.
We sat in the balcony, looking over the boats in the marina, talking with the several friends who happened to be there. MA loves dining outdoors. And she loves the food, the service, and the environment with the view into the lake. A very pleasant evening. Her favorite kind, in fact. I have to admit that this time, I liked it too.
Blue Crab. West End & Bucktown: 7900 Lakeshore Dr. 504-284-2898.
