About two-thirds the way from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where the Mississippi River's east bank levee meets fields of sugar cane that extend to the horizon, Hymel's is the best casual place to stop on a tour of the plantation country. It's a seafood house in the New Orleans tradition, cooking everything to order and serving it up hot and crisp. Start with some boiled seafood, gumbo, or turtle soup, and accompany it with one of their gigantic frozen schooners of beer. It looks like and is a relic of a simpler time.
The Hymel family was until recently a major planter of sugar cane in the vicinity of Convent, tucked away in a sharp bend of the river. They opened their restaurant in the 1950s. It has long been known to New Orleans diners heading that way, and not only because restaurants are scarce in the area. Many of them discovered the place while on their way to Manresa Retreat House, a few miles down the River Road. No small number of retreatants took a last round or two of beverages before turning themselves over to the Jesuits for three days.
The restaurant is bigger than it looks from the outside, and much more skillful about service than the old gasoline pumps in front might suggest. It's a casual room with a decidedly Louisiana decor, and an antique bar.
Ask whether they have any local fish before ordering. The menu defaults of imports like basa and tilapia, but they often get trout and snapper, among other fish. A family secret is a drink called Ping Pong, a sort of frozen daiquiri with the flavor of a nectar soda. Ask for it; you might get it, probably on the house.
| Attitude | 1 |
|---|---|
| Environment | 0 |
| Hipness | 0 |
| Local Color | 2 |
| Service | 1 |
| Value | 2 |
| Wine | 0 |
