3/4/03 – “Hoppin through Northern Mississippi - Lookin for Restaurants with Crustaceans”
- by the Southern New Jersey Grasshopper.
I traveled up I-55 through Mississippi today. I had a couple restaurants picked out I wanted to try as I drove North. My goal is to have some Mississippi Crawfish, (Crawdads to you Rebels!). It’s been three years since I had good ones, …. and they were in Arkansas!
The first place on my list was a place called “Crawdads”. (What a great name - huh?) I pulled into the parking lot at 5:30 pm, mouth watering, and …….... they were closed down, boarded up, NO ONE THERE!!!
And I thought this place was going to be my best chance for some good crustaceans today. OK, I’ll move on ……. the next place was called “Ed’s Fish House”. I got there around 6:30pm and -------- the name on the front was ..... (Ya ready for this)? ..............the “China Buffet”. (Ol’ Ed musta passed on). This was getting bad.
I had one more chance as I had prepared three possibilities for tonight. The “Catfish Cabin” was my last hope. Unfortunately, this was all the way up in Memphis by the airport. As I got closer, I could see the sign from a mile down the road. (See attached picture). A big ol’ Blue Catfish, wink’in at me from afar sayin, “Come on in Grasshopper. We got crawdads”. Well, ………….. he was lie’in.
I went in: The Catfish Cabin 2846 Airways Blvd. Memphis, Tn 38116 901-345-2015
The menu started with:
Whole channel Catfish
Boneless fillet Catfish
Catfish w/shrimp
Catfish w/oysters
Catfish w/chicken
Catfish w/whiting (In season of course).
Catfish w/flounder
Catfish w/red snapper.
(I think the name off the place should’a tipped me off).
No crawdads anywhere on the menu!!
Oh well -- I ordered a bowl of ''peel & eat'' Shrimp & a Stuffed Crab dinner. At least I was going to see shells. (Sea Shells)
?
While I was waiting, I ordered a 'Johnnie Walker Black' on the rocks ..... (Ya know, a normal shot of booze over a couple ice cubes). OK – so this 'girl' waitress, (I’m being
real generous here), said – “all we have is scotch & whiskey and I dont know what kind it is. Ya gotta take what we have.”
(When yer the only white
- yankee
in the place, ya don't argue).
Good thing too ----- I said “sure” and she brought me ---- get this ---- a full water tumbler of straight scotch!! Ohhhhhhhh boy!! (Ya can see it in the background of the second picture).
As soon as my drink hit the table, along came the obligatory house southern 'hush puppies’ & home made coleslaw. Now ---- hushpuppies ain’t my thing. They were good, but I ain’t no puppy that needs to be hushed! I rather save room for real food.
The slaw however ………. Oh my ……..
It was fabulous!!! I found out that in addition to a lot of sugar in the Mayo, they add a secret ingredient – Cinnamon!! One of the best slaws I’ve ever had.
With in 30 seconds – along came my “Peel and Eat” shrimp. Cold, cooked just right, (no ‘paper shells), and a great cocktail sauce. H O T !!!!!
And just ‘cause I forgot to mention that I liked my servings ‘spaced’ out, (to give me time to enjoy each of them), 2 minutes later - along comes the Stuffed Crab. I just had to rush the shrimp to get to the Crab while it was still hot.
I shouldn’t have rushed so……what a disappointment!
A great rendition of butter, peppers and bread crumbs, but [dang] little crab!!! And I could tell from the size of the shells that there was a good amount of meat -----it justa musta gotten into someone else’s meal. Hey ….. ya know what ya do in a case like that?
Order another “small” drink! And I did.
Total Bill = $16.50 !!!! I left that girl, (she was lookin younger by the minute), a five for a tip and still had a great meal for the money. Just no Crawdads!!!! Y E T !!!
There’s always tomorrow.
The "Southern New Jersey Grasshoppe" - Hoppin through the South
