Food
Shell Game
Son of a gun, you’ll have big fun—and terrific fresh crawfish—at these seven Louisiana seafood joints.
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The trip is worth the effort. Luther “Hawk” Arceneaux buys the biggest pond crawfish in the area and then purges them for 24 hours in aerated, freshwater holding tanks; most places purge no more than 5 hours, if at all. The result is a mudbug with all the grit removed from the vein, and, I contend, a sweeter taste. Hawk boils his crawfish, a method that allows more precise control than does steaming, he claims. He puts only red pepper in the water—he says salt turns them tough—and then seasons them further after they’re cooked. His crawfish are as tender as they come and are offered three ways: mild (no seasoning), hot (cayenne-based seasoning), and extra hot (pickled jalapeños and juice added). For my taste, the hots are seasoned just right. All the versions are served, as at most places, in trays of three and a half pounds, which yields about half a pound of meat. Their price is $9.45, just under the going price of $9.95 a tray, served on tables covered with newspaper that you throw your shells on. Boiled corn and potatoes come alongside. Open Wednesday through Sunday 5-10 (like most boiling points, Hawk’s does not serve lunch).
The Most Intriguingly Seasoned Crawfish can be found at D.I.’s Cajun Restaurant (6533 State Highway 97, Basile, 432-5141), a place that, like Hawk’s, is situated on the Cajun plains north of I-10 and west of the Atchafalaya. Again, like Hawk’s, D.I.’s is found more easily by its sign than by its address. To get there, take exit 65 from I-10 and go north toward Basile on State Highway 97 for twelve miles. D.I.’s is a classic boiling point, with a linoleum floor, crawfish posters on the walls, and baskets of crackers and butter on the tables (these accompaniments help quench the fire of the abundant cayenne pepper). Owner Daniel Fruge’s crawfish come either medium or hot, but his seasoning is what makes his crawfish special. In addition to salt and pepper, the blend contains some aromatic and flavorful combinations of anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, and either allspice or cloves, maybe both. After several visits I still can’t identify the mix, and Daniel ain’t telling. Even his wife, Sherry, doesn’t know. As she says, laughing, “If he passes away, I’m in trouble.” Open Tuesday through Saturday 5-11.
D.I.’s crawfish can be plenty hot, but the Most Satisfying Burn can be had at the Guiding Star Restaurant (4404 U.S. 90 West, New Iberia, 365-9113), a no-frills cinder-block place with sinks in the dining area to wash your hands. Let me say that I am a heat freak. I appreciate complex seasoning as much as the next man, but only if it includes plenty of fire. The water in which Guiding Star boils its crawfish contains mainly the pulp of peppers that have been ground up to make Tabasco sauce by the McIlhenny Company a few miles down the road. That is hot, but it’s also rich. My only caveat about Guiding Star is that it can be inconsistent. On two of the three visits, I have gotten meat that was tough and that stuck to the shell, a sure sign of overcooking. This made the critters so difficult to peel that many went cold before I got to them. But for that burn, I’d forgive almost anything. Open daily 3-10.
The Guiding Star’s seasoning many be hot, but the Fieriest Crawfish can be found at the Jungle Dinner Club (W. Main, Ville Platte, 363-9103), which is where I met my Waterloo. A onetime nightclub converted to a full-menu restaurant, the Jungle Clubs offers mild, hot, and super hot. Smugly, I ordered the latter, despite an amused smirk from the waitress. Maybe a dozen crawfish into the tray, my eyes started watering, my nose began to run, and my tongue and lips burned and burned and burned. I gave up and placed a rush order for ice cream, all the while gazing longingly at the blackboard listing crawfish bread (homemade bread stuffed with étouffée and cheese). Aside from red pepper, the dominant flavor in the Jungle Club’s super-hot seasoning is vinegar, and way too much of it. Later, co-owner Wendell Manuel told me that if I had consumed a full tray of extra super hot, which you order off-menu, I would have earned an honorary Registered Cajun certificate. (Who would have mopped me off the floor and taken me back to my motel, he didn’t explain.) Open daily 5:30-11.
For the less adventurous, two more establishments, both of which use basin crawfish as much as possible, merit commendation. Crawfish Town U.S.A. (2815 Grandpoint Highway, Breaux Bridge, 667-6148) is the Best Tourist Restaurant. I was ready to dislike this place, a huge barn filled with bare tables just off I-10 at exit 115, because billboards along the interstate had been advertising “the biggest crawfish in the world” for miles, and I’ve spent a lifetime avoiding any place that promises the world’s biggest anything. But Crawfish Town makes good on its claim, boils ’em tender to boot, and even the “x-hot” is manageable for most taste buds. Open Tuesday through Thursday 11-9, Friday and Saturday 11-10.
Gator Cove (2601 Southeast Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, 264-1263) is the Best Family Crawfish Restaurant. According to manager Zee Azizi, it’s the only restaurant in Lafayette proper set up specifically for crawfish, with a cooking room and equipment separate from the rest of the kitchen. The cooks also use the increasingly popular method of first steaming the crawfish briefly, using just a little water, and then draining and putting them in an airtight hopper, where they are seasoned to order and allowed to finish steaming in their own moisture. (Advocates claim, wouldn’t you know, that this allows closer control over the cooking process.) Gator Cove, which is a couple of large rooms with red-and-white-checked tablecloths, a lunchtime barbecue joint up front, and an alligator farm out back, does indeed turn out large, perfectly cooked crawfish and serves them a pleasant medium-hot unless otherwise requested. Open Sunday through Thursday 4-10, Friday and Saturday 4-10:30.
Finally, Robin’s Restaurant (1409 Henderson Highway, Henderson, 228-7594) is the Best Restaurant When You’re Tired of Boiled Crawfish. Like many full-menu eateries in the area, Robin’s, which has carpeting and actual tablecloths, prepares crawfish in many ways, including a platter containing a little of everything. Lionel Robin’s Crawfish Dinner comes with a garden salad, followed by a bisque (a thick soup adorned with a crawfish head stuffed with ground crawfish), crawfish cocktail, fried crawfish, crawfish-stuffed bell pepper, boulette (ground crawfish rolled in a ball and fried), étouffée (with more crawfish than any other restaurant in Acadiana), and crawfish pie (like a little pastry pirogue). For $13.95, that’s a deal. Open daily 9-10.
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