5 /5 Matthew Hughes: New Orleans is best known for its Mardi Gras festivities: glitzy parades, Bourbon Street bars, and smooth jazz throughout the French Quarter. The Big Easy is also known for its delectable Cajun food, a cusine uniquely American, and made popular by chefs like Paul Prudhomme, Justin Wilson, and Emeril Lagasse.
If youre jonesing for a cup of gumbo or a plate of jambalaya, you can drive over to the Crescent City in seven and a half hours, or hop on a plane that will cut that trip to under two hours. Either solution seems expensive and time-consuming. Dont fret, Cypress Grill has you covered.
When I visited the restaurant last week, we (my wife and I) tried a lot of food to really get a taste of their version of NOLA bayou cooking.
Appetizers: We tried tried the Crawfish Eggrolls ($10.99) and the Boudin Balls ($8.99). I preferred the eggrolls that were stuffed with cheddar jack cheese and jalapeños in addition to fresh crawfish tail meat. While the cheese and jalapeños dominated the first burst of flavor, the crawfish muscle their way through at the finish. Look inside the rolls, Cypress does not skimp on the meat.
My wife preferred the more subtle flavor of the Bouldin Balls, saying the pork sausage and bread crumb mix blended harmoniously and was best when dipped in the house remoulade sauce.
For the main course, my wife was polite and went for one of the house specialties, Atchafalya Catfish ($18.99). I cant pronounce it, so heres whats in it. You take a piece of catfish, bread it, and fry it. Throw it on a bed of dirty rice and completely smother it in Crawfish Etouffée. For those not familiar with what is an etouffée, its where you poach your protein in a sauce using a boatload of spices, and of course Louisianas "holy trinity" of peppers, onions and celery to create a roux. Then you hydrate it. I know thats oversimplifying it. This is not a cooking class.
FYI: Etouffée roughly translates to "smother," so when I said earlier they "completely smother it in Crawfish Etouffée," the first smother is a bit redundant. English teachers, am I wrong?
Oh, the fish is...delicious!
Fatty Matty the Cajun Piggy, thats me, couldnt make up his mind. So I ordered a Quarter Muffuletta ($11.99), Jambalaya ($10.99) and two sides the Red Beans & Rice and the Cheese Grits You get 1-2 sides with entrées, otherwise they are $1.99-$2.99 each.
The Red Beans and Rice were killer. I wish my friend David Butler would have been here with me to give them his blessing. Hes from New Orleans and makes that dish from scratch.
The jambalaya was also really good. There was no skimping on the andouille sausage or the chicken. I kicked it up a notch by having them add a special Cajun spice on top to increase the heat. My waitress further hooked me up and brought me a bottle of Yellow Bird Habanero Hot Sauce. BOOM! Mouth explosion. Yeah, it was...fire!
The cheese grits were very smooth and perfectly salted. Before I dove into my muffuletta, I asked the waitress if I had tried any other sides. She said yes and brought me a small sample of the mustard greens. Im so glad she did. There was no bitter aftertaste, and clearly, someone in the kitchen knows how to properly use pork in the recipe. DONT, forget to order these when you come.
My food coma was starting to set in at this point, probably helped on by the Abita beers. My wife and I each tried a small piece of the muffuletta and saved the rest to take home. Cypress Grill duplicated Central Grocerys masterpiece, masterfully (again, English teachers, can I say that)?
Long review, so look up both the Central Grocery to see the history of the muffuletta and whats actually in it.
Fantastic service, good ambiance, and amazing food. The place was packed and on a wait most of the time we were there. Clearly, people love them and their tasty Cajun treats. Oooowe!
