B's Po Boys: Good Cajun Comes with a Price

B's Po Boys at 1261 S. Shelby St. just opened this week and it is already one of my favorite places. It's in a rather small brand-new building that has intentionally been given a patina on the outside that resembles a weathered shack by the bayou.  Inside it's all Nouveau IKEA decor: multicolored earth-tone checkerboard flooring that resembles linoleum, a Swedish style new-wood bar/counter topped with faux marble, steel chair stools, etc. There are about 9 or 10 outdoor tables, too, each with its own bottle of Sriracha hot sauce.  Next to the outdoor dining area are two long narrow troughs that I took to be horse shoe pits, but which are actually for bocce balls, a kind of Italian lawn bowling (not sure if  I spelled it correctly, sorry). The ambiance of the place nicely dovetails with that of the Brass Ring Lounge which is almost next door, and should draw the same sort of trendy clientele.

The cajun-style sandwiches and sides, however, are the real star of the show. For lunch we had two half-sandwiches ($6 each): I had the Spicy Sausage Patty (because they were out of fried oysters) and the Little Woman got the Barbecued Shrimp sandwich. The bread seems to be a kind of French bread that is lightly crisp on the outside but delicately soft on the inside, quite complimentary to the flavors of the fillings. The regular sides are $2 each, but we split two of the higher-priced side items:  Andouille Sausage, Red Beans & Rice and Chicken Gumbo & Rice, $3.50 for each 7.5 ounce cup. The Gumbo was my favorite, very savory and just a little spicy.  The half sandwiches were a little small for the price, I thought, but they were nevertheless very tasty. A couple of my colleagues have been there since, and both ordered $9 full sandwiches, which they said were quite filling, so that must be the way to go.  A medium-sized decent-flavor iced tea was $1.50.

Even though it's not a great bargain, I really liked the food there, and the cool ambiance of the place along with the really nice owner and service staff mean I'll be goin' back for some more Cajun. Ayyy-Heeeeeeeeeee!

Cafe Mediterrano- a different kind of buffet!

I was in a training class up on the North side of Indy a couple weeks ago, and happened to go with a couple colleagues to Cafe Mediterrano, on 86th Street just east of Allisonville Road, located (say it with me, kids!) in a strip mall on the south side of the street.  We only had a little while to eat lunch, and this place was just what the Southside Guru of Gluttony ordered:  a Mediterranean buffet with all that region's staple dishes:  DIY Gyros, Spanikopita, and Stuffed Grape Leaves were just a few of the dishes.  At $10 it wasn't my usual lunch bargain, but all the stuff was good, hearty fare.  As with most buffets of all types, the food seemed to lack some of the seasoning that the same dish a non-buffet restaurant would have, perhaps in the hope of pleasing (or at least not offending) as many people as possible.  You could always add some of the seasonings and condiments provided there to your taste, though.  :-)

The Yardarm Restaurant on the Municipal Pier in Fairhope, AL

Just a note from our road trip of the last couple weeks:  Fairhope is a sort of upscale suburb of Mobile that is across Mobile Bay from the Big Town and is within about an hour of Gulf Shores.  The Barfly is something of a cheapskate, if you didn't know, and staying in the suburbs was 'way less expensive than either downtown Mobile or the Shores.  The Key West Inn (part of a chain I didn't know about) was a great little hotel about 2 miles from downtown Fairhope, which is kind of like Old Towne Carmel, for you Indy residents:  lots of little boutiques, coffee shops, and antique shops.  The Municipal Pier is in a beautiful park on the Bay, and about 100 feet out on the pier is The Yardarm, a tiny little place that serves the best seafood we had the entire trip, which is saying something.  During our week there I ate my weight in oysters at several restaurants, fixed every way possible, and they were all  large, fresh, and tasty, but the fried oysters at the Yardarm were sooooo tender and juicy, with a light batter and a gentle seafood flavor that wasn't even the least bit "fishy".  A basket of those with two Corona Lights and I was ready for a nap on a bench out on the pier, if it weren't for those pesky herrons begging for leftovers....

Monell's in Nashville, Tennessee- The REALLY far Southside....

On a recent trip to the Music City, the Little Woman and I were looking for an open liquor store (but just as in Indy, they're all closed on Sunday), and we saw this grand old mansion on Murfreesboro Pike next to the airport with a sign out front that said "Monell's Family-Style Dining".  In the South that means that your party sits with others around a big ol' table with like 10 chairs and they bring the food out in big bowls that you pass around just like you were at home and feedin' the family.  While we were waiting for the food to come out, we helped ourselves to the bowls of cucumbers & onions in ranch dressing, and bowls of cole slaw that were already on the table along with pitchers of sweet and unsweet tea, fruit tea, and water.  Then the main course arrived and I was in home-style heaven with perfectly cooked fried chicken followed by mashed taters, green beans, and macaroni & cheese in their own bowls.  I had just begun to dig in when the REST of the main courses arrived:  pulled pork, meat loaf, and pot roast! No wonder they sell t-shirts that say "Help! I've eaten at Monell's and can't stand up!"  There are 3 locations in Nashville, all in historic houses.  It was the best part of the Nashville leg of our trip. 

BTW, if you make it to the Volunteer State, try to get your hands on some Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whisky.  Popcorn Sutton was a famous moonshiner who unfortunately took his own life at age 62 when he found out he was going to prison just a couple years back.  A group of investors including Hank Williams, Jr. were in the process of obtaining Popcorn's recipe at the time, and now they've managed to go legit, although the stuff is currently only available in Tennessee. Supposedly the state said they have to call it White Whisky because "moonshine" is by definition illegal.  It is just about THE SMOOTHEST alcoholic beverage I've ever sampled, exponentiallly better than Georgia Moon, the other well-known legal 'shine, which is produced by a large distillery in Louisville, KY.