It was bound to be a spicy lunch after our first exchange with SuperScrunch.
"Wow. Four of you?" SS exclaimed.
"Wow. You can count!" I shot back.
Jon held up his middle finger, flipping us off.
"That's one," Big Red shouted.
Jon then raised both hands with the double-flipper-offer.
"That's two," Big Red said again.
For the next seven minutes we debated back and forth about where we could go for lunch while we walked to the parking structure, then during our drive down State Street. Call it GPak-vana!
"What women's group came and took over your bodies, boys?" one voice shouted out while we were still deciding.
But then it hit. ... Five Star? Yes!
Then it hit again. ... La-Cai Noodle House? Yes!!
Oh, wait ... once again it hit! ... The Bayou!? Oh, yes!!!
On a beautiful November day with the warm sunshine making it feel like early October, we headed to another one of my favorite places with the slogan, "Welcome to Beervana."
After amazing parking karma, we were quickly seated and then greeted by Yolanda, a very pleasant and super-efficient server.
Once a private club, this Cajun-style pub boasts about its huge beer selection. And if we weren't working I would have grabbed a Rogue ... yum.
I chose my ultimate favorite Bayou dish, the Jambalaya, and added crawfish for an extra couple of bucks.
But I started with a side salad and their delicious creamy balsamic pesto dressing.
Just as quick as we were served and finished our salads, our meals arrived, in a timely fashion again. And Yolanda was there refilling our drinks even when we didn't realize we had gotten low on the Cokes.
One of their signature dishes, Jambalaya is packed with rice, sausage, ham, celery, onion and some seriously tasty Cajun seasoning. I always add the additional crawfish, but usually can't quite man-up and eat the entire meal. Brady was kind enough to carry my lunch back to the office for me with an assist from SuperScrunch.
I highly recommend the Bayou. Whether you enjoy a cold beer or not, this place is first class.
--Wingnut
Service: 10
Food Quality: 10
Man-up factor 10
Overall: 10
Quotes of the day:
I just had to run down to Cockers. They had my stuff ready.
Do you have any girl meats?
What kind of kids are you raising?
My lips are burning. I feel like I could breathe fire.
Waiting for a citrus bath.
Do you have any latex gloves?
Let's go to the steaming pile of meat emporium.
What women's group came and took over your bodies, boys?
I raked this up just the other day in my yard, and now I'm eating it.
Chuck couldn't carry my junk. (pause) I'll take Chuck's junk.
Service: 10
Food Quality: 10
Man-up factor 10
Overall: 10
Quotes of the day:
I just had to run down to Cockers. They had my stuff ready.
Do you have any girl meats?
What kind of kids are you raising?
My lips are burning. I feel like I could breathe fire.
Waiting for a citrus bath.
Do you have any latex gloves?
Let's go to the steaming pile of meat emporium.
What women's group came and took over your bodies, boys?
I raked this up just the other day in my yard, and now I'm eating it.
Chuck couldn't carry my junk. (pause) I'll take Chuck's junk.
great review, wingnut!
ReplyDeletehere's my take:
it's gotta be the jeans.
i got new jeans for my birthday, and they have that wicked distressed look. yeah, my wife keeps me updated. and they fit really nice in the butt. anyway, it seemed since i was dressed so hip, we should hit a hip, happenin' place. that, and everyone lit up when i mentioned the place.
ah, the bayou. takes me back to fox-13 late nights, scotch-ales, G&T's, rendezvous with friends, sweet-potato fries, $4 covers if you weren't a member with your members' only jacket…
glad all that's behind. still, the bayou is, and has always been about quality. beers? yeah. cajun flavas? yep. service? check.
i went with their classic bayou burger, which is superior ground beef and cheese, garlic-style. you know a place cares by the selection of bun used, which is exceptional. it's in the details. like the the shalloted-mashers, which truthfully were a bit under-seasoned, but maybe to compensate for the powerful garlic burger.
anyway, delish.
i'd put money that a desert edge hoppy, cream seasonal would wonderfully complement the burger.
all in all, again a fantastic outing with the crew. a bit pricey for most lunches ($15-$18 with tip), but worth it. because life is good.
man-up possibilities: 9.5 (large servings, beervana)
food quality: 9.5 (beer selections)
service: 10
overall: 9.75
-big.red
I never even knew the Bayou existed until today but I'm glad Mark suggested we go there because the food was very good and the service top-notch.
ReplyDeleteI ordered the blackened catfish entree, which comes with cajun-style fettucini and sauteed green beans. I especially enjoyed the expertly cooked beans, which were buttery and still retained a bit of crunch. The fish and pasta were both spicy, but not uncomfortably so. The meal was served with a side of soft bread, which came cold, but was still worth eating. If the bread had been warm and crusty, my lunch selection would have been darn near perfect.
I usually don't pay too much attention to the service unless it is either exceptionally good or exceptionally poor. Our server was quick, remembered our orders without writing anything down and acted as if preparing separate checks for the five of us was not the slightest bother. Well done.
Man-up possibilities: 9
Food quality: 9.5
Service: 10:
Overall: 9.5
As someone commented during the drive back to the office, we had a "spicy" GPaK today. Insults and quick-witted comments were flying back and forth with alacrity. (And perhaps "alacrity" can be SuperScrunch's word of the week.)
ReplyDeleteThe food at Bayou was every bit as spicy, also in a good way. I don't usually go in for spicy food, but I can't resist a good Jambalaya, and Bayou's version rivals the stuff put together by my brother-in-law, who hails from Mississippi and makes wicked Jambalaya and gumbo. The Bayou version had ample portions of sausage and ham, and, as Wingnut pointed out, the spiciness did not overpower the flavor of the meats and other ingredients. Nicely done.
It was mentioned during lunch that I didn't man up because I ordered my Jambalaya straight, without crawfish or shrimp. To which I say, "Bleh." I don't like seafood. And can you really say you manned up if you don't eat all of your meal? For the record, I ate everything on my plate. Who da man?
I also must concur with all of the previous comments about the service at Bayou. I would venture to say it's among the best we've seen in our GPaK outings. Well done, Yolanda! And well done, Bayou. If it weren't for the fact that this blog forces us to go to a different restaurant every week, I'm sure we'd be back!
Man-up possibilities: 9.5
Food quality: 9.5
Fizz-o-meter of Coke: 9.5 (practically perfect, and plenty of it)
Service: 10
Overall: 9.5
Fellas...do my eyes decieve me or did SuperScrunch fail to meet the deadline to file his review for his own blog? What's up little man???
ReplyDeleteWhere, oh where, has our SuperScrunch gone? Where, oh where, could he be?
ReplyDeleteFail... that's what I did in my attempt to put up a worthy comment in a timely manner. So my deepest apologies. I'm sure regular readers had a horrible weekend because of my shortcomings and so I'll do everything I can not to let it happen again. I'd give you my very good excuse, but it wouldn't matter because I'm probably the only one super-powered enough to forgive in the span of seconds or minutes.
ReplyDeleteTo the food. With as much good that has already been said, it's hard to top the sound review and quality comments already on this posting. But if there's turkey on the menu I'll probably order it and today was no exception.
I thought about the bayou burger but instead chose a worthy competitor in the spicy curry turkey burger. It came with loads of 50/50 fries (sweet potato and regular fries) and I of course chased it with some water.
The fellas like to argue that turkey can't possibly be involved in any form of manning up. While it's definitely not on par with the bayou burger or Jambalaya (which I tried and will order on my next visit), this sucker was served at a primo temperature and a bit greasy. I chose not to order cheese and didn't even add catsup to the sandwich. That's a Bayou recommendation and I have to say the flavor was on par with about any "burger" you could possible devour.
My only regret was that I didn't add the sauce to my burger earlier. I mistook it for a spicy fry sauce and only dipped my sandwich in the sauce towards the tail end of my meal.
All said, the service was exceptional and the company was as good as ever. As GPaK said, it's too bad we seem to be stuck reviewing a new place every week because I'd select this place again in a heartbeat.
Man-up possibilities: 9.5
Food quality: 10
Water: watery
Service: 10
Overall: 9.5