Food Friday - Pappadeaux

Happy Friday! Friday is the day I like to talk about food simply because I appreciate alliteration. Throwback Thursday - Food Friday - it just makes sense to me. This week I wanted to do a little review of the restaurant we went to on date night this week... Pappadeaux.

fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee

 As I've mentioned before, Marvin and I are kind of obsessed with New Orleans. It was our first road trip together... it's where Purple Michael lives... and then there's the amazing food and culture and music and food! Did I mention food?

On Tuesday night Marvin surprised me with dinner at Pappadeaux in Lawrenceville, GA, which has a New Orleans/French Quarter themed menu. There was a bit of a wait for a table but it was one hundred percent worth it! (other than the mosquito bite I got while waiting outdoors... small price to pay!)

Since we had to wait for a table, we had time to really study the menu and plan our meal. We always order different things so that we can share. Marvin went for the crawfish platter... fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee with dirty rice. I had shrimp creole and grits. Both dinners were delicious but if we go again, I would do fried crawfish all the way. My shrimp creole was great... it was a lot of food. Even with sharing, I had leftover shrimp creole for lunch the next day (we polished off the grits at dinner). I liked his crawfish etouffee just fine... but for me, the fried crawfish was the best we've had yet. Marvin prefers the fried crawfish at Louisiana Bistreaux, the place we went two weeks ago because it was a bit spicier but for me... Pappadeaux has it just right.

I also have to mention that I was really hesitant to try fried crawfish. I've always been big on fried shrimp... I like seafood but I'm not terribly adventurous with it. Then Marvin took me to the Atlanta Highway Seafood Market for lunch and we had the crawfish and... I've never looked back. I'll always take fried crawfish over any other seafood!

shrimp creole and grits

This particular Pappadeaux location is fairly new, I think, maybe in the past year or so. It was spacious and clean and had a nice atmosphere. There was a little jazz band playing near the bar that we could hear in the background but it wasn't too loud for us to have a conversation. I HATE THAT! It was busy - hence the wait for a table. But once we were seated we ordered right away (since we had already studied the menu) and our food came out lickety split. Our server, a guy named Mike, was friendly but he did this weird thing with refilling our drinks... he stopped at the table and asked if we'd like a refill. Marvin answered because I had a mouthful of food. Mike refilled Marvin's glass but not mine. It was a good ten minutes or more later before he came back and filled mine. I don't know if the pitcher ran out or he thought I didn't want a refill because I didn't specifically answer him but... it was just odd. Otherwise, the service was fine.

This was another splurge price wise for us but... it was enough food to cover us for lunch the next day so... it balances out.

On Thursday Marvin made black and bleu burgers for us for lunch... burgers with blackening seasoning, bacon bits, fried onions and bleu cheese dressing. They were huge and they were delicious! He had Cheerwine to drink... it's a North Carolina thing... and I had this new flavored Georgia Peach flavored coke that was... so good! I'm not a big cola drinker but I would definitely go for the peach coke again.

I am trying to eat healthier because of my high blood pressure... so for lunch today I roasted salmon and assorted colored cherry tomatoes and green beans. I just lay it all on a cookie sheet and bake it at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. I had sliced the tomatoes open and drizzled everything with olive oil then gave it a generous sprinkle of salt and garlic powder. I know... high blood pressure and salt do not necessarily sound healthy BUT, as I've recently learned, it's the sodium content in the processed foods that screws with your blood pressure, not the sprinkle of salt while cooking fresh food. Honestly, this cooking method - fish, fresh veggies all drizzled in olive oil on a cookie sheet - is my favorite go-to meal. It's fast, easy, the clean up is as simple as pulling the tin foil off the cookie sheet (except for today when I accidentally ripped the tin foil while plating). I took a picture of my plate before eating and the light is not so good but you will get the idea. I made enough for two meals because heaven forbid I actually cook twice in the same week. Actually... I've already cooked twice this week because I made mac-n-cheese and tuna the other day so... I'm practically a chef!

I'm thinking of making a big "garbage salad" over the weekend to pack in a lot of fresh, healthy stuff. I've got a list in my phone of stuff I want to add to it... and then I'll just do olive oil and vinegar for the dressing. What are your favorite things to pack into a salad? Have you had an amazing meal lately? Feel free to share in the comment here or on the Facebook link for this blog post.

Hope you have a great weekend!