2016 Louisiana Trip – Days 5 - New Iberia, Great Food

Henderson, LA temps – 58/34, Home temps - 31/16 - I really like it being nearly 30 degrees warmer.

After a really busy Sunday, Monday was supposed to only be in the mid 50”s so we decided to make a drive along a scenic trail called the Louisiana Bayou Byway which goes through the back roads from Lafayette (laugh-fay-ette) to NOLA.  We were expecting to see lots of Cajun culture, and backwoods scenery but on the part we traveled it was just normal homes and harvested sugar cane fields.  We did pass through the small town of St. Martinsville where we stopped at La Petite Paris Café advertising hot beignets and got six for the road.

As it turns out, after being expelled from Nova Scotia by the British, many of the Acadians settled along the Bayou Teshe and St. Martinsville was one of the first settlements.  Learning: I always thought a bayou was a swamp but it is actually a stream, sized between a creek and a river - one of many things I learned on this trip.

We continued our drive down to New Iberia (named for the Iberian Peninsula by the early Spanish arrivals to the area) and believed we’d seen enough of the countryside and since we’d already been to the nearby Tabasco operation, we decided it was time for a late lunch.

After a quick search and a ratings check, we settled on Bon Creole Lunch Counter which was the number one rated place in town and we followed our GPS to its location.  We were looking for a rather nice restaurant and as we drove by it, I commented that “it’s not that place” since I didn’t see the sign and it looked like a faded block building that was unoccupied.  We pulled into another parking lot, phoned the restaurant, and were directed back to the place I’d just commented about.

I was still expecting a normal sit down restaurant but we found this upon entering.

As it turned out there were tables behind the mirrored wall on the left.

The food seemed more than reasonably priced as we ordered.  I had the fried Oyster Basket and they serve everything packed for take-out.  The meal included the oysters, fries, salad and a roll for $12.99.

As you can see there were plenty of oysters in a crispy and tasty batter.  They were good but needed to be cooked about a minute less for me – I like mine to still be plump and juicy inside.

Bev ordered the all-star meal of a half Seafood Platter Overstuffed Poboy and it was unbelievable.  This is just a half mind you (a good 8” long) and it was overflowing with seafood – definitely lived up to its overstuffed name – we couldn’t believe they could even make it for $7.99 ($12.99 for a whole one).

It was very good and Bev would make the 45 minute drive back down there for another one.  I didn’t get a shot of Pat’s Overstuffed Crawfish Poboy but it also lived up to its name.  This was our kind of place – a hole-in-the-wall, mom and pop place that serves very good food at a good price – the place where the locals eat and the opposite of tourist food.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/18/16 event dates