Out of all the restaurants I could have picked for my birthday dinner, I decided on The Shack Seafood and Oyster Bar. I wanted, no... needed a Cajun/creole and seafood fix. It's been a long time since I had any sort of good Cajun/creole food. I decided tonight would be a perfect night to try something new because it was the only way I was going to get my boyfriend into a new restaurant.
We started off with drinks. I usually get water, no lemon, but decided to get iced tea, no lemon. I will school you on why no lemon some other day. It's a foodborne illness nightmare. Anyway, after mulling over the menu for what seemed like hours, I finally decided on the fried pickles. I am picky about fried pickles. I really dislike the thick breading and super thick slices of pickle many places have. But the Shack did it up just perfect. The fried pickles were lightly breaded and tender. The pickles had the perfect amount of brininess and the breading was flaky. It came out with a side of ranch. It really doesn't need ranch as it was good all on it's own.
You will have to excuse my extremely amateur pics. I'm not a professional. Lol... After looking at the menu, I asked our waitress about recommendations. She recommended the Crawfish Half and Half, which is what I chose. My boyfriend decided on a cup of the red beans and rice and a cup of the chicken and sausage gumbo. The red beans and rice were okay, I guess. Nothing special. The chicken and sausage gumbo was delicious! The roux was dark (not as dark as the red beans and rice) and had a great flavor.
My dish was simply amazing. There is no other way of describing it. It came out with the crawfish etouffee on one side and the fried crawfish tails on the other. Down the middle were two beautiful scoops of dirty rice. Let's start off with the etouffee. The stewy goodness had crawfish tails, a blend of vegetables and seasonings. The sauce had a perfect amount of heat, just enough to tickle the back of your throat, clear your sinuses and leave that warm feeling in your belly. It was the kind of spiciness that kept you wanting more, like a good bowl of kimchi soup on a cold day. The crispy crawfish tails were the perfect interruption between bites of etouffee. The fried nuggets with the aoli cut thru the richness and spiciness of the other half of the plate. It was a perfect marriage. I am so glad I took the recommendation. Here's what my plate looked like:
Empty! If you want to know what it looks like, you must go to The Shack right away and find out. Honestly, the food looked so good, I forgot to snap a pic until it was too late. If I could have licked the plate and not been stared at like a mongrel, I would have.
We ended my birthday dinner with a free dessert. I originally ordered the chocolate chip bread pudding but they were out of an ingredient. Darn! So we decided on the Mudslide. It was a good choice. The chocolate cake was warm and moist (yes, I said moist) and the chocolate center was fantastic. I like to mix it with the whipped cream while my boyfriend prefers the ice cream. This dessert is rich, so it's an easy share with someone you love!
Our meal, without dessert totaled to $33.54 before the tip. We left $8 to our waitress and decided to take one of the cups home as a memento for my birthday dinner.
I absolutely love this place and will be recommending it to all my friends. It's right behind Abuelo's and La Quinta on Memorial Rd. I am kind of glad it's not right on Memorial. It's almost like it's a hidden gem and it's all mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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