Burgers, Dogs, & Pizza, Oh My!

Posts Tagged ‘catfish’

It can sometimes be a challenge to find satisfactory restaurants in Little Rock that are open on Sundays.  Fortunately, there’s Soul Fish, right downtown on Main Street.  Emphasis at this eatery is “bonafide Southern,” with a further emphasis on seafood. (See menu below).

We started with the smoked catfish dip, something I’ve never encountered, and I’m sorry about that, because it was delicious.  Smokey, salty, creamy, accompanied by tortilla chips which I would bet are made in house.  A light fry, crispy without being jaw jarring, light salt. The perfect go-with.

I went for the fried catfish basket, there are three choices for the size of serving, I went for the small one, since I was on the road, didn’t want to have leftovers.

The fry breading on the fish is exceptional. Cornmeal based, with a hint of one of the Creole seasonings (my palate isn’t sophisticated enough to tell them apart – could be Tony Chachere’s, Zatarains, Old Bay, or a concoction dreamed up in-house.  In any case, it’s really tasty.

There’s a wide choice of sides with baskets and plates, I chose natural cut fries, and slaw and hush puppies were included.  The slaw was excellent, rough chopped cabbage with a dressing that is creamy, sweet and tart at the same time.  Other sides?  Cucumber Salad • Black Beans • Corn • Cajun Cabbage • White Beans • Baked Sweet Potato • Fried Okra • Coleslaw • Black Eyed Peas •  Mashed Potatoes • Green Beans • Sweet Potato Fries • Broccoli • Mac N Cheese • Zucchini • Collard Greens • Pickled Green Tomatoes.

My dining companion was my daughter and after a major assist of plowing thru the dip, she opted for the Caesar salad with blackened shrimp added. Also delicious. Very fresh greens and the shrimp were cooked exactly right.

Children’s menu, desserts, beer and wine available.  I’d return.  You should go.  Appetizer, two entrees, two beverages, tip, $40.

Open daily at 11A. Soul Fish has four locations; in addition to Little Rock, find three locations in greater Memphis.

Smoked catfish dip

Fried catfish basket

Menu – click to enlarge

Soul Fish Review

Soul Fish Review

Appropo to my article the other day about mislabeled fish in restaurants, the state of Arkansas wants to do something about it.

There’s a move to be able to label specific origins of catfish on restaurant menus statewide, drilling down as far as “farmed,” “wild” “wild-river” “wild lake” and so on.

Not sure how many diners care about this, but it’s a step towards cleaning up the much bigger problem of you not getting what you think you ordered, which is a huge problem in the seafood biz.

Arkansas Times article

Arkansas Catfish identification

Arkansas Catfish identification

Click to enlarge!!!  Go for the paper thin catfish filets. You won’t regret it!

Middendorfs Seafood Menu Prices New Orleans

Middendorfs Seafood Menu New Orleans

I love this place.  Been in regular attendance for the past two decades.  They’ve had their share of troubles, flooded twice cause of storms, but they keep coming back, stronger and better than ever.

Caveat one:  this is a New Orleans AREA restaurant, not in the city, it’s about a 30 minute drive north on I-55. It sits perched on the edge of Lake Maurepas, which in turn empties into Lake Ponchartrain. There’s a nice outdoor deck when the weather is nice, which it usually is.

Middendorfs, like a lot of area restaurants, serves tons of local seafood, prepared in all manners and styles, but deep fried is the New Orleans way; you can get giant combo platters of shrimp, oysters, fish, and crab. But most people go for a dish unique to the restaurant, deep fried catfish filets, but they’re cut lengthwise into paper thin slivers. Unique. Crispy. Tasty.  Dinners come with fries, slaw and hush puppies.  Never had any use for the latter, personally.

You can get a piece of beef or chicken if you insist, and there is an adequate ankle biter menu. You can get raw or BBQ oysters or delicious gumbos as a side or starter.

I only get here once every few years, and I hope they keep on and on.  It’s my place for ‘cat’ in the New Orleans area. (Oh and they also serve them whole, bone-in, if you like it that way).  I like to bring out of town company here. If I haven’t taken you, it’s because I hate you.

Middendorf’s Menu.

Middendorfs Review

About 40 miles north of New Orleans,  Ponchatoula is a city of about 5,000 souls in Tangipahoa Parish. Established in the early 1800s as a logging camp, the town today is a regional commerce center for the Parish, and home to Louisiana’s second largest festival (after Mardi Gras), the Ponchatoula Strawberry Fest, which takes place in early April.

The town also describes itself as “the antique capital of America” and it does seem to have its fair share of shops of that ilk, and prices are very reasonable.

The local produce market sells a wide variety of products grown in the area, including the strawberries, along with preserves and various canned fruits and vegetables.

It’s worth a drive if you’re visiting the Crescent City, and enroute or on the way back, take in a meal at Middendorf’s, 10 miles south of Ponchatoula on I-55.  Famous for crispy thin sliced strips of catfish, your lunch of dinner options include a wide variety of local seafood, steaks, and chicken.  Start out with a cup of  gumbo, turtle soup, or a dozen fresh oysters.

Louisiana seafood is fresher than nearly anything you’ve ever eaten, and enjoying it on the waterside dock  overlooking a back bay of Lake Ponchatrain, at Middendorf’s makes it twice as tasty.

Menu

Middendorfs Restaurant