Ragin Cajun Cafe-Closed

Ragin Cajun Cafe
422 Pier Ave
Hermosa Beach
310-376-7878

I had high hopes for Ragin Cajun Cafe. I heard they had some of the best Cajun food around. But I should have known that any place in snobby pretentious Hermosa Beach would be overrated. Bland isn't a word for Cajun food. Cajun food means lots of spices and flavors. I got nothing but bland food at Ragin Cajun.



Half and half shrimp: half fried shrimp and half shrimp etouffee, $14. The shrimp was very good. A light batter, which was crispy not crunchy covering a tender flavorful shrimp. I liked this and would have enjoyed this in a po boy but they do not server po boys during dinner time.

I didn't like the etouffee at all. So bland, I reached for the salt shaker and I never touch the salt shaker. The shrimp was nice and tender but everything else lacked flavor. Ok I've never had etouffee before but I've had Cajun and Cajun food is full of flavor. This etouffee had no flavor at all.

Service was below average. Yes it was a busy Saturday night but the service was slow; we didn't get refills for a long time, the server never bothered to come over and ask how everything was. Then my pet peeve the server asked "Do you need change?" Servers!!! Stop being lazy and the next time you take the cash for the bill, say "I will be right back with your change."

Average food and below average service means, I wouldn't bother going back to Ragin Cajun Cafe again.

Bayou Grille- Inglewood

Bayou Grille
1400 N La Brea Avenue
Inglewood
310-673-0824

Who Dat?? Who Dat?? Who Dat??

As most readers of The New Diner know, I love the BALTIMORE COLTS. The New Diner is named after the movie, Diner, where Eddie wouldn't marry is beloved, because she couldn't pass a test about the BALTIMORE COLTS. At the end of the movie the BALTIMORE COLTS fight song was being played at the wedding. I guess Eddie gave his belove a make up test. I loved the movie but Eddie is a douchebag, he should be like me and NOT marry the woman he loved because she failed the BALTIMORE COLTS test!!!!!

I hate with a passion that damn NFL team in Indy. And no, stupid people, it is not the same team or franchise. That beautiful horseshoe and blue uniforms belong to BALTIMORE!!!! Johnny Unitas didn't play in the village known as Indy, he played in BALTIMORE. The NFL Champions of 1958, the BALTIMORE COLTS made the NFL the TV giant it is now, didn't happen in the village known as Indy. How does the NFL repay BALTIMORE? Allowing a jerk drunk owner to buy the team. Then doing nothing when the drunk jerk owner STOLE the BALTIMORE COLTS in the middle of the night, like a common thief. Then screwing BALTIMORE out of an expansion team in 1993.

I was soooooooo damn happy to see the New Orleans Saints beat that NFL team in Indy and win the Super Bowl. Even though I was happy as hell for myself, I was happier for the people of New Orleans. After all the suffering the people in New Orleans went through after Hurricane Katrina, it was great to see that city rebuild and have something to cheer about. Oh, I have never seen a bigger idiot than Michael Brown, FEMA director, who was so damn clueless in his handling of the situation.

As my way to thank the New Orleans Saints for beating that damn NFL team in Indy in the Super Bowl, I wanted to go to a Cajun/Creole restaurant. A quick search lead to Bayou Grille in Inglewood, it also helped that the owner is from New Orleans. This Bayou Grille isn't related to the Bayou Grille in Carson.



I got the tiger shrimp po boy, $7.29, with lettuce, tomato and mayo. The shrimp were huge and there were plenty of them, nice cornmeal batter shrimp in every bite!!! The french bread was nice and soft, with a chewing texture. This was amazing. One of the best po boy's ever.



I also got a small jambalaya, $3.99, with chicken, crawfish, and Louisiana turkey sausage. The jambalaya came in a to go container, so hot, there was steaming coming out. But I put it on a plate and it got cold pretty fast. But this had a ton of tender chicken, crawfish and sausage. It was a bit underseasoned, when I think Cajun, I think tons of seasoning and flavor. It was good, not great.

Service was good. The young man taking my order was nice and friendly.

Bayou Grille has the best shrimp po boy in LA. It is the best best Cajun restaurant I've been to in LA, much better than Gumbo Pot, Uncle Darrow, and the Bayou Grille in Carson. My favorite BBQ place, Phillips in Inglewood, is only about a mile away!!! Who DAT!!!!!!

Bayou Grille-Closed

Bayou Grille
675 E University Dr
Carson
310-527-4199

I took the day off from work. I was hungry. I wasn't in the mood for a cold sandwich on a cold day. The hottie that I went to Lucille's BBQ, with were texting back and forth and we decided to go for lunch.

I picked Bayou Grille in Carson, which is in the same shopping center as Bodacious Q. Billed as an authentic New Orlines taste, their spelling, not mine. I got their late because of a damn sig alert on the 91 freeway.

I wanted to try a bunch of things. So I got the 10 piece hot wings special, $5.89, that came with cajun fries, 4 piece order of Pacific red snapper, $5.00, and 4 small shrimp, $2.00.

The wings were on the small size. Is their steroids testing for chicken? Why are chicken wings so small? They weren't that spicy, pretty crispy and tender.

The 4 pieces of Pacific red snapper were huge!! Nice and crunch with a cornmeal batter, this was more than worth the $5 price tag.

Service was very good. The young lady was nice and helpful and the food came out quickly.

I would go back to Bayou Grille again. They have tons

Boiling Crab- Garden Grove

Boiling Crab- Garden Grove
13892 Brookhurst St.
Garden Grove
714-636-4885

I've been to the Boiling Crab in Alhambra and wanted to see if there is any difference with their location in Garden Grove. I got there at 5pm Sunday. The wait for my large group, was almost two hours!!!! You can see the huge line in the first picture. But some people didn't want to wait, so we got seated in a little over an hour.

I wanted some appetizers and got the fried shrimp basket, $8.99. The shrimp was nicely fried in corn meal and good sized shrimp. As good as the Alhambra location.

The day I went, they were out of blue and dungeness crabs!!! But I have never had the King Crab legs at The Boiling Crab, so I got an order of King Crab legs. The King Crab legs were priced at $14.99 per pound. My order was 1.3lbs. I got the mild lemon butter seasoning. The king crab legs were good but not as fresh as I thought they would be. They were a bit tough and chewy. The seasoning wasn't that good either. It seems as though the seasonings were just sitting around for too long in a pot. Something was missing with the seafood at this location.

Service was very good. They were nice and friendly and we got served quickly.

I'm not sure what the problem is with the Garden Grove location. They get a ton of turnover, so there is no reason for the seafood not to be fresh.

The prices for the seafood were a bit cheaper at the Garden Grove location, but that could be a matter of supply. I went to the Alhambra location back in June and the prices of seafood could have been higher back in June.

I would think twice about coming back to the Garden Grove location. It didn't live up to the high standards that I've come to expect from The Boiling Crab.

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra-Moved

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra
742 W Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
626-576-9368

Much like The Boat House, The Boiling Crab is another no frills, Asian meets Canjun seafood place. Your table cloth is butcher block paper, your napkins are from paper towels. This isn't the place for those pretentious jerk people of Orang Curtain or the Worst Side. You order from seafood by the pound, with prices depending on the supply of seafood.

Fried shrimp, $8.99. This was great. Cornmeal batter covering sweet tender shrimp. This was awesome. Hot out of the fryer and crunchy, a steal for the amount and quality of shrimp. A great appetizer.

Shrimp, $9.99/lb. These are peel and eat shrimp with the heads on. The shrimp was tender and so fresh it must have been swimming earlier that morning. We got mild Cajun seasoning. Not spicy at all but tons of flavor.

Dungenous crab, $13.99/lb. All the seasonings were added to the dungenous crab. Lemon pepper, cajun, and garlic butter combined to make this a very flavorful, though over powered by the garlic seasoning. The crab was sweet and tender and there were a ton of crab!!

Blue crab, $7.99. Lemmon pepper seasoning added to the flavor of the blue crab. The crab was great. I like the taste and flavor of blue crab over dungeness crab.

Service was very good. But The Boiling Crab gets very crowded, you're so close to the next time, they might as well be part of your group. But the food comes out quickly, drinks are refilled quickly and the food is great. All in all a great time. But be prepared to wait for an hour or more for a table and they don't take reservations.

What is the difference between The Boiling Crab and The Boat House? Prices are going to vary due to supply. But I think the seafood is fresher at The Boiling Crab since they go through so much seafood. The Boat House seafood is fresh but The Boiling Crab tastes as though the seafood was swimming in the ocean just that morning. I wouldn't be disappointed if I had to go to The Boathouse but my first choice would be The Boiling Crab.

Boathouse

Boathouse
25 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra
626-282-2888

Boathouse is a Cajun boiled seafood restaurant, in a Chinese area. They serve shrimp, lobster, crab, king crab, and crawfish boiled in your choice of seasoning.

I got an order of onion rings, $4.99 and their daily special, 1 1/2 pounds of lobster, in lemon pepper seasoning for $14.99. Regular lobster is $13.00 a pound. So the lobster was a good deal. The lobster was served in a bag with a very spicy lemon pepper seasoning, already cut up and ready for me to eat. The lobster was tender and flavorful. Very good. But the seasoning was very spicy, I asked for medium and if that is medium, I can't imagine what spicy is like. The interesting thing was the lack of another claw!!! Lobsters have two claws and I only got one.

The onion rings were fresh out of the fryer. They had a nice batter and a great crunch!!! A very good order of onion rings!!!

Service was very good and helpful.

Boathouse is an example place for boiled seafood. The big name restaurant is Boiled Crab, a few blocks west on Valley. But the wait is terrible at Boiling Crab. I have not been to Boiling Crab but there is no waiting at Boathouse and I can't imagine Boiling Crab being any better than Boathouse.

I will be back to Boathouse for their King Crab, which was priced at $19.99 a pound. Shrimp is $7.99 a pound and Dungness crab is $13.99 a pound.

Artist Crawfish Express-Closed

Artist Crawfish Express
9041 Trask Ave
Ste A
Garden Grove
714-537-7260

What do you get when you combine good prices with good food? Of course the answer is, a good review from The New Diner.

Artist Crawfish serves crawfish and peel and eat shrimp. But I heard good things about their other seafood items, so I decide to try it. Located behind an car repair shop, parking can be tough to find before 6:30pm, since people are just picking up their cars after getting an oil change or service. But the food is worth the hassle.

I got the side order of butterfly shrimp, $4.50 and the Cajun Fish Fry, $6.95. I felt like I was stealing from them when the shrimp arrived. The menu says you get eight pieces and I got eight huge pieces of butterfly shrimp. OK they are frozen and then deep fried but that doesn't mean they can't taste good. Very crunchy and flavorful. How do they charge such low prices for this? I could order two of these and get make it a meal. The cocktail sauce is mainly ketchup but I liked the crunch so much, that I wasn't going to worry about a dipping sauce when the shrimp was this good and cheap.

Five minutes after the shrimp arrive, I get this huge piece of sole fish on top of Artist rice, which is fried rice with some mixed veggies. The fish was deep fried in a very nice crunchy, cornmeal batter. The inside was nice and flakey. One of the best fish I've had. The rice was ok, nothing really special about it.

Service was very good. The young girl was the only person working and she was nice and did a good job. We didn't lack for anything. And I'm not saying any of this because she was very easy on the eyes. If she was ugly I would still have said the samething.

I would go back to Artist Crawfish Express anytime. This isn't the fault of Artist Crawfish Express but there was a table of about eight people including a 4-5 year old kid who were so loud, they were almost shouting at each other across the table. Then this stupid kid is yelling and running around all over the restaurant, opening the door. Which isn't that bad but when it is windy and cold outside, it would be nice if the door was closed. It would have been better if the parents would watch their damn kid. Parents, a restaurant is NOT a babysitting service. If you want to go out for a nice dinner, hire a babysitter or make sure you are watching your damn kid while in the restaurant. People want to go to restaurants for a nice meal. They don't need a kid running around yelling his stupid head off. Take responsibility for your damn kid.

Update April 3, 2009.

I got a great question by a reader of The New Diner: Who do you think has better fried seafood -- Artist Crawfish or England Fish and Chips in Long Beach?

I think both are great and in most ways it is comparing apples to oranges. Artist Express has more items on their menu. English Fish and Chips is all about fried seafood. If I had to compare just the fried seafood, I think Englang Fish and Seafood is the best. The prices, $1.49 for a huge piece of cod, are better. I also like cod better than sole. The fried shrimp at Englad is better and they also have fried scallops.

Uncle Darrow's

Uncle Darrow's
2560 S. Lincoln Blvd.
Marina del Rey
310-306-4862

Cajun cooking. I haven't hadCanjun food much, I think the only time I've had Canjun food is at the Gumbo Pot. I've heard good things about Uncle Darrow's, so I figured why not try it.

I ordered the shrimp supper, $13.15. The supper comes with one side, I picked red beans and rice, salad, and garlic bread. The shrimp is butterflied and their fried in a light cornmeal coating. I liked the shrimp since it wasn't a thick cornmeal coating. Cornmeal can be very tough. But this was perfect. Light, yet still crunchy, and the shrimp was sweet.

The red beans and rice were perfect. The beans were cooked just right and had a lot of flavor.

The salad was fresh and tasty. They give you a thousand island dressing, along with a spicy ranch dressing, this is green in color. I passed on the spicy ranch dressing.

Since I've never been to New Orleans, I've never had beignets. They are kinda of like churros but with powdered sugar instead of cinammon. My first taste of beignets were good. They were cooked to order and came to us, pipping hot. I liked the texture of the beignets. They were tasty and not too sweet. They added the right amount of powered sugar.

Service is great. I called before and the guy who answered must have been in the Army, he said Yes sir, so much. He was very polite and helpful on the phone. You place your order at the counter and they bring it to your table. The guy taking our order, not sure if it was the same guy who answered the phone, was nice, polite, and friendly. There was a slight delay in getting the beignets, I had to remind him of our order. But he we got our beignets quickly.

I would go back to Uncle Darrow's but after looking at the menu, the entrees are not the way to go. It's better to order from their side orders section. Shrimp is $6.25, red beans and rice is $3.25. That's $9.50 and the salad and garlic bread aren't worth the extra $4.

The Gumbo Pot

The Gumbo Pot
6333 W. Third St.
LA
323-933-0358

After a tour of the art work along the Gold Line, I decided to go to Farmer's Market and Canter's Deli, taking the trains and buses. The trip to Farmer's Market from Union Station took about 30 mins, which is great. The bus dropped me off right in front of the Farmer's Market on Fairfax.

So I go to The Gumbo Pot. Now I hate gumbo but I love Cajun/New Orleans style cooking. I ordered the shrimp plater for $8.12, that included cornbread and a salad. Shrimp is rolled with cornmeal and then fried, making for a nice crunchy outside. The shrimp came right out of the fryer, so the wait was about 10-15 minutes. The shrimp was very hot but they weren't exactly big, but for $8, they did give you a good portion. They have a heavy crunch/texture to them because of the cornmeal.

The salad was romaine lettuce with a nice creamy dressing with walnuts. The red sauce you see is the cocktail sauce and is one of the better cocktail sauce's I've had. A very good spicy flavor that added to the shrimp.

Service is good but lines can be long and since they cook to order most fried orders, be prepared to wait.

If I'm in the area, I would go back to Gumbo pot and maybe order a Po'Boy but I wouldn't go out of my way for the Gumbo Pot. The shrimp is good enough but nothing special or outstanding. And with so many other food choices at The Farmer's Market, I would have to be in the mood for Cajun/New Orleans style food.