parrain's seafood restaurant

often times when i go to louisiana, ryan's mom would ask us what we would like to eat while we were in town. i usually reply: any good cajun, southern food but more specifically i'd like a place that also serves seafood gumbo. his mom and his sister went into deep discussion and they decided that parrain's seafood restaurant would be a great place to try.

when we got to parrain's , it quickly reminded me of multiple old school fishing shacks combined to make a huge one. it reminded me of being at home when i go to a fishing village for fresh seafood.

inside, fully clad in wood adorned with vintage decor, it felt oddly cozy. there was a lunch crowd but thank goodness we didn't have to wait to get our table cos i was really starving by then.

it took us a while to decide on what to order because they had quite a good selection of items. ryan's sister, meagan made it a lil easier for us by suggesting us to try her favorite dish here at parrain's for our entree.

we ended up with three entrees, two appetizers and a cup of seafood gumbo (you know who ordered that..hehe)

seafood gumbo is one of the things i always crave for especially while i am in louisiana because i don't trust it to be delicious anywhere else. why i love it is simple: thick, comforting stew combined with seafood makes a killer combination. unfortunately, i wasn't very impressed with the flavors of this gumbo. i thought it needed a lil more seasoning and it was lacking chunky seafood i was looking for. it was good but it wasn't great. i was also secretly hoping it to be a lil thicker too.

i mentioned boudin balls in a previous entry and we also got an order of these crispy, savory morsels since ryan absolutely love boudin and can't really get it anywhere else. boudin balls are not their forte. ryan thinks it was more like fried rice balls because of the unbalanced ratio of rice to meat. needless to say, he was disappointed and i wasn't too big of a fan either. he assured me that this isn't how good boudin is supposed to taste like and he was right when i tasted the fabulous boudin/boudin balls from tony's seafood. the boudin balls lacked seasoning although it was fried well and crispy.



our next appetizer was a lot more successful: crab and crawfish gratin. i have heard it on food network several times that the pairing of seafood and cheese is a big no-no but i gotta disagree this time. i did a lil research and it is on the basis of an italian cuisine rule of no cheese with fish. regardless, this dish was really, really yummylicious. (yes it was a double really) the garlic bread was toasted to crispy perfection which served as an delicious vessel to scoop the generous amount of crab lump meat and crawfish. the gratin itself was cheesy, warm, melty and savory goodness. this would definitely be a huge hit for cheese and seafood fans.

based on meagan's recommendation, ryan and i shared the andouille encrusted fresh fish | fresh fish in andouille bread crumbs served over sauteed crawfish, mushrooms and andouille cream with garlic mashed potatoes ($18.95).

does the description make you drool yet? meagan has been to this restaurant a number of times and everytime she asked for a dish recommendation, this was the first dish they would suggest. i was immediately tempted just reading the description. it was as if the chef read my mind and combined all my favorite ingredients together.

the fish was cooked wonderfully with a good crust outside to seal in all the juices to keep it moist on the inside. and then to pair that with crawfish, mushroom and andouille cream? you really can't go wrong with that. after each bite, i began to understand why it's such a huge hit with everyone. it's savory, crispy, creamy, hearty and pack a lot of flavors in one bite. the andouille elements (although not quite sure how they encrust the fish with andouille breadcrumbs) offered a subtle smoky flavor. the dish could be a lil on the heavy side after a few bites though. and this whole thing came with a generous serving of mashed potatoes and a yummy, soft and warm bread roll to sop up all the sauce/cream. the serving was a good amount for the both of us (on top of the appetizers) that we were stuffed at the end of the meal.

ryan's mom ordered the shrimp, crawfish and crabmeat pasta | sauteed in andouille cream, served over linguine ($18.95). it was a huge plate of food. his mom offered me a bite to taste and it was actually pretty good. it had a generous amount of seafood which was really fresh and the pasta was just cooked al dente and the creamy sauce adhered to the pasta to give it a tasty mouthful with each bite.

meagan wanted to try something new for a change and asked for another recommendation from the friendly waitress and she suggested the vermillion | grilled fresh fish fillet topped with shrimp, mushroom and green onions sauteed in lemon garlic butter; served with brocolli and hollandaise ($18.95).

meagan offered me a bite so i could write about it! based on the one bite, it seemed like there wasn't a good crust on it. the dish was slightly on the oily side which i suppose is expected with the lemon garlic butter. i just don't fancy delicate fish to be drizzled with too much butter which could potentially overpower the natural sweetness of the fish. but the lemon definitely brought out the freshness of the fish though. i have to add that the fish could use a tad more salt but other than that it was pretty tasty.

parrain's is definitely one of those great cajun restaurants with southern hospitality that is worth going to. if i ever head over to baton rouge again, this would probably be on my list of to go to satisfy my cajun food cravings.

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others