Brandon's Cajun Cafe

Update: Brandon's Cajun Cafe went out of business in 2010.  We were sorry to see it go.


4215 S. Sherwood Forest
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
225-292-6262

Cuisine Rouge Rating:

4 plates

By: Chad

Whenever I learn about a new restaurant in town, I get excited. This is especially the case when it’s a locally owned establishment, and one that offers something different or unique. When I learned of Brandon’s Cajun Café my excitement over the newness was quickly extinguished by the word ‘Cajun’. Another Cajun restaurant in Baton Rouge isn’t what we need I thought. There are already a laundry list of places where one can get Cajun food, and as most of us know, none are as good as own grandmothers.

However I was quite pleasantly surprised by the new and interesting items on the menu. They take some standard Cajun staples and really rework them in innovative and interesting ways. For starters, the appetizer of Couyon Sushi is as tasty as it is unique. They take nori (the traditional flavorless seaweed wrap used for sushi), put boudin stuffing, crabmeat and avocado inside, then roll it up and slice it,top it with remoulade sauce, and dust it with cayenne pepper. It’s something that even people who aren’t fans of traditional sushi will enjoy.

Another great item on the menu is the boudin burger. Boudin is mixed with pepperjack cheese, formed into a pattie and grilled, then placed on a bun and topped with bacon and remoulade sauce. Very tasty. The rest of the menu is fairly straightforward Cajun eats, with items you would expect to see like fried seafood and etoufee. I sampled the etoufee and it was not that great, the gravy had a strange consistency, almost gelatinous. The flavor was good, but the rice was also a bit undercooked for my liking.

For dessert, they once again offer a little something different in the form of their red velvet bread pudding. Yep, red velvet cake is given the classic bread pudding treatment, resulting in a rather unattractive yet tasty glob of red goo, topped with vanilla ice cream. This dessert is definitely sweet and has great flavor, but could use some texture, perhaps in the form of nuts.

All in all, this restaurant impresses me with its innovative approach to Cajun cuisine. I think that with a few refinements this place can really stand out and make a name for itself. I look forward to seeing more innovative items on its menu.


Couyon Sushi



Red Velvet Bread Pudding

Waka House

by Chad

4625 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd.
225-293-4077
http://www.wakahouse.com

We’ve all heard phrases such as ‘food is art’ and ‘we eat with our eyes first’. In the highly competitive world of today’s restaurant scene, presentation is important, and something that can really set a place apart from its competition. In my opinion, there is no other culinary offering like sushi to illustrate this.

Hidden in the corner of a strip mall at the intersection of Sherwood and Coursey lies Waka House, a small establishment offering big sushi flavor. Small is a definite description of this restaurant. There are only a handful of tables inside, seating probably only about thirty or so people total. The restaurant is minimally decorated, sort of giving the impression that it is a work in progress or a temporary situation. Some of the tables feature a glass top, with a smaller shelf underneath housing some decorative items. While this looks cool, it doesn’t fare well for taller guests, making seating somewhat uncomfortable.

The sushi here is quite good. Some of the rolls we sampled on our visit included the Spicy Tuna roll, Eel roll, Salmon Dragon roll, Karadynamite roll, and the Thompson roll. All were very tasty, featuring fresh fish and a nice mix of accompaniments. The spicy tuna was one of the better versions of this roll that I have had. Very fresh tuna mixed with just the right amount of spiciness. Speaking of spicy, the Karadynamite roll is an excellent choice for those who like it hot. It is spicy tuna, fresh salmon, yellowtail, cucumber and avocado, topped with scallions, crunchy batter and a spicy sauce. The Salmon Dragon roll is a must for the salmon lover, loaded with fresh salmon on the inside, wrapped with nori and sushi rice, and topped with more fresh salmon. This is served with two pieces of salmon sashimi on the side and seaweed salad. My personal favorite was the Thompson roll, a tasty combo of fresh tuna, avocado and cream cheese, topped with crunchy batter and snow crab.

The non-sushi items were hit and miss. The seaweed salad was reported as tasty with a sweet vinegar taste. The pork dumplings are tasty, very light with a good flavor, served with a flavorful sauce that had hints of soy, ginger, and cilantro. Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the food was the teriyaki chicken. Ordering it ‘as is’ on the menu presents you with a mixture of chicken pieces, all dark meat and somewhat off-putting in texture. The waiter informed us that a white meat chicken version was available, but had to be requested. That information really should be presented to the customer up front, and placed on the menu for clarification. Offerings for kids are slim here, but the crunchy batter coated chicken strips seemed to be a hit with our little eater.

In summary, Waka House has great potential with its sushi items. They offer some interesting rolls with real potential. Very fresh fish and a huge variety should please most sushi enthusiasts. Some refinements could make this place great, like better quality on the non-sushi items and a better and more spacious environment, but overall this place deserves a try.


Salmon Dragon Roll


Thompson Roll

Hello Sushi

3930 Burbank Dr., Ste. A&B
18291 Highland Rd. Ste. 100-103

http://www.hellosushi.com

By:  Chad

Of all the cuisines available to enjoy in our area, the one that currently has my attention is sushi.  Like most, I started out some time back with the safest of offerings, and only briefly glancing with raised eyebrow at the more exotic fare.  As time passed and my sushi eating became more frequent, I became more daring and now enjoy many of the raw items, and have found them to be delicious.

At last count, there were about twenty different places in and around the city offering sushi.  I have visited most, and many are quite good, but my favorite remains Hello Sushi.  They have two locations, one near LSU, and the other on the opposite end of the city, at Highland Rd and I-10.

You get a pretty good idea of what to expect there by visiting their website.  The ultra-modern, innovative look and feel of the site is carried throughout the restaurant itself in its stylish appearance.  This is also carried out in the menu offerings, which consist of much more than just sushi.  Tasty appetizers like edamame and the gyoza dumplings are fairly standard and done well here, but it’s the more innovative dishes like the Japanese twist on jalapeno poppers called Hellopeno  Poppers that steal the show.  This dish takes the jalapeno pepper and stuffs it with snow crab and cream cheese, then breads it with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and fries it to a delicious golden brown.  It is served with wasabi ranch sauce for dipping.  Another innovative dish is the sushi pizza.  Snow crab, crawfish, and spicy shrimp are baked in a savory sauce, then placed atop a fried rice patty and topped with smelt roe and green onions.  It makes for an exciting way to enjoy Japanese food.

Of course the star of the show is the sushi.  All of the raw items I have sampled have been very fresh, and full of flavor.  Most of the traditional rolls that can be found at any sushi house are present here, and all are done well.  Of these, one of the most popular is the crunchy roll.  Second to only the California in its popularity, this roll can be found in different forms depending on where you are.  Here it consists of a tender snow crab mixture and tempura batter, and it is delicious.  I’m practically convinced that they add an addictive substance to the mixture because it’s that good.  More exciting and innovative offerings feature Louisiana ingredients, like the Orleans roll, combining a spicy crawfish mixture with asparagus, and the Johnny roll, which is loaded with crawfish, spicy tuna, spicy shrimp, and crab then fried in tempura batter.  My two favorites though are the Evangeline roll and the Paradise roll.  Both rolls feature shrimp as the main ingredient, and accentuate it with great flavors.  The Evangeline features delicious pecan crusted shrimp and avocado, topped with a savory scallop mousse.   The Paradise roll could practically be considered a dessert offering, featuring sweet coconut shrimp and creamy avocado topped with thinly sliced mango.  I find the sweetness of this roll combined with the spiciness of my heavily wasabi laden soy sauce make for an explosion of flavor and taste.

For the non-sushi eaters, they offer some great alternatives, like teriyaki steak, chicken or salmon, chicken katsu, and others.  If the sushi wasn’t so good, I might have actually tried one of these at some point myself.  Friends I have dined with have had favorable reviews of the teriyaki offerings and enjoyed them very much.

Although you can see that I’m more geared toward the modern sushi offerings, Hello Sushi delivers great tasting sushi of every kind, in a fun and vibrant atmosphere that will leave you wanting to return.

Famous Sushi

Sushi seems to be the hot item in Baton Rouge area cuisine at the moment.  At last count, I think I counted about 14 places where one can find this tasty Japanese delight.  Famous Sushi in Prairieville just opened last week, and is located in the Ultima Plaza shopping center, very close to the Ascension/EBR parish line.  This spot was the former location of China Chef II, but was never opened.

The interior is quite small, but nicely decorated with what you would expect to find at a Japanese restaurant.  At the rear of the restaurant is a small sushi bar with a few chairs and two smiling sushi chefs.  The staff all seemed very friendly and accommodating.  I sat at the sushi bar and looked over the suprisingly full menu.  They offer a variety of appetizers, Japanese staples, hand rolls, maki rolls, and specialty rolls.  I sampled the Gyoza pork dumplings, which were quite tasty.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but well cooked and flavored, with the typical accompaning sauce.  I admit that I'm not the most hardcore when it comes to sushi, so I tried my typical two safe choices.  The Philadelphia roll was very good, salmon was very fresh, and the toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on the pieces gave a nice flavor.  The softshell crab roll was also quite good, the crab was fried perfectly and was not oily at all.

Obviously there are many more items that I am yet to sample, but this quick first visit proved to be a promising one.  Another positive about this place is the hours.  Open seven days a week, until 10PM every night, except until 11PM on Friday and Saturday nights.  While it isn't yet my favorite Red Stick place for sushi, it is a good spot for quickly satisfying that late night sushi craving.