Orleans Bistro & Bar 2204 S. Washington Ave., Titusville, FL 32780
4.5 Stars
Arriving at precisely 12:30 PM, I was expecting at least somewhat of a lunch crowd. What I walked into was a ghost town sans the blowing tumbleweeds. As I've said before, an empty place at peak hours does not usually bode well. However, formicating about the bar were a few of Titusville's Finest (wink, wink) so the place wasn't completely void of life.
Lliana is our server today. I don't know if it's the fact that this place is bereft of life or the obnoxiously loud music blasting from somewhere, but Lliana moves like she is stuck in quicksand. She performed her waitress duties to a “T”; it just took forever to get there. I asked for an order of Etouffee with Shrimp and some Creole Cheesy Grits with Fish.
Thankfully, the quicksand did not seem to extend into the kitchen as my food was out in no time. Snapping the mandatory pics, I got to work. First up on the Big Boy's palate was a forkful of the Etouffee with Shrimp. Etouffee literally means smothered or suffocated giving way to the popular Cajun cooking method of “smothering.” It is basically a seafood stew served over rice. The chef nailed this offering of the classic Cajun dish, as I found the flavors to be complex, full-bodied, and downright delicious! The shrimp was undoubtedly not of the fresh variety, but that didn't matter in the least as it was nestled in a sauce of onions, celery, bell peppers and Cajun heat. The Shrimp was tender, succulent and inundated with tastiness.
It was all I could do to move on from this delightful dish, but I wasn't here to enjoy myself, so to speak; I had a job to do. To that end, I turned my focus to the Creole Cheesy Grits with Fish. After one taste of this, I knew it was going to be a go-to place when craving food influenced by the swamps of Louisiana. Consisting of yellow stone ground grits, Swiss, provolone, and cheddar cheese topped with bell peppers and Cajun spices. This was a hard-to-beat dish. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fun, Mardi Gras-themed menu. After all, just like it's always Carnival in Brazil...it's always Mardi Gras in New Orleans!
The Big Boy says, “You don't need to bring beads, just your appetite for a tasty tour of Crescent City Cuisine.”