Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez at Boutin's

Anytime we are in Louisiana, we seek out good Cajun food...because they just don't know how to make it right anywhere else. On this trip, we got to go back to Boutin's "A Cajun Music and Dining Experience". I love this place!



The restaurant has a real rustic, Cajun decor. Lots of wood, artwork of the deep South, and several antiques. I was excited to see this old Coke machine - cokes for a nickel! My Dad has this exact same nickel machine except that it hasn't been restored. There was some talk one time about getting rid of it because it was just taking up space at my parent's house. I said we'd keep it because I love it so on one of our trips, we hauled it back to Texas. Stuart did some work on it to get it running again and we enjoyed cold bottled Cokes out of our own Coke machine. But it's still unrestored and just hanging out in our garage for now. Maybe someday it will look like this again.



The food at Boutin's is great Cajun fare. Rich flavors and just the right amount of spice. I recall eating here when I was pregnant with Nicholas and everything was too spicy for me. Funny because I LOVE spicy food. Now I get to come back here and let both of my kiddos and let them try real Cajun cookin'.



After we ordered our food, we took a stroll on the deck overlooking the bayou (ok, it was really just a little creek but I'm trying to set the mood). There was a little coin operated vending machine where you could get food to feed the turtles and fish down below. It was actually Cat Chow and the stray cats came running when they heard the handle turn!



It was fun to throw the food down and watch the turtles come to the surface to eat!



Rachel loved my seafood gumbo. I think she might have eaten more of it than I did!



For my entree, I ordered the Catfish Boutin - Seasoned catfish fillet, lightly floured and grilled to perfection, topped with Boutin's crawfish etouffee and served with jambalaya, corn maque choux, and a homemade stuffed potato. Ca c'est bon, cher! (Cajun for, "That's good, my dear"!)



In the evenings at Boutin's, you'll find a live Cajun band and wonderful music. You just can't help but find yourself tapping to the beat when that real Cajun music is playing. We all took a turn out doing a little fais-do-do (Cajun for "dance") on the dance floor, even Rachel!



Laissez les bon temps roulez! That's Cajun for "Let the good times roll!"