MY apologies to Emeril, but I find the commercial cuisine of New Orleans overrated. This could simply be a matter of heightened expectations after drooling over all the guidebooks and starving oneself en route to the Crescent City in hope of being rewarded once there. Cajun Mama’s readies
tables for Mardi GrasI ended up getting more pleasure out of a humble plate of oysters on the half shell than the likes of much-touted etoufees and jambalayas that I wanted to taste in the region of their origins.
But I think one fellow writer was on to something when he asked, "Do travel writers even go to the places they write about?" Or it could be that all the alcohol consumed on Bourbon Street impairs judgment.
With Mardi Gras around the corner, it's time to think Cajun and Creole again, but my expectations are realistic.
Some readers called my attention to Cajun Mama's Pub & Bistro in Waikiki, which is more bar than bistro, and a typically low-key, Hawaii-style bar at that.There's just no way to recreate French Quarter bar ambience here. I'm talking bars of mystery and history like Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, where candles, not kilowatts, cut the darkness at night. And The Old Absinthe House Bar, which has welcomed the likes of Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain and those modern vampires, the Rolling Stones. You can still see the absinthe fountain, with portions of its marble base eroded by the outlawed liquor, banned for driving men to madness.
AT Cajun Mama's, Christmas lights, tinsel and harlequin masks are a poor substitute for the Crescent City's spectral aura, one that has fueled many an Anne Rice novel.
But someone is trying. The staff's main task is to see that customers don't go thirsty, but they also present a broad selection of grinds, some worth chancing.
Cajun Mama's do po' boys best, offering four versions of the big sandwiches. The "New Orleans" ($9.95) po' boy is excellent, loaded with spiced shrimp (tails on, which you may remove or gnaw on), deep-fried oysters and catfish. This had me hungering for an oyster po' boy ($8.95), since the last time I had a good one was in Portland, Ore.
You might want to start with a pupu of alligator sausage ($6.95), which, spiced up, tastes like a stringier version of Portuguese sausage. It's sliced up and stabbed with toothpicks for the easy grip and grab.
Jambalaya ($8.95) combines rice, tomatoes, onions and green peppers with a dice of chicken and sausage. They can make this as mild or fiery as you want.
Crawfish etoufee ($10.95) left much to be desired. This "stew" was presented as a mound of rice topped with a runny, characterless sauce, and surrounded by small shrimp rather than crawfish. I didn't mind the substitution. Whenever I've had crawfish, they tended to have more shell than meat, meat that is blander than shrimp.
I left with the overall impression that simple is best at Cajun Mama's. I didn't dare order the frog legs ($16.95), but strange things could happen during Mardi Gras.
Hours: Noon to 2 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays; noon to midnight Sundays
Prices: About $15 for a sandwich and two beers
Call: 926-1461
Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
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