Just last week I was checking my Twitter feed when a local PR guy started talking po' boys. Unfortunately, rather than talking about a sandwich in the here and now, he was merely experiencing a flashback of a visit to New Orleans, so sadly, there was no payoff for those of us reading along and suddenly craving shrimp and oyster po' boys.

We vowed to let each other know when a credible po' boy surfaced in Hawaii and that moment came sooner than I thought when I received an e-mail from a co-worker that A Taste of the Bayou had opened on Kapahulu Avenue.

I was moderately excited. Moderately, because I hate being disappointed and having never sampled a decent po' boy, jambalaya or etoufee in Honolulu, I wasn't expecting anything different.

So I'm elated that A Taste of the Bayou is the real deal. It's about time! Coincidentally, the restaurant is poised to capitalize on the University of Hawaii Warriors New Year's trip to the Big Easy for the Sugar Bowl. About 15,000 locals traveled to support the team and I'm sure some of them returned with cravings for a taste of Louisiana.

A Taste of the Bayou owner Dillard Faulk said he's heard from some of those travelers, and they think his food is better than N'awlins'. I thought so too.

Faulk's cuisine is more Cajun than the European- and African-influenced Creole food served in the Big Easy. That's because he was raised in Cajun country, in Starks, La.

“;I was always hungry so I was always in the kitchen,”; he said, having learned how to cook at his mother's side. The downside of his early immersion was he began to take this food legacy for granted.

When he moved to Hawaii about 30 years ago, he discovered a paradise of flavors he'd never experienced before, and though he returned home frequently, he started missing his mother's cooking. He tries to recreate it in his restaurant, with a few twists from having worked at many restaurants and studied culinary arts at Kapiolani Community College.

  THOSE NEW to Cajun cuisine will get a crash course by ordering A Taste of the Bayou's sampler ($15.95) of three classics: chicken and andouille gumbo, chicken and tasso jambalaya, and red beans and rice; it's simple food done right.

It's all rice heavy, which also partially explains Faulk's affinity for Hawaii food. He uses a mixture of long- and short-grain rices that hold up well to the weight of beans or an etoufee roux.

I hope you like spicy, because you never know where it'll turn up. Food I've had in New Orleans has been rather mild and tame, so I was surprised by the way the touch of heat in the aforementioned jambalaya ($12.95 a la carte) and chicken etoufee. Faulk uses a mix of jalapeno and cayenne peppers, and it's the cayenne that ratchets up the heat seconds after you think you've felt the extent of it. The spices are even more pronounced on the sweet potato fries that accompany shrimp ($9.95), catfish ($9.95) and chicken ($7.95) po' boys, simple sandwiches of lettuce, tomato and deep-fried goodness. The only thing better than a shrimp po' boy would be one starring crisp oysters.

When it comes to a choice of the chicken or shrimp jambalayas and etoufees, however, I prefer the chicken, which meshes well with the savory flavors.

Speaking of savory, one of the restaurant's hits is its hush puppies. Faulk had initially intended to offer two versions of the cornmeal fritters, one sweet, one savory. But cooking up two batches from scratch would be a burden, he realized, so he combined the two flavors in one. The result, to compare to something similar, is like andagi, the Okinawan doughnut, with onions and scallions added to the mix. The hush puppies accompany most dishes, but people have also started ordering them by the dozens.

Also accompanying most plates is a corn maque choux, the kernels sauteed with a whole lot of butter. Well, no one ever said this food is good for your body, but it certainly boosts the soul for a people whose life's motto is “;Laissez les bon temps rouler!”; or let the good times roll!

I just can't believe I walked out of here the first time without having ordered dessert. How lolo is that, to not have noticed treats like pecan pie with chantilly cream, sweet potato-coconut pie with chantilly cream or bread pudding, heavy on the nutmeg, with whiskey sauce, all at $5.50 per slice? I went back for the latter two so I now have no regrets.

One thing you won't find on the menu is blackened fish, something Faulk said he had not seen until he came to Hawaii, which has been the cause of many an LOL moment.

“;That's not Cajun or Creole. I don't know what that is,”; Faulk said. “;I only know I always try to avoid it.”;