Ever since Houstonist heard that BB's Cajun Cafe -- a little bayou outpost right in the middle of Montrose -- was serving the traditional grillades and grits, we knew we had to get over there. Not that we hadn't wanted to try BB's prior to this -- after all, our friends were all raving about their roast beef po-boys, hurricanes, catfish and late hours -- but the grillades and grits sealed the deal for us.
We recently made our way over to BB's Cajun Cafe one gorgeous Saturday afternoon and pulled into the last spot left in their tiny parking lot. People were chatting happily on the patio over cold beers and tantalizingly enormous po-boys. Inside, groups of guys watched college football on BB's big-screen flat panel and devoured huge plates of fried catfish and shrimp etouffee. This was apparently the place to be on a Saturday afternoon.
Looking over the menu, we found ourselves immediately distracted from the task at hand: getting those grillades. Instead, we were overwhelmed by the po-boy selection and the even more tempting breakfast plates (which are served all day long). Our quickly fading attention span was even further diminshed when the waitress told us about their special appetizer that day: a seafood-avocado "dip" that simply sounded too good to resist.
A few minutes later, we found ourselves elbow deep in the fresh seafood dip -- which was more of a salad or even a campechana than a dip, but was nevertheless delicious -- and a Saint Arnold's Lawnmower, our thoughts of grillades and grits far behind us. A short time later, our entrees arrived: a basket of Pearly Whites (a fully-dressed oyster po-boy) and The Southern Man (a breakfast platter with fried catfish, eggs, buttermilk biscuits, bacon and cheese grits). We were in Southern food heaven.
Read on for more...
The oyster po-boy was perfection: filled to bursting with savory little oysters, easy on the lettuce and tomatoes, and a generous spread of tangy remoulade sauce on each side of the fresh French bread. Houstonist loved the seasoned shoestring French fries that came with it, but understands those aren't everyone's cup of tea. BB's would be wise to offer onion rings or hushpuppies as alternatives.
But there was absolutely nothing negative to be said about The Southern Man. This is truly a breakfast of champions. The lascivious hunk of catfish that lay indecorously across the plate was expertly battered and fried, and had that ever-elusive spicy crispiness that is the goal of any good catfish fry-up. The buttermilk biscuits were almost as good as Houstonist's mom's biscuits, which is almost heresy, but they had the buttery, flaky layers indicative of someone taking a long time to knead and reknead the dough to perfection. And the cheese grits, dear God, the cheese grits. They were thick, creamy, and seductively cheesy: the trifecta of cheese grits, realized.
As we sat in a food daze after our fantastic meal, we had the stunning realization that we hadn't tried the very dish we'd come for. But no matter; we couldn't wait to get back to BB's again and the grillades and grits provided the perfect excuse.
On our next trip several evenings later, we didn't even look at the menu (which is a good thing, since the menu doesn't list the grillades for some strange reason); we ordered straight away. Grillades and grits and a catfish po-boy -- we wanted some more of that delicious catfish, too -- and an Abita Purple Haze.
It should be said at this point that our our only real complaint with BB's is the service or, rather, the lack thereof. The service on our first visit was slightly better, but this evening, the sole waiter seemed extremely distracted by his cell phone, the TV and sending text messages. Needless to say, getting anything that evening -- our food on time, drinks, the check -- proved difficult.
But when our food finally arrived, we pounced on it. The enormous (and by enormous we mean "hubcap sized") plate of grillades and grits didn't look like we recalled from our youth, but still looked wonderful. There were more grillades and less grits than we preferred, but the mound of silky cheese grits in the middle of the enormous platter was as delicious as they had been the other day. The grillades, unfortunately, tasted extremely flat. The dark roux-based sauce looked perfect, but didn't come together at all on our tongues. Some liberal dashes of salt and Tabasco sauce mostly resolved the issue, but we were still disappointed. The catfish po-boy, at least, was as good as expected.
Despite the poor service and the very slight letdown of the grillades, BB's is still one our new favorite joints in town. Their delicious, soulful food and unassuming, unpretentious location are both bright spots to us and we're sure that -- with time -- their service and, perhaps, their grillades will rise to those same standards.
BB's Cajun Cafe
2710 Montrose
713.524.4499
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It's all about the Midnight Masterpiece...Sliced roast beef po-boy with just enough fat on it to make it a true late night favorite....even if your sober.