Fire on the Bayou in Orange City, FL

In honor of Fat Tuesday, today we visit a cajun restaurant in Orange City called Fire on the Bayou. I found this restaurant when they showed up on the top of the listings for Orange City restaurants on my phone. It was new to me.

They had all the standards you would expect, ranging from poboys, seafood boils, gumbos, and more. I ordered the Taste of Nawlins, served with Jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and andouille sausage. The portion size of this dish was huge, with just one of the bowls being enough for a meal. The jambalaya contained chicken and sausage and had a good kick to it. It was much more stew-like compared to many other versions of the dish, but I enjoyed it. Of the three, the jambalaya was my favorite. Gumbo was my second favorite, topped with three large shrimp. The red beans and rices were good, but seemed pretty ordinary compared to the gumbo and jambalaya. The andouille sausage topped the red beans & rice. Slices of French bread were served on the side, perfect for soaking up the stews...

I enjoyed my meal at Fire on the Bayou. I would gladly return.

Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory in Disney's Port Orleans

I ventured over to Disney's Port Orleans hotel for dinner on a recent evening. After wandering around the property looking at the different food options, I ended up at Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory in the French Quarter section of the hotel. The restaurant was set up food court style, with several different counters serving various menu options.

I tried the Jambalaya. It was served in a large bowl topped with a square of cornbread. As far as taste goes, the jambalaya was good, but it also sort of lacked something. It consisted of chicken, sausage, and rice, and that was about it. I'm used to seeing a little more in jambalaya too. Usually there's vegetables in there as well. Celery, green peppers, and onions seem pretty standard in the dish, but there was no trace of them here.

Someone else ordered the Shrimp and Grits. Definitely the better option. The large portion consisted of a large serving of grits topped with a freshly made serving of shrimp, various vegetables, and sauce. Sundried tomatoes aren't normally in here, but they were added upon request. It was really tasty and definitely outshined the relatively boring jambalaya.

Beignets were also ordered for dessert. Doughnuts topped with powdered sugar are always good, and these were better than other theme park beignets I've come across which are basically square funnel cakes. These were light and fluffy and had the proper beignet consistency.

Although my jambalaya was a little subpar, everything else I tried at Sassagoula Floatworks was good. I'd go back!

Audubon Zoo Food (Roman Candy Company and Cypress Knee Cafe) in New Orleans, LA

I spent one afternoon in New Orleans at the Audubon Zoo. Food happened while I was there. The first thing I ate came from this nifty looking food cart called Roman Chewing Candy. Apparently this cart is a New Orleans landmark because I later started noticing it on postcards sold in gift shops elsewhere in the city.

I'd never heard of Roman candy before, but it turned out this was a type of taffy. It was being pulled right there in the cart. There was a choice of vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. Since strawberry was being made fresh as I approached the cart, that's what I went with.

It was chewy and sweet. Like most taffy, this got horribly stuck in my molars and made me want to brush my teeth for the rest of the afternoon. Regardless, it was still a tasty candy.

The Roman candy didn't quite hold me over until I was done exploring the zoo so I stopped into a restaurant there called Cypress Knee Cafe. While all the other restaurants I passed in the zoo served typical zoo/theme park snack bar foods, Cypress Knee Cafe had a bit more interesting menu. They were located in the Louisiana Swamp section of the park, and had appropriately themed local cuisine.

I hadn't had any jambalaya while visiting New Orleans. I ordered it here to remedy this. Cypress Knee Cafe served a decent sized bowl filled with flavorful rice and chicken. I didn't get any shrimp or sausage in my bowl which are normally standards in the jambalaya I've had in the past. I don't know if these aren't in the zoo's recipe for jambalaya or if I just got a bad mix in my bowl. Regardless of the lack of variety in the meats, when it comes to the flavor of the jambalaya here, it surpassed my low expectations for a snack bar in a zoo.

Mojo Cajun Bar & Grill in Orlando, FL

When Mojo opened on Church Street in the space once occupied by Rosie O'Gradys, some of the reviews I read about the restaurant mentioned Mojo was more about the drinks than the food. Because of this, I was expecting one of those awkward restaurant situations where I'm one of the very few people eating while everyone else is drunk at the bar.

Maybe something has changed at Mojo since these initial reviews were written. When I visited Mojo, the restaurant was filled with diners and the bars were almost completely empty. Even more, everyone I ate here with was impressed with their Cajun food.

I ordered the Jambalaya with a side salad. The salad came out first, consisting of mixed greens, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The salad served it's purpose. Nothing great, but not bad either...

My jambalaya was served soon after. This rice dish was filled with lots of chicken and andoullie sausage, then topped with several large shrimp. This jambalaya actually had a nice kick to it, unlike the bland Cajun food I've had at other restaurants. A large piece of delicious cornbread was also served on the plate, with it's sweetness contrasting the spicy rice.

Overall, I was very pleased with the food at Mojo. I enjoyed the food, prices weren't bad given the location, and the dining environment was nicer than I was expecting. I'll definitely be back...

House of Blues in Orlando, FL

A few months ago, I was invited to attend the House of Blues Gospel Brunch in Downtown Disney. That was an awesome food experience, and since then I've attended a few concerts at the House of Blues. I've definitely gone to the House of Blues enough in the past year, but I never actually ate at the House of Blues restaurant on all those visits. Last time I ate at the restaurant was at least three or four years ago, so when I met up with some relatives visiting Disney and found a good deal on restaurants.com, I figured it was about time I return to the HOB...

I ordered the Jambalaya, consisting of rice, chicken, shrimp, and ham, topped with andouille sausage and green onions. I liked it, although I personally thought I could have used a little more spice. Otherwise the portion was large and very filling. House of Blues was kind of overpriced at $18 and it would have been nice if some sort of bread was included, but it is on Disney property. You have to expect it to be overpriced...

While House of Blues isn't my favorite restaurant in Downtown Disney, I personally think it's one of the better ones. I seem to like most anywhere that serves Cajun food, and this is no exception. I would definitely visit again!

Harry's Seafood in Lakeland, FL

When I saw the Harry's Seafood in Downtown Lakeland, I knew I wanted to eat there. I ate at the Harry's in Downtown Ocala several years ago and was really impressed with their cajun food. Later on that day, I found a coupon for a free appetizer at Harry's and that pretty much settled it to where I'd be eating dinner.

The appetizer coupon was for free fried calamari or fried green tomatoes. Although I've never tried tomatoes like this, I'm not the biggest fan of the fruit in their natural form so I went with the calamari. My dining companions were disgusted by the thought of eating fried squid, so it was all for me. It was good calamari, not chewy at all, and they even served plenty of tentacles on the plate...

For the main course, I had the Jambalaya. Consisted of shrimp, chicken, and sausage served over rice. I enjoyed it, although I thought it could have been spicier.

Cajun Cabin in New Orleans

While traveling on a twenty hour road trip from Central Florida to Oklahoma, there was two choices for lunch. Option 1 was to stop at a fast food restaurant and eat the food in the car. Option 2 was to stop in New Orleans and find some authentic Cajun food to get to-go and eat in the car. I obviously decided to go with option 2.

After finding a parking spot in the French Quarter, I made my way to Bourbon Street and went on a very quick (15 minute) tour of the area, and then settled on a restaurant called the Cajun Cabin. They had fake trees in the dining room and alligators on the walls. The back of the restaurant was complete with a faux cabin filled with tables.

I ordered a dish called A Taste of New Orleans. It came with a cup of jambalaya, Red Beans & Rice, and some sort of gumbo. The jambalaya was the prettiest dish with it's bright yellow rice topped with a pepperoncini, but it tasted kind of bland. Regardless, it was still pretty good. I'm not normally a big fan of red beans & rice, but Cajun Cabin's beans were really good. I would say they were some of the best I've eaten. The gumbo was also really good. I'm not exactly sure what was in it, but it was much better than I was expecting.

Cajun Food at the Crooked Bayou

I was going to go to the Food Festival that was happening in Downtown Orlando, but that turned out to be a rip off. Instead, I gave Crooked Bayou a try. With Jockamos out of business, Crooked Bayou is the only restaurant in the Central Florida area that specifically specializes in Cajun food. Crooked Bayou was a tiny little place on Central Blvd that seemed to be more bar than restaurant. They had some cool stuff in the tiny space like a big tree made out of bent rebar in the center of the restaurant and a window to an old painted advertisement on the neighboring brick building.

I started by ordering a cup of Jambalaya. It was really good, with plenty of chicken, andouille sausage, and shrimp along with the rice. According to Wikipedia, this was Creole Jambalaya since it was tomato based rather than Cajun Jambalaya that is tomato free. It was definitely some of the best Jambalaya that I've eaten.

I ordered a Cajun Crawfish Po'boy to follow the Jambalaya. The crawfish were tiny, but the sandwich was still really tasty. There was plenty of seasoning on the crawfish, which were placed on pressed french bread with lettuce, tomato, and tarter sauce. A pickle and potato chips were served with the sandwich.

Return to the Chop Shop

I had eaten at the Chop Shop Restaurant in Deltona, FL once before just after they opened. The restaurant was up to par last time with decent service and good food. Tonight I returned to the Chop Shop to eat dinner for a second time and it seems the restaurant has developed some problems.

It initially took a while for the drinks to be brought to the table, and then took an even longer time for the waitress to come back to take our food order. I ordered their Jambalaya. Another person dining with me ordered something called the Seafood Trio, which included shrimp, scallops, and mahi-mahi. Someone else at the table ordered a mahi-mahi dinner. The waitress was asked if some substitutions could be made in the meal involving the side dishes. These involved replacing a baked potato for French fries and changing the vegetable side from zucchini to broccoli, both of which were on the menu as sides. The answer was a firm no. According to the waitress, the owners made it very clear that there are absolutely no substitutions on their new menu.

After an insane amount of time, the food finally came. Someone at the table noted the time after we had already waited a while. It took our food an hour to come from that point.

I had no complaints with my Jambalaya. It was actually really good coming from a restaurant that didn't specialize in Cajun food. There were nice big shrimp and a generous amount of sliced andouille sausage. It wasn't so spicy where it would leave you wanting a drink, but it wasn't bland either. There was a nice heaping portion on the plate, almost too much to eat.


My Jambalaya may have been good, but there was another issue at the table. Remember the Seafood Trio that was ordered and the whole no substitutions thing? It turned out that the Chop Shop was all out of scallops, so they substituted the scallops with a few extra shrimp. Instead of doing the right thing by telling the customer that the restaurant was out of a major component of the meal, they made this substitution without asking. It seems a bit hypocritical to me that customers don't have the right to ask for a substitution on a side item, but the restaurant can substitute a major component of the main dish without asking first. The person that ordered this Seafood Trio, which was actually an unannounced Seafood Duo for the night complained about this stating that scallops were the highlight of the meal, and the waitress was vaguely apologetic. She agreed that what happened was wrong, but she passed the blame on to the kitchen and said something should have been done about the situation. The manager/owner of the restaurant was requested, and the waitress announced that she was the manager. She did not offer to do anything about the situation...

I don't think I'll return to the Chop Shop anytime soon. My food may have been good, but the service was pretty bad...