Cajun Country Road Trip (with photos)

I was given a week off for Mardi Gras, so this past Thursday (March 2) I set off on a culinary adventure. First stop: Marksville. Now, I’ve been to Marksville before on numerous occasions and haven’t really found anything there worth going out of my way for. However I had read (in past TD threads) about a little hidden hole-in-the-wall place called Harry’s that serves “pronto pups,” so I had to check it out. Pulled up to Harry’s around 2:30 on Thursday afternoon and my girlfriend asked him to describe exactly what a pronto pup is. He responded that it’s “a weiner with a very thin coating of batter, deep-fried.” I had also read that some people prefer them with mustard, while others prefer them with mayo. At just ninety cents apiece, I ordered two of each. My girlfriend ordered a crab burger, even though she was somewhat leery.












After a few minutes, the man called my name and handed me a bag containing my order. Now, at first glance, I wasn’t expecting much. But I gotta say, those pronto pups were pretty damn tasty. I preferred the mayo version. I took a bite of the crab burger and it was legit, too. I made a promise to myself that if I ever return to Marksville, I’ll pay Harry’s another visit.

After leaving Harry’s we headed to Paragon Casino Resort. I’m not a gambler, but my little son enjoys watching the alligators in the atrium and their indoor pool, so I booked us a night there. We spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening swimming, and then decided to check out the Marketplace Buffet for dinner, which sounded promising. BIG mistake. It was just plain terrible, probably the worst place I’ve been to in recent memory. I even told the manager we deserved a refund because it was nearly inedible (we literally ate about three bites of food apiece), but he refused to do so. Horrible customer service and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I ended up getting McDonalds for my son because he was still hungry when I left.



The next morning after checking out of the hotel we headed to Cottonport, home of my favorite boudin and hogshead cheese stop: T-Jim’s. I was bummed to find that they didn’t have any of the smoked variety, so I opted for a little of the regular and a little of the red (blood) boudin and a pound of hogshead cheese. It did not disappoint.







Next we headed down I-49 to Opelousas, to go to a restaurant I had been wanting to try for years – Soileau’s Dinner Club. I had attempted to go there two or three times in the past, only to find it closed for one reason or another. Luckily for me this time it was open. I ordered the Pecan Brochette – tender pieces of filet mignon tossed with fresh grilled pecans, served with a salad and choice of potato (I chose loaded baked). My girlfriend ordered the “Gourmet Special” which consisted of shrimp Creole, crabmeat casserole, crab fingers, stuffed bell pepper, fried shrimp, and seafood gumbo.





The gumbo arrived first and although I needed to spruce it up a little, it was pretty solid.



After a few minutes our entrees arrived. Mine was magnificent, and turned out to be my favorite meal of the entire trip. It included a cup of sautéed mushrooms and a perfect pistolette.



My girlfriend obviously couldn’t eat everything that came with hers, so I was more than happy to help her out. I really enjoyed everything.




Continued our trek down I-49 and checked in at the Holiday Inn on Evangeline Thruway. Very nice hotel. Spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in their beautiful indoor pool, then got ready for dinner.

So, we took the short ride to Hawk’s in Robert’s Cove, home of my favorite crawfish anywhere. It had been 6 or 7 years since I had been there, and I was eager to see if they were still as good as I remembered.



When we pulled up there was a chartered bus there, with a sign on the side that said “CRAWFISH CRUSADE 2017” – apparently a group of guys rented it out and were traveling all over Acadiana that day, sampling crawfish at different places before deciding on a winner. They were on their way out of Hawk’s, about to go to their next destination. I asked one of them what they thought of Hawk’s, and he said, “Phenomenal… incredible… best so far, by far.”

The reason I like Hawk’s so much is due to their thorough purging process, which results in a super-clean crawfish. I know a lot of people don’t like it, but they do sprinkle seasoning on the top before they serve them. I don’t mind it much, though. We only ordered five pounds to share because we were still pretty full from lunch. The crawfish were clean, sweet, and succulent. You can see in the photo below just how clean the fat is due to the purging.