Jourdan River Steamer - Kiln, MS. Review

Didn't find anything in a search, so I hope this isn't old news.


JRS in Kiln, MS is out-freaking-standing. Took the wife this past Saturday for a pre-Valentines dinner.

The atmosphere is what you would expect from a seafood restaurant. Some cheesy, beachy things all over the walls. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lack of Brett Favre stuff in there. The music was pretty good and we even got to hear a Reggae version of The Police at one point. The kicker was the fact that 5 minutes after we were seated in the outer dining area, near a large glass door, they put The 3 Stooges on an outdoor big screen TV. It was awesome.

No reservations, FC,FS. We got there just after 5 (we heard the wait can vary between 20 min to 1.5 hours) and waited at the bar. The bartender was great. Fast, friendly and efficient. No one waited for a drink. The wife wanted "something fruity", he obliged without so much as a frown. He made me two Dirty Beefeater martini's with a dash of Tabasco with some serious speed. They were spot on.

Sat down after a 25 minute wait which felt like 10 min. Our server was friendly, helpful, efficient and very knowledgeable. The specials sounded really interesting, but this was our first visit so we wanted to go for their sweet spot. We ordered the crab and cheese dip app and the crab/shrimp/lobster plate for two (the Bounty).

The crab dip left something to be desired. It tasted good, and was hot, but it felt like we were eating white Velveeta with lumps of crab meat. Crab meat was delicious and juicy, but the cheese dip could have/should have been more rustic. A mix of parmesan, provolone and mozzarella would have been tastier.

The Bounty platter was very, very good. We'll start with the scrimps. They appeared to have been broiled under a salamander, head and shells on. They were sprinkled with some crab boil/old bay and were PERFECTLY cooked. Juicy, and fresh. I could have eaten about 3 more pounds of them.

The platter came with King and Snow crab clusters. Two of each, for both of us. They were also cooked perfectly. I believe they were boiled, although the name of the place suggests steaming, they had a perfect amount of seasoning actually in the meat. This is why I think they were boiled. Either way, they got it right. They were hot and juicy, delicate and easy to crack. The seasoning did not over power the natural taste of the crab meat. With or without a light dunk in clarified butter, they were without a doubt, the best crab I have ever eaten. Absolutely delicious.

The downer was the Lobster. It was a tale of two halves, front and back. The claws were good. Not great, but good. They were slightly over cooked, but still tasty. The tail was VERY over cooked and rubbery. It had some flavor, but not nearly as much as the shrimp or crab, or even the claws for that matter. We actually didn't eat some of it because there was so much of everything else. If we had come strictly for the lobster, we'd have left disappointed, but the crab and shrimp made it easy to ignore the lobster. I believe it was cooked the same way as the crab clusters (boiled or steamed) but was just left in way to long. It was not overly spicy or salty, which suggests that it was not boiled. Maybe we just got one bad lobster. This place does everything else so well, it would make more sense that they just lost track of this one lobster and it got cooked for two cycles.

The potatoes and corn were decent. Potatoes had good seasoning and were cooked perfectly, but the corn did not have any seasoning. It was cooked perfectly, but did not have any boil flavor.

We left a few shrimp, corn and potatoes as well as some of the lobster on our tray as the portions are more than generous. Dessert was a creme broulee' that was good, but unremarkable.

All in all (drinks, dinner and tip) we spent about 125 I believe. It was WELL worth it and we will most definitely return. We'll let you know if the lobster was a one time deal.

As a side note. There was a nice little outdoor area between the restaurant and the river. In the summer, it looks like this place would be a great time. You can picture a live band, all the doors swung open, seafood flowing like water, cold beer and the race on the outdoor big screen. We'll definitely be back, most likely on a Saturday in June or July!!