Living a thousand miles north of the bayou, there are precious few Cajuns around to teach us the ins and outs of the Louisiana swamp. Luckily, at Lou Zeana's Bayou Grill, the waiters will explain how to eat crawfish. They will even do this politely, without rolling their eyes or laughing. Nevertheless, if you prefer not to broadcast your ignorance, you can go to the bar and consult a poster that has step-by-step instructions.
This is a Cajun restaurant for beginners. Lou Zeana's achieves an authenticity level somewhat higher than Disneyland's New Orleans Square they do serve liquor, after all, and they garnish plates with whole, unpeeled crawfish that could very well frighten small children. But there's also a hefty dash of Cajun kitsch, with entrnames such as "Catfish on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Voodoo Chicken Salad," and the food's spice quotient is not going to get any genuine Cajun raging.
Carolyn and Tim Wolff, Olathe, enjoy a taste of New Orleans-style food at Lou Zeana's Bayou Grill.
Still, it's a fun place. The dr features corrugated tin, weathered-looking pictures and somebody's rowdy sense of humor: White splotches are painted on the floor underneath the fake seagulls suspended from the ceiling, and the wait staff's T-shirts (for sale in the bar) boast: "I got tail at Lou Zeana's." That's alligator tail, of course, and the double entendre is more fantasy than fact; though friendly and informal, Lou Zeana's is ultimately polite. Maybe some Cajun-themed craziness would evolve if the place was situated Downtown and stayed open late. But their Orchards Corner location is a pit stop between Downtown and the West Lawrence burbs, and no late-night scene can develop considering they close at 10 p.m.
Gators and voodoo
We received knowledgeable and attentive service on one visit; the host, particularly, was the friendly sort who chatted and voiced honest opinions. He recommended the firecracker shrimp a later visit proved this a good suggestion and when my companion asked him what he thought of their red beans and rice (having just finished them), he freely and accurately replied, "Could be better." Another time, however, the place was swamped and the service suffered. After 45 minutes we still had nothing but salad and a basket of bread, which, although it appeared smothered in butter and garlic, somehow managed not to be that tasty.
An appetizer of gator bites, voodoo chicken tenders and onion rings seemed like a low-pressure introduction to Cajun cooking. The gator was a little chewier than chicken and had a slightly stronger taste, but was otherwise quite comparable, perhaps because the deep-fried "bites" weren't large enough to host much of a distinctive flavor. The spicy chicken tenders were actually more interesting. A sweet-and-sour dip, reminiscent of Asian sauces, seemed a strange choice but tasted great on everything.
Rating: **
A port of call into some of this cuisine's best-known creations, the "Cajun Carnival" includes jambalaya, crawfish etoufee, gumbo and red beans and rice. I found the etoufee and gumbo passable, and the jambalaya inconsistent too tomato-y one night, more balanced and flavorful another. The red beans and rice what my husband calls "the mashed potatoes of Cajun cooking" were fairly invigorating, but not because of a complex spiciness that permeated the dish. Instead, most of the spark came from an aftertaste that felt like a shot of jalapeuice.
The firecracker shrimp is sure to please anyone who likes its ingredient list. These scrumptious skewered shrimp, wrapped in bacon and basted with barbecue sauce, moved fast. The "Catfish on a Hot Tin Roof," however, did not move like one. The breading was crispy, but it showed no trace of being dragged in Creole mustard, or any other seasonings I could detect. Only dunking it in the tartar and cocktail sauces gave it any zest. The Pasta Orleans, with mushrooms, black olives and pimientos, also was disappointing; the blackened shrimp were overdone, and the chewy linguine was doused in oil.
The Bayou Burger was far tastier, and a mountain of yummy sweet potato fries made it a meal. Skip the Cajun slaw as a side, though; possibly it would have been refreshing among some seriously spicy food, but here its tastelessness contributed nothing.
Tail end of the meal
Where: 3300 W. 15th St.; 842-2586
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. everyday
Entr range from: $7.50-$15.95
Lou Zeana's Bananas Foster bananas, vanilla ice cream and bourbon sauce is a somewhat bland version of this traditional southern dessert. Also, since health code prevents it from being flamed at the table, the ice cream is already half-melted when it arrives, and the soupy consistency becomes increasingly, um, gross, particularly when you're sharing.
It must be a sign of the times that the tin buckets of tabasco sauce on the table are stocked with a garlic variety, and that the dessert choices include the nouveau favorite tiramisu. Even so, such trendy tastes seem unnecessary at a place whose cuisine supposedly thrives on its unfettered regionalism. You can take Cajun cooking out of the South, I guess, but you can't stop New Orleans Square from coming with it.
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