I arrived in Houston on Monday night for a week stay. I don’t know how I got by the Pappadeaux at the airport without stopping for a dozen oysters. It must have had something to do with having to meet people for a ride to the hotel. My colleagues and I made our way to the hotel, checked in and met in the lobby to get dinner. We all have fond memories of great meals at Pappadeaux Seafood and made a unanimous decision to go there for dinner. Crawfish are in season, but we had oysters on the half shell which were cold, fresh, sweet and clean. I mixed the horseradish and cocktail sauce and they have a dipping sauce that adds the slightest extra kick. They are so good. I had to tell the story of when I was in Texas City during a Thanksgiving holiday years ago and reading the 2 page Texas City paper over morning coffee. I spied an ad for a new bar in Galveston offering a dozen oysters on the half shell for $2.99. I said to the family, “I know what we are doing today”. They were good, but nothing like the great oysters we had at Pappadeaux this week.
I could not pass up the Mississippi Catfish Opelousas, blackened with shrimp, oysters and crabmeat in a brown butter sauce. It’s not that I am crazy for catfish, but the seafood topping and sauce is so good it should be illegal. See my previous blog entry for further details on the Mississippi Catfish Opelousas.
The next night we were treated at a local country club. I ate light so by Wednesday I was ready for the Taste of Texas. It’s next door to Pappadeaux Seafood. The taste of Texas has some awesome steaks on the menu. I passed up the 24 oz. bone-in ribeye Cowboy steak and the $42 bone-in filet. The 10 oz filet with blue cheese butter sounded just right. The salad bar is tremendous and the service is very professional. The steaks are perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned, tender and juicy. The wine list is a bit intimidating, not because of the wine selections, but because of the prices. So I settled on a half bottle of Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It provided 2 glasses of wine and only cost $22. It was quite enjoyable with the steak. I highly recommend the Taste of Texas for an excellent steak house.
Can you believe that by Thursday I was ready for Pappadeaux Seafood again? Our intension was to go for beer and oysters. It was cold in the restaurant with the AC on. And it was a beautiful evening, warm and balmy. The four of us decided to have a table on the patio. I had planned on having a bowl of seafood gumbo with beer and oysters. I was not led astray when 2 of my colleagues ordered premium bourbon. However, I was led astray by one guy when he ordered dinner. I thought, why not? I ordered the Costa Rican Mahi Yvette. I had the small 7 oz. portion. It is blackened Mahi finished with shrimp, crawfish, mushrooms and spinach in a Monterey jack cheese sauce with dirty rice. I am telling you that the sauces at Pappadeaux are incredible.
Having drinks and oysters on the patio with friends and colleagues is the kind of male bonding that I have really missed this last year. I must have been missing out because I found myself not understanding some of the conversation. We were talking about some of the nick names we have for people. I am notorious for coming up with nick names for people I work with. The young guy in our group was saying, “This guy had his pants pulled up so high that his private parts were all pressed against his pants, like a woman’s camel -toe, so we called him “Man-toe”. Ha ha ha ha.
This went right over my head and I was feeling left out. And when it got a lot of laughs I had to inquire, “this guy with his junk pulled tight against his pants, what is that all about? I don’t get it. What’s with the “Man toe”?”
“You know, like when a woman’s pants are so tight you can see the shape and outlines down there, that’s called a “camel toe”. Because the shape resembles the shape of a camel’s toe. So, on a guy we called it a “man toe”.
“Oh, like a “muffin top” or a “whale tail”, I explained, to show I’m up on these things. “I saw a woman with a camel toe once. She was the security guard at a customer’s gate for years. Her uniform included black spandex slacks and every time I went there, her camel-toe was right at eye level”. Ha ha ha ha. Now I feel like I’m part of the boys again.
