Le Bon Temps Bar Grill

On Perkins Road near Essen Lane, there’s a new strip mall housing several businesses and a large parking lot to accommodate the masses. Le Bon Temps is perched in the center with an open-air courtyard with plenty of TVs for your sports viewing pleasure. Inside is a large space with a prominent bar, plenty of table seating and more television sets. Adjacent to the main dining space is a separate “ultra lounge” with its own bar, sequestered booth seating and, of course, more television sets. Our server explained that the lounge can be used for private events, but most nights there is either a DJ spinning tunes or bands riffing on guitars.

But despite all these added features, we were, of course, here for the food.

We settled in at our table, perused the menu and quickly zeroed in on two appetizers that showed promise: the Open Faced Crawfish Pie and the Abita Amber Poached Shrimp Cocktail. We were informed that the kitchen was tweaking the crawfish pie and so it would be unavailable. When asked for a recommendation, our server suggested the Abita Amber Tempura Shrimp Corn Dogs, saying, “It’s very popular with customers.” When I asked if she had tried them, she apologized but said she had not. We went with it anyway.

Appetizers were speedily delivered, which was a huge plus as the evening was waning but our hunger was not. The Shrimp Cocktail was served simply with a smear of cocktail sauce and several plump shrimp with a garnish of shredded lettuce. The sauce had a nice horseradish kick but was otherwise nondescript. The shrimp had good ol’ crab boil flavor without overpowering the delicate meat with salt or spice.

The ample serving of Shrimp Corn Dogs was not what I would have expected—they were shrimp, they were on a stick and they were fried, but that is where the analogy ends. The flavor was peppery without being over-salted, and though tasty, they were the complete antithesis of a corn dog. And the shrimp were in desperate need of deveining.

Two entrees caught our eyes: Andouille and Shrimp Stuffed Mirliton and the Cochon de Lait Platter. To make things easier, we got one of each. I’m always surprised when I find mirliton on any menu, and my plate arrived with two mirliton squash stuffed to bursting with a zesty shrimp stuffing. The combination of the mild, tender squash and the delectable, spicy stuffing made for a satisfying dish.

Another rarity on most menus, the side dish of Andouille and White Beans was pleasingly creamy, comforting and very well prepared.

Having attended many a Cochon de Lait, I expected the pork to be sliced with crispy skin left on. Instead we received stewed, shredded pork that took us both by surprise and could best be described as a rice-and-gravy, country-home-cooking-at-Grandma’s type of dish. The toothsome dirty rice had hints of smoke with plenty of onion and pepper crunch. Not quite my momma’s dirty rice, but more than adequate. Also included were fresh green beans that were ever so slightly overcooked. It was an all-around gratifying dish.

When it came time for dessert, we asked our friendly server to bring the menu. She informed us that it was totally inaccurate, but she graciously recited the available sweets. We settled on the Bananas Foster Eggrolls and the Beignets with ice cream. Not long after taking our order, she quickly returned to say they were out of the eggrolls. She seemed genuinely dismayed that we would be unable to try them. We assured her it was no issue and ordered the Pound Cake instead.

Both desserts were large servings. The eight considerable beignets were inordinately flaky, crispy, steamy pillows of joy. We both found the ice cream a smooth, rich vanilla bean treat but superfluous to the beignets.

One piece of the pound cake would have been adequate, but the three-slice serving was moist, full of pleasing vanilla flavor, and topped with a particularly rich vanilla cream.

We noted that on several occasions we asked our server for her opinion on a dish and she hadn’t tried it. We found this disconcerting. Servers should be allowed to try everything on a menu so as to inform and educate customers.

At the end of dinner, my companion observed, “When I look at the place, it’s very bar-centric. The food is not bad for a place that seems to be a bar doing a grill on the side.”

This observation was no doubt spurred by all the televisions, the volume of the music from the speakers and the singer performing on the patio. Great atmosphere for a bar crowd, but not so much for a cordial dinner out.

With the bill paid we felt it was high time to vacate the premise and give our over-stimulated senses a rest.