shrimp and more shrimp in Baton Rouge

We made it to New Orleans on time today.  Beth rented a car and drove us to Baton Rouge, where we checked into our hotel, the Comfort Suites.  I can’t remember staying in a hotel with worse internet connectivity (not counting hotels that say they don’t even offer internet service).  But once we brought our bags in, it was time to go find dinner.

After some quick research, I settled on Brunet’s Cajun Restaurant, which is only about 3 miles from here.  It was a delight.  The place doesn’t look too nice, but the food was good.  Before we even ordered, the waitress brought us a bowl of hush puppies.  Yum!  I ordered a cup of shrimp and okra gumbo and the blackened shrimp plate, which came with salad, bread, and a potato.  But I opted for “steamed” veggies instead.  I put the double quotes around “steamed” because although the veggies were steamed, they were then coated in melted butter, so don’t get the idea that this food was overly healthy or anything.

But the shrimp were awesome.  They were what Pappadeaux’ Seafood Kitchen’s pepper shrimp would be if they could.  The bread and veggies were good, too, and the salad was fine.  I quizzed our waitress, a 20-something young woman named Alaska, about non-alcoholic beverage options.  Other than the Coke products or a virgin daiquiri, there weren’t any, so I stuck with water.

Even though Beth and I were full, we couldn’t pass up the bread pudding, which we ordered to go.  We stopped at a convenience store on the way back to the hotel to pick up some cold milk, and enjoyed our dessert about an hour later (while fighting with the internet connection).  The bread pudding was mostly cold by then, but was a delight.

All in all, I’d definitely go back to Brunet’s.  And if I could work up a sufficient appetite, what I would order is the “shrimp dinner”.  The description on the menu reads like Bubba from “Forrest Gump”.  The shrimp dinner “Includes cup of gumbo, shrimp salad, shrimp etoufee, fried shrimp, shrimp au gratin, boiled shrimp, spiced shrimp, stuffed shrimp.  Served with french fries or baked potato, and french bread.”  Yow!