Louisiana crawfish season is officially upon us, and although the advent of this blessed event probably hasn’t registered a tiny blip on your radar, at Broadway Oyster Bar the countdown to its first Crawfish Festival of the year (taking place this Friday and Saturday) has been filled with nearly palpable excitement.
The party kicks off tomorrow at dinner service, with a crawfish-heavy menu featuring some pretty unconventional crawfish-themed adaptations of otherwise familiar dishes—think crawfish enchiladas, crawfish pie (“just like an apple pie, except crawfish instead of apples,” says owner John Johnson) and crawfish rangoon. Perhaps the most thought provoking was the crawfish and alligator sausage (you read it right) "cheesecake"—a kind-of-like-cheesecake-but-more-like-a-quiche appetizer.
The big highlight, Johnson tells us, is Saturday, when BOB hosts a Louisiana-style crawfish boil. It’s the full Cajun experience—500 pounds of live Louisiana crawfish, boiled with an abundance of flavorful Cajun seasoning and served by the bucket with andouille sausage, potatoes and Cajun-style corn on the cob. The buckets (easily split between two people, and a steal at about $21) are brought to paper-covered tables, dumped out, and the carnage commences. Seriously delicious carnage.
Both days feature live musical performances—the music schedule is available here. Special themed food fests are planned at BOB for one weekend a month most months of the year.
Upcoming festivals
April—second po’ boy festival
May—crawfish boil
June—crab
July—shrimp and scallops
August—pig roast
September—best of BOB—some of the most popular dishes from all the various festivals, all put together
October-alligator and mussels
