Sammy's Food Service Report

[Occasional Cook]

I had lunch at Sammy’s Food Service yesterday (Whatever “Food Service” means). It’s on Elysian Fields Ave. between the I-610 and the overpass.

It looked like about half of the customers were eating in and half were taking orders to go. I got the half and half fried shrimp and fried oysters. It came with two sides and I went with the red beans and the potato salad.

I was particularly interested in trying their fried oysters. Unfortunately this was the worst part of the meal; small and over cooked. They were dry, chewy and were dark red-brown just below the coating. More on this shortly.

The red beans were well above average; seasoned just to my taste, slightly firm beans and a not-too-creamy gravy. Best I’ve had in some time.

The potato salad was also some of the best I’ve had. The majority of times, as with gumbo, this dish is not the way that I like it (too much crunch from celery and onions, under or overcooked potatoes etc.). It had a hint of mustard taste—close to perfect.

The fried shrimp were large and fried about right, but too little in the way of salt and spices. They said that they were Louisiana shrimp. They would have been better had they been butterflyed, but I guess that that is labor intense.

Back to the fried oysters. I brought them back and asked for the manager. Very nice lady. She said that oysters are very small this time of the year and that is how they are coming in from her supplier (not the case over the weekend at N.O. Food and Spirits). I told her that I like fried oysters very moist and not fried to the point of driving out nearly of the water. She said that most of her customers prefer the oysters cooked as I had them, and that next time I can request that they not be fried so long, as they fry all their seafood to order.

The meal, with tax, was just over 14 bucks. I’ll certainly go back for the red beans and potato salad, and will give the oysters another shot in the winter.

OC