Middendorf's Seafood Restaurant

I was taking the long way home from Baton Rouge today and stopped by Middendorf's Seafood Restaurant. It was the first time I'd been back since the flooding following Hurricane Isaac.

They cleaned it up real well!

I started with something cool and refreshing on a recommendation from Chris, the bartender. It was a Southern Fly which was Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka mixed with lemonade and served in a Mason jar. Very good and quite enjoyable after an over 400 mile loop around south Louisiana.

It being Middendorf's, I hardly had to look at the menu. I just ordered their thin fried catfish meal that came with hushpuppies and slaw. Chris asked if I wanted silverware to eat the coleslaw and I told him no. I was there for the catfish and French fries only.

The order came out quite quickly and the four pieces were wonderful - very thin with moist and flaky flesh under a light corn flour crust. 

I finished the meal with some house made pineapple ice cream. All it was missing was some rum!

This place is rarely on the way to anywhere I'm going but it is worth the extra miles to get there.

LA Renaissance Festival & Middendorf's

The Louisiana Renaissance Festival is where the redneck nerds go to have fun. The village of Albright has about 100 venders, lots of games for the younger kids, craft exhibitions, comedy and music acts. We saw some jesters roaming, the herald delivering news and Queen Elizabeth's procession through the town. We watched the glassblower and admired the birds of prey. Covering almost 10 acres (surrounding a lake), bring comfortable walking shoes and a good attitude and you'll get back the ticket price in pure entertainment value.

The food we nibbled on included turkey legs, jester chips, cotton candy, and we quaffed some truly great root beer.

The Ren Fest is up in Hammond so we came back to New Orleans by way of Middendorf's and enjoyed the best fried catfish on the planet. The place was packed at 3pm on a Saturday but they had us in and served quickly. That stop made two new believers in the amazingness of their catfish.

Middendorf's Seafood Restaurant

On the way back from the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival, I stopped off at Middendorf's for lunch. Their thin fried catfish is incredible. The coating is perfect--so light that the flavor of the fish comes through. I got the fried shrimp and catfish meal and the plate was piled high with 5 pieces of fish, 6 shrimp, 2 hushpuppies and a good size portion of crisp French fries. It came with coleslaw but I gave mine away. The service is fast and friendly and I'd definitely say that this place is worth the drive from New Orleans.