Louisiana Creole — Detroit

In the mood for something different, Joe and I headed to Detroit one day to spend the morning at the Eastern Market. You can easily spend a happy day wandering through this sprawling market of some five sheds plus the surrounding blocks of produce distributors, meat packers, spice, nut stores and still not see it all. After spending several hours, we retired to the Louisiana Creole to enjoy some of the best New Orleans style food you'll find up here in Detroit.

We had to ask for directions. (Take time to print out the map from the Eastern Market website, and you'll save yourself a lot of effort.) When we told the woman we wanted to find Louisiana Creole, she gave us a knowing nod of approval. It's a bit of a walk from the market, but manageable. You can also drive it. There is free street parking — as long as you don't park too close to the fire hydrants.

This bare-bones restaurant primarily offers everything as carryout, with two fast-food style tables for those out-of-towners like us who have no place to carry it out to. One wall holds the numerous restaurant reviews and awards Louisiana Creole has gathered during their 30+ years. I told the woman ahead of us that it was our first time here. "Oh, you're in for a treat," she said. When I asked her what was her favorite dish, she paused for a moment then said the red beans and rice, warning me that they came a bit sweet. And the cornbread. Make sure to get some cornbread.

You place your order at the single window, then step aside so the next person can order, and the cooks quickly assemble your meal. We put together a menu to sample as many things as possible. I picked out the "Hungryman's Platter" and Joe ordered the Saturday special "Creole Trio". We threw in an order of collard greens, candied yams, and corn bread.  The staff laughed and assured us we would not go hungry. Boy, were they right...

Hungryman's Platter plus Greens, starting from top left and going clockwise: collard greens, shrimp gumbo, shrimp creole, beef jambalaya, red beans and rice

I don't, in all truthfullness, know that much about New Orleans food. I do know what I like. The gumbo and creole were a bit mild for my liking, but were tasty none-the-less. From what I gathered from other reviews, food is served either mild or spicy — something I didn't realize until after ordering and I guess I got a default "mild" for newcomers.

So if you want it spicy hot, make sure to tell them.

The red beans and rice were a little sweet, as described, and out of this world fabulous. I could have happily made a meal of some rice and beans and collards. I will be dreaming about this beans and rice dish. I will probably spend hours hunting down recipes, hoping to find something similar. They were simply that good.

Creole Trio plus Candied Yams. On the left: catfish, crabcakes, BBQ shrimp. On the right: candied yams and rice with chicken gravy.

Joe's trio was quite tasty. The catfish and crabcakes were good (and I'd happily make a meal out of either), but I thought the real stand-out was the Cajun BBQ shrimp. The BBQ sauce was tangy with a delicious sour note, and the meal comes with an extra container of the sauce. The candied yams were as sweet as you could hope for (but not too sweet) and melt-in-your-mouth soft, and could just as easily have served as a dessert.

Cornbread

One summer I was determined to find the perfect cornbread recipe. I placed pan after pan in front of my friends and collected their reactions. I learned two things: 1) no one agrees on the best cornbread style, and 2) the perfect cornbread only existed in my head. Now I know better. Louisiana Creole has been making the cornbread I dream about. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. One of the many articles on the wall is an informal blind taste test to discover the best cornbread in Detroit, and Louisiana Creole came in at #1.

The texture is just about perfect, with the outside edges slightly crisp and the inside moist and not too crumbly. This is a savory cornbread — i.e. not the somewhat "sweet" style that everyone who's ever made Jiffy cornbread mix is familiar with. Louisiana Creole serves them up in packages of two muffins for just 0.50 cents, so give them a try.

I'm eager to go back. I have those Cajun BBQ shrimp on my mind, and I'm thinking the red beans and rice with some cajun sausage sounds good (or maybe just plain red beans and rice). And some cornbread, too. And there are a lot of things we haven't even tried yet...

Louisiana Creole
2051 Gratiot @ St. Aubin
Detroit, MI
313-446-9639

Comments

[Gustad Mody]

i always miss ready your title and think its some site saying Kitchen Chink. lol

[Kitchen Chick]

That's okay. I often mis-speak my website title and end up calling myself "Chicken Kitsch"!

[Dan]

Found you through one of our columnists. This is one of my favorite restaurants in our little neck of detroit. Love the blog.

[horton]

Please post a traditional complete menu. When people are hungry and want to order something right away, the last thing they want is to have to imagine what you have or what it'll cost. They will most likely order for carry out elsewhere.hort

[Kitchen Chick]

I hope I have not confused you into thinking that this webpost *is* the restaurant's website. It's only a review. Louisiana Creole has a sizable menu, so I hope you'll forgive me if I decline to type it in. All of the items we ordered are traditional items. We stuck with combination platters so that we could try a wide variety of dishes.

You're right that I could have included prices for the dishes we ordered. The Hungryman's Platter was 7.99, the Creole Trio was 12.99, collards were 3.25, candied yams 3.50, and cornbreads were 50 cents for two. It was a lot of food -- more than I would order if I weren't planning on reviewing the place. We could have each left stuffed on about $7/each or less.

[LR Bergeron]

Great article. May have to give this place a shot whenever I'm in Detroit. LR Bergeron