Two thumbs up for Darwell's Cafe

This weekend Mrs. Food Blogger and I spend some time on the Gulf Coast and had the opportunity to take in a establishment that we have both been wanting to try for some time – Darwell's Cafe in Long Beach.

I am usually skeptical of joints that I see on the Food Network, with one exception – Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives, and even Guy Fieri's rave review of a certain Gulf Coast BBQ joint that will not be named had me scratching my head.

But, back to the focus of the review – Darwell's.

This is a fun, quirky, eclectic eatery provides a one of a kind dining experience on the Coast. Upon entering the front door you order at a counter. Behind the counter you can see directly into the kitchen where Chef Darwell Yaeger and his staff are hard at work. With the extensive menu on small signs all over the walls. That was my only complaint, I studied the small signs for a good 10 minutes and I still couldn't come close to telling you what all they serve.

They had a dry-erase with some nightly specials, being somewhat confused I just blurted out a special that sounded good.

I ordered the “Blackened Filet Tips with Lump Crab”, Mrs. FB ordered “Blackened Shirmp with Lumb Crab”. We also ordered a crab cake appetizer.

After placing you order you move to the beverage station where you order your drinks, and then decided where you want to sit. Darwell's features both indoor and outdoor dining,. Being it's June with temps pushing into the mid-90's we opted for indoor dinning.

After picking up our Coke Zero's at the beverage station we picked out a table in their back dinning room (it was about 15 degrees cooler than the front dinning area), started looking at the unique folk art and water-colors that adorned the walls. Most of the art is the work of Darwell's father – Papa D.
It wasn't long before our crab cakes arrived.

They served them with a nice hollendaise sauce and a vidalia onion dressing.

Upon cutting into the nicely portioned crab cake it was easy to tell that Chef Darwell's lump crab to bread-crumb ration was off the chart! These crab cakes were some of the best I've had, and I've long been known as someone who loves crabcakes. The hollendaise sauce was the perfect compliment, but if you prefer a sweeter taste the vidalia onion dressing was nice.

I'll be honest here, I probably ordered my blackened filet tips because of the confusing menu display, because as a rule I do not like “blackened dish” weather it be steak, redfish, or whatever. I think my general disdain for “blackened” dishes is because 90% of places don't know how to do it correctly.

Do not include Chef Darwell in that 90%, the blackened filet tips were exceptional! Filet tips grilled to near perfection. The tips were cooked medium with a perfect amount of blankening seasoning. They were served in a large shallow bowl, with slice of french bread in the middle of the bowl. The filet tips were served around and over the toasted slice. Then huge chunks of lump crab meat were played in the middle of the dish.

The crab itself was not blackened, just steamed, lightly seasoned and served atop the steak tips.

Having dinned at a large number of seafood restaurants over the years I think the lump crab was largest chunks of succulent crab I've been served.

Interestingly, the dish wasn't served with any sides, but that was the only complaint anyone could make.

The lump crab took on hints of the seasoning from the blackened filet tips, and the toast was a nice touch.

Mrs. FB was kind enough to exchange a few of her blackened shrimp for a few of my filet tips, and while the blackened shrimp had a touch more spice than the tops, they were also excellent. The shrimp were sauteed to perfection, with a rich full deep water taste. They were plated in the same manner as the tips with lump crab and french bread.

Several times while we were dinning Chef Darwell emerged from the kitchen to talk with patrons and to insure everyone's dinning experience was up to his high standards.

In all this was an outstanding dinning experience, we'll be back in the future to try some of their other Southern Coastal inspired dishes, and that doesn't even take into account huge smoker churning out BBQ with Papa D serving as pit-master.

The low light in the back dinning area wasn't good for photos, and they didn't come out, so sorry for no accompanying photos.

Darwell's Cafe gets two big thumbs up from the Food Blog Family!

The Wagon Wheel Steakhouse

For some time I had been wanting to try the Wagon Wheel Steakhouse just east of Petal on Hwy 42. Over the weekend the wife and I went there for dinner. I had fairly high expectations going in because of some good reviews that I have read and from talking with friends that have been there.

When we arrived the parking lot was pretty full, but we didn't have to wait long to be seated. Our hostess and server were polite even if they were a bit over-worked that night.

The decor was kind of what you would expect from a steakhouse, western motif, but they may be trying a little two hard. But, it was clean, well kept and inviting.

We began our meal with an order of onion rings, they were pretty much run of the mill pre-cut, pre-battered rings and were honestly over cooked.

For the entrees we both decided on the 12 oz. New York Strip cooked medium, house salads and loaded baked potatoes.

The salads were pretty standard steakhouse fair, my bleu cheese dressing was good, I am sure not house made, but good quality. They do seem to house make their curtons which is a nice touch. The yeast rolls were nothing to write home about, but they were not bad.

When the steaks arrived, I was impressed, my strip certainly looked to be larger than the advertised 12 oz. They were still sizzling when they got to the table. My steak was a bit on the rare side of medium, but the flavor was great, no steak sauce wanted or needed. They were seared with a Chicago style dry seasoning, a perfect compliment to the steaks. My cut was very good, my wife's cut was not the same quality as the one I was served, but it was still a nice cut.

The loaded baked potatoes were good, nice portion and not over baked.

The Wagon Wheel has not been in business that long, and I am sure they will only get better in time. The Wagon Wheel is a good value and very good steaks, if they can improve their sides to a quality anywhere close to their steaks they will hit a home run every time.

Angus Jack's Steakhouse

The wife and I dined at Angus Jack's Steakhouse for the first time on Friday night. I had heard from several friends that it good, and I love a good steak. It's located in the old Cane Creek Seafood building, and is a bit off the beaten path located on Lakeview Rd.

Upon arriving the only change to the outside of the building was the sign. Cane Creek had been open for about 20 years and was a good seafood place, but was often kind of forgotten because of the location. The parking lot was quite full when we arrived and I considered that a positive.

We were seated promptly and within a couple of minutes our waitress was at the table. Service was very good and our server was polite and attentive. She offered the specials which included a Ribeye Dinner for two and a seafood platter.

We decided on the Ribeye Dinner for two, which included two 12 oz. ribeye's, two salads, two sides, garlic bread and a dessert to share all for $40.00.

We both ordered our steaks medium, I choose the loaded baked potato and selected the home made blue cheese dressing for my salad.

The presentation of the meal was simple, kind of like a traditional 1970's steakhouse, with the stainless steel warmer platters, the salads in simple bowls the garlic bread was served on mini-cutting boards with honey butter.

The salad was a simple steakhouse staple of iceberg lettuces, red onions, tomatoes, and a mild pepper chino. The blue cheese dressing was surprisingly good with large chunks of blue cheese and good flavor.

My steak was nicely grilled, not over or undercooked. It was trimmed and didn't have enough fat or gristle to really mention. The beef they serve is dry aged and has been aged for at least 21-days. It has that distinct dry-age flavor that I enjoy. They used a Chicago style dry rub on the steaks while cooking, I didn't even think of asking for steak sauce for my cut, because it simply was not needed nor wanted.

My loaded baked potato was a bit over-cooked, but hey when you have a good steak you almost forget you even have a side.

We shared a large slice of turtle cheesecake, I am almost positive it was not home-made, but it was decent and the presentation with drizzled chocolate and caramel sauce was quite nice.

My experience was positive with Angus Jack's, I won't tell you that it's the best steak in town, because you can get better in Hattiesburg, but I am not sure if you can get a better value on a good steak in Hattiesburg.