I did a post a while back on menu hacks and mentioned several I’d come up with at The Chimes, so I thought I’d follow up and order them again and take a few photos. This is really just another way to navigate the menu since portions and pairings might not always be to our liking, and some places have the ubiquitous salad and side that just might not be your thing that day. Most of these are just a way to enhance an appetizer into an entree, or put two things together that aren’t together on the menu. Let’s start with one of my favorites, fried alligator with rice and gravy. Now it isn’t going to come out like the photo–I took a few liberties with the presentation to get a better pic. It will come out on two plates and you need to make sure you tell the server or barkeep you want it to come out together if they fail to ask. Should be a no brainer, but never assume in a restaurant setting. The person taking care of you may be barely trained, hungover, pissed at management and thinking about quitting–same as your workplace. I think if you are from Louisiana, you just naturally want to add rice and gravy or grits and gravy to anything, up to and including an old shoe. And the fried gator is nicely complimented by the horseradish dijonnaise that comes with it, but dijonnaise is not rice and gravy. Another good hack is ordering a bowl of the duck and sausage gumbo, add blackened alligator. Believe me, something already rich and hearty can always be more.
The Chimes has a good shells and cheese that they offer with a few sautéed tails thrown in as an appetizer, and just shells and cheese as a side, but adding the fried tails definitely takes it up a notch. It might be a little light for lunch for some folks, but you can always ask them to add a roll which will bring it up to speed for most.
Eight fried shrimp is really too many for me, six would be good, but the bartender told me adding eight was cheaper than six. Who knows why? I gave her the extra two shrimp. I’ve always wondered why restaurants that have étouffée and rice ready to go don’t offer it as a side on their fried platters. Seems like a no brainer to me-oh, wait, yeah, I guess that does make sense, no brains. You can always stretch this into a nice surf and turf if you want to and have the money. Ribeye, mid-rare, side of crawfish étouffée, or, Petit filet, very rare, and could you please add a small side of crawfish étouffée?
And what is gumbo, but a different kind of rice and gravy? This is actually a Parrain’s menu hack since I was closer to them at lunchtime. This also works with fried poboy shrimp, or you can ask for catfish fillets, or any and all of it blackened or grilled. Whatever store you pick, they will be happy with the sale, especially at lunch when everyone is fighting for more business. Point being, don’t let the menu hem you in. Ask for what you want, and if you can’t get it, move on to the next place until you do.