Another Broken Egg Cafe, Shreveport LA

This wasn’t a place I would have chosen, but one my father had visited, and one for which he was wanting another opinion. Some friends of his just loved this chain. Others could take it or leave it. He felt, in advance, that it was pretty good, but hardly divine.

Another Broken Egg is a small chain, and the morning we went, was full of people.

Eggs benedict.

Smoked salmon omelet.

I enjoyed my breakfast, a smoked salmon omelet. My father’s order, eggs benedict, was made using ham instead of the Canadian bacon he prefers. He liked it but it wasn’t, in his opinion, heavenly. That takes a good hollandaise sauce and the right ingredients. The service was good, so I’d tend to the view that this is a good, not great deal for breakfast.

Another Broken Egg Cafe
855 Pierremont Ste. 132
Shreveport, LA 71106
(318) 865-1124

Shreveport

 

Yeero Yeero, Shreveport LA

It’s the best known of the Mediterranean restaurants in Shreveport, and one I’ve been curious about for some time. From the outside it looks like a hole in the wall, and most of its business, the day I dropped by, was through a drive through window. Inside, though, it’s nice, with heavy expensive furniture dominating the scene. It is actually pretty small inside, so if you’re coming during a rush, you might not get inside seating.

I had their lamb chops and my dad had their muffuletta. It was a big muffuletta with a traditional seeded bun. I liked the chops, enjoyed what I ate, but the contrast from the modest take out window to the luxurious inside is really tangible.

Yeero Yeero
4511 Youree Dr
Shreveport, LA 71105
(318) 219-0027

Shreveport

 

Fertitta’s Delicatessen, Shreveport LA

It lives in one of the oldest buildings in Shreveport, so old it’s on the National Registry. The section of town is hardly the best, and it’s only open at lunch. But the look, outside and inside, has to be seen to be believed, and they serve what they call a muffy, so designated (so my father tells me) because Fertitta’s was sued when they tried to use the phrase “muffuletta”.

The "small" muffy. The large one is bigger than my spread hand.

Fertitta’s muffy is an original, in part because of the home made olive salad they use, in part because it’s a sweeter olive salad than most. It doesn’t transport me the way the muffuletta at E. 48th Street Market Italian did, but something with a near 80 year history deserves some respect. I enjoyed the sandwich, enjoyed the meal, loved the ambience. The ambience alone makes this something of a “must visit” for a food aficionado in the Shreveport area.

Fertitta’s Delicatessen
1124 Fairfield Ave
Shreveport, LA 71101
(318) 424-5508

Shreveport

 

Podnuh’s Barbecue, Shreveport LA

Podnuh’s is perhaps my brother’s favorite barbecue in the Shreveport area. A small chain with a cafeteria line style of service, you order your meats, and once handed what you order, you pick your choice of sides as you stroll down towards the register. On this day I had brisket, and ordered ribs to go for my family.

The brisket was pretty ordinary; the ribs were quite good. They are large ribs, done in the Saint Louis style. The smoke flavor in the ribs is distinct and you can easily see a smoke ring on the ribs. By contrast, the brisket tended to be dry and the smoke flavor was sometimes there, sometimes not.

Sides are decent; staff is quite helpful. The looks inside are worth a peek. Bits and pieces of western memorabilia cover the sides of the walls. A television is in one corner, but otherwise was a quiet place to spend an evening between Christmas and New Years.

Pudnuh’s Barbecue
1146 Shreveport Barksdale Highway
Shreveport, LA 71105
(318) 869-3371

 

Mid June 2009 food and boonie notes

Yesterday I picked up some food to go from Haru Ichiban, and spoke a bit to the manager about the Shoya Izakaya – Haru Ichiban connection (noted by John Kessler and Gene Lee). He said that Shoya was opened by the ex-owner of Haru, and that Haru Ichiban has retained all their staff, including their executive chef. I wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this until he mentioned that people are eating at Shoya, not liking it, and going to Haru Ichiban to complain. They tell him, “The food doesn’t taste the same.” I think this is significant enough to pass on: if you don’t like the food at Shoya, complain at Shoya.

Otherwise I’ve been trying to remember the names and locations of places I’ve eaten at over the years, and I’m drawing so many blanks on so many places. Other places of note are simply gone: Bookbinders in Philadelphia is gone. Neal’s Ice Cream in Houston (the first place I was served a super-premium ice cream) is gone. The Pizzeria Uno on Colonial Drive in Orlando (pizza salvation in Orlando) is gone. Brocato’s in Shreveport? Gone. The BBQ place southwest of Fort Worth Texas we so favored? Closed, because restaurants are no longer allowed to have sawdust floors.

Others are lost in the wash of hundreds and thousands of potential contenders. Have you ever tried to track down a deli from New York City using Urban Spoon? Midtown West alone has 230 sandwich shops. Pizza in Chicago? There are 3000 eateries in the windy city.

Some things, however, are slowly becoming clearer. The In N Out Burger we dined at, located near the Muir Forest? Found that. The pizza we had in Chicago, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the two restaurants that Urban Spoon calls Original Gino’s East. Nothing else has the graffiti, or is close enough to Northwestern University. The astounding dungeness crabs in San Francisco? The leading candidate right now is Thanh Long. The really fun ice cream shop in Oakland, California? That was Fenton’s Ice Cream Parlor. The first place I ever had a French black bottom pie? That was House of Pies, on Kirby in Houston.

Yet another boonie pepper seed from floralys sprouted, totally unexpected. This brings the germination rate of floralys seeds to 7/12. I took my largest boonie pepper plant and put it in a clay pot outside. The pepper doesn’t look that good. I give it a 50-50 chance to survive.

And reviews on the way, soon to be published: Six Feet Under, Alon’s in Dunwoody, Shoya Izakawa, Longhorns near Webb Ginn, Cold Stone Creamery and more.

Note: for those who remember Brocato’s excellent red snapper in a bag, a minister named Richard Seaton is offering a cook book based on the old Brocato’s staples.