Bayou: A New Favorite
Going out to eat these days can be kind of scary. I love that the Internet gives customers a chance to provide instant feedback after a particularly good or particularly bad dining experience. At the same time, if you believed what people online say about most of the restaurants in Central Pennsylvania, you’d spend a lot of Saturday nights cooking for yourself.
Google a restaurant in the area that you’d like to try, and you’ll probably find a review from someone who assures you that they lived in New York/San Francisco/Paris so they know good restaurants and (blank) restaurant is deplorable. If said establishment is ethnic, you might also find a review from someone who tells you that they travel to China/India/Thailand/The South/France/Italy/The North Pole all the time, and that even the farm animals in those places wouldn’t eat the crap pushed by the restaurant you were thinking of going to.
Well, Saturday night, I didn’t feel like cooking, so took my girlfriend and a bottle of Chardonnay to Bayou on 2nd Street in Harrisburg. I’d seen mixed reviews of it online, but I love Cajun food and so I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. My meal was absolutely spectacular. Honestly. It was brilliant. In fact, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Central Pennsylvania.
The interior of Bayou is small, quite comfortable, and uniquely decorated. I think that lighting is the single biggest factor in the ambiance of any space, indoor or outdoor, and the lighting in Bayou was perfect. The place had a laid-back, yet sophisticated vibe. I’ve gathered that Bayou is kind of known for their seafood pie appetizer, so Meg and I split one. Delicious. The andoullie sausage had a nice kick, but didn’t overwhelm the crawfish, shrimp or cheese sauce. I was afraid when I first saw the dish that it might be a bit too much puffed pastry for me, but the pastry was nice and flakey and didn’t dry out my mouth.
For my entrée, I had barbequed spareribs with baked macaroni and cheese and braised collard greens. The sauce on the spareribs fit my taste perfectly. It had a bitey, vinegary flavor with a peppery pop. The macaroni and cheese and greens were also prepared very well. Meg had jambalaya and said that the saffron infused rice in it was delicious. Our server was attentive, but not overbearing. My water glass was kept full, which is oh so important.
While we were there, the restaurant was fairly empty, and I hope that’s not the norm for Saturday night. So many people in Central Pennsylvania talk about wanting a variety of unique restaurants in the area, and to me, this is one of the good ones. I know you shouldn’t judge a restaurant after only one visit and I’m well aware that I’m no Tom Colicchio or Anthony Bourdain, but Bayou is definitely one of my new favorites.
5 comments so far. Sweet.
Give it another try, and you'll see why it was mostly empty. I live less than a block from this place and we really, really wanted it to be good, but I've been there three times, and it's been horrible every time. Look at the reviews on Dineoutharrisburg.com and you'll see it's not just me.
Justin you are exactly right, people to often get down on restaurants after a small mishap, or a single dish. Operating a successful restaurant is really an enormous task - you've got to please everyone ! I've personally tried Bayou twice and I found it to be a nice addition to the area. Reviews are helpful, but I think you've really got to try a place yourself at least twice to get a real opinion. And if you have a problem with anything that happened during your dining experience, tell the owner! Don't just blab on your blog about it without trying to remedy the problem.
Yeah! Read the internet reviews! Don't you ever Google restaurants in areas you want to try?
The point is, internet reviews are just opinions of people you don't know. Most people only bother to write when they are displeased, so the reviews are (usually) negatively biased. Personally, I'd rather ask people I know who have the same standards I have and not trust random online reviewers.
Have to agree with you and internet revies, you are spot-on. We live in a critical culture where people feel like they are experts just because they can post a review. Bayou is great, try their brunch, and all of these fair weather bon vivant wannabes are just unable to be satisfied.