The Bayou Soul: Food for the inner you
What the heck is Creole food? My friend asked when I said we were heading to Camden to try a brand new Creole restaurant. I told her it is ‘Southern American Soul Food’ and after that she was on the tube faster than a lightning? bolt.
On entering The Bayou Soul in Camden I was hit by it’s uber coolness, it is such a tranquil place, designed to look like a trendy bar in Southern America. It made a busy hectic work day melt away instantly.
I was pretty hungry which was a great start as the portion sizes are immense!! For starters I had the deep fried squid which came with a mini crab cake, I was full just looking at the plate. But the taste, oh my gosh the taste was immense, seasoned with secret Creole seasoning it was lush. My friend had the BBQ Shrimp with Biscuit, which again it was a perfect starter and tasted divine. With all those flavours infused you can imagine, and plus there were loads of prawns!! Actually more prawns than some takeaway places stick in your main meal
For my main I had the deep fried catfish with Hoppin’ John, which is basically seasoned rice with black eyes peas inside. I also had the Creole coleslaw. Shall I go back to portion sizes? They were huge!!! I literally ate a quarter of my meal and had to take the rest home, but boy did it taste great still the next day. This by far is the best meal I’ve had and I love food!
My friend had The Bayou Platter which consisted of chicken wings, the most tender ribs I’ve ever tasted and two sides. I was majorly impressed by her platter of meat. She loved it and cleaned her plate. Just a testimony to the goodness The Bayou serves up. Proper soul food that fills us from deep inside.
Before I go into desserts, I need to talk cocktails. Seeing as The Bayou were launching their cocktail menu that night (we actually didn’t know that). We thought how rude that we don’t try each cocktail. I can promise although I don’t remember the exact taste of each drink, we loved them all. However by no.5 the names became a little hazy. I will share with you our top 3:
1. The Spicy Aperol Spritz; perfect flirty girly cocktail made up of Aperol, Campari, orange juice, a dash of tobasco sauce and Prosecco.
2. The Suffering Bastard; perfect for after a long day. Comprising of rum, gin, triple sec, lime juice and orgreat.
3. The Camille; named after one of the biggest hurricanes in Louisianan history. This mix of white rum, Modori, lime juice, pineapple juice, banana syrup and coconut cream was LUSH!
Ok back to the desserts! I had the The Tennesse Sugar Beignets with Apple and Cinnamon Compote which were basically like the best doughnuts I have ever eaten. This was so yummy I tasted one bite and asked to take it home; I needed my partner to sample this too.
The Bayou gets a 10/10 from me! It’s perfect value as things are inexpensive and the portion sizes are huge. This has become my favourite place to eat and you can find me there sitting next to the Louisiana band with a Camille in one hand and gumbo in the other.
Why not try them for yourself?
Check out their website for full details and also follow their social media
