A few weekends ago, my fiancé and I traveled to Lafayette for the weekend. I had not yet been to “Cajun country” as they call it, and I had really wanted to try the food there.  The drive there was eerily beautiful, especially as you cross the Atchafalaya swamp. We stayed in a small town called Breaux Bridge for the weekend, known as the crawfish capital of Louisiana. Upon arriving, we were starving and desperate to eat.  We stopped at a place called Le Café. It’s not really a café, per se. It reminds me of the clam shacks we have up north. We ordered a shrimp po’boy and the catfish platter. I was very pleased with my po’boy…the shrimp were huge! I hate when you order shrimp in Louisiana and they give you these little peewee shrimp. My fiancé also enjoyed his catfish, which was seasoned and fried to perfection. The other bonus is that they give you a ton of food and it’s cheap!

shrimp po’boy

We left there satisfied and headed to our B&B, the Isabelle Inn. Such a charming place in such a quaint little town! The people there were very kind and accommodating. After we checked in, we decided to walk through the many antique shops and cafes located “downtown”. For dinner, we ventured into Lafayette to a place called Jolie’s Bistro. It’s a farm to table restaurant, featuring a seasonal menu, which consists of mostly Cajun dishes. Honestly, I could have just tried all of their starters, small plates and “salted bits”.  To start off we had Jolie’s Oysters, topped with crawfish, corn, and Andouille sausage and mascarpone cheese, and followed by a salmon and grapefruit salad and spicy crab bisque. We probably could have stopped there (well, maybe one more small plate) but we had already ordered our main dishes. I had the duck saltimbocca served with sweet potato and Andouille hash. My fiancé had the braised short ribs served with shiitake mushrooms and risotto. Everything was delicious and I especially enjoyed my gimlet! (Scroll down below to see how pretty it was!)

Duck Saltimbocca

The next morning we awakened to a lovely brunch at the inn. We did not realize our hosts were such gourmet chefs! She created a special treat of roasted plums served with mascarpone, fresh homemade biscuits, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts and crawfish étoufée served over scrambled eggs. It was the first time I had seen étoufée over scrambled eggs since moving to Louisiana. If you are hesitant at all, it’s actually a tasty treat! I’ve been thinking of making it at home for brunch ever since I tried it.

roasted plums

To sum up, we had a delightful stay in Breaux Bridge and I have wanted to go back since then to try more of what Acadiana has to offer.