Great Louisiana-style food and service

Each edition, 318 Forum’s always-hungry reporter visits a different restaurant and tells you about the experience.

I seldom find myself in downtown Shreveport.

Therefore, to me, The Blind Tiger (120 Texas Street) is out of sight, out of mind. The only time I hear about the restaurant is when someone drives their car into the building, which has happened more than once in its 31 years at the foot of the Bakowski Bridge of Lights.

But on a recent Tuesday evening, a friend and I attended an event in an area some call The Heart of the City. When we left, our stomachs – not our hearts – told us they needed to be fed.

“I wonder if there’s any place downtown to eat?” my friend asked.

It was then that I thought of The Blind Tiger. However, I hesitated before making the final call. Not because of anything to do with the restaurant, but rather everything to do with the perception which, right or wrong, is that downtown is not particularly safe.

We decided to go only if we could find a parking space close to the restaurant, which we did. We made the short walk down Spring Street, hoping my car and its wheels would be there when we returned.

We walked in at 6:52 and were immediately greeted by the hostess. She politely asked if we wanted to wait for a table or sit at the bar. We were told the wait for a table would be 20-25 minutes (every table was taken). Given a choice, I usually don’t like eating in a bar area. However, the sounds our stomachs were making told us that we needed to make an exception this time.

There were only a handful of empty seats from which to choose. We asked our server, Milli, who was also the bartender, if the place was usually this busy.

“Not on a Tuesday night,” she said. “Friday and Saturday, yes.”

Before I go any further, Milli deserves a big shout-out. She was excellent – very friendly and attentive. She kept a keen eye on my glass of water, offering a refill each time the water line looked a little low. When asked, Milli gave her food recommendations. Good service can sometimes be hard to find. We found excellent service at The Blind Tiger.

Speaking of drinks, The Blind Tiger offers many choices of alcohol, but their wine is limited to one brand. Still, my friend ordered a glass ($6.55) and was pleased (and I was pleased with the price).

We both ordered a cup of Seafood “Gumbeaux” ($5.95) as an appetizer. It was served promptly, although the gumbeaux wasn’t as hot as I would like. But it was as advertised on the menu: a house recipe of dark roux, with baby shrimp, oysters, crab and “bold Louisiana flavors,” topped with white rice and scallions. “Bold” may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the gumbeaux was good. The roux was more thick than thin, which is how I like it.

By the way, Millie, once again showing how good she was, asked if we wanted any hot sauce with our gumbo. It’s nice when a server asks if you want something instead of waiting for them to return, while your food gets cold.

When reading the menu, my eyes were quickly drawn to the Pecan Crusted Catfish ($17.95). The fish was described as coated in house-made pecan dressing, deep fried and topped with Creole mustard cream sauce. Now, that’s something you don’t find most places, but I’m glad I found it at The Blind Tiger. The two pieces of fish were excellent. They did not taste fishy; the batter was crunchy and stuck to the fish. The creole mustard was a really nice touch.

The fish was served with Cajun-fried corn and jambalaya rice. (I could have chosen dirty rice.) I frankly did not care for the rice, as I found it borderline cold, as well as dry and lumpy. But the Cajun-fried corn more than made up for what the rice lacked. Wow! We’re talking about a small piece of corn on the cob, which, as Milli explained, is boiled to soften. Then, the corn is rolled in a special batter and fried, just like the fish.

It was one of the best sides I’ve had in a long time. My friend, who also had Cajunfried corn with her meal, said it was “outstanding, like eating dessert.” She thought the batter tasted like a funnel cake.

My friend went with The Shrimp Sampler ($19.95). She tried (imported) shrimp four ways: fried, blackened, Voodoo style and as part of a side of shrimp etouffee. While the etouffee was her least favorite – but not bad – she said the other shrimp were delicious, and all had a different taste. Her plate came with a container of cocktail sauce and a container of tartar sauce. She said the cocktail sauce stood out, as it had a jelly-like taste and texture.

There was so much food on her plate she couldn’t eat it all. Not wanting to see any food go to waste, I was happy to help.

After dinner, we were both quite full.

However, we knew you would want to know about The Blind Tiger’s desserts. There were three choices: The Blind Tiger Colossal Cheesecake, Southern Style Bread Pudding or TheDevilMadeMeDoIt (a fudge brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and chopped pecans).

We wanted to share something, and I am one of the few who don’t like – actually, it’s my stomach that doesn’t like – chocolate. Smartly, my friend asked Milli if the cheesecake was made in-house. Her answer was no, but she said the bread pudding was made at the restaurant.

Sold! Let me be clear and speak in no uncertain terms. The bread pudding was one of the best desserts I may have ever had. When Milli put the large serving on the bar top, my friend said, “I can smell it.” We’re talking about bread pudding with walnuts and apples, topped with a house-made rum/caramel sauce and whipped cream. It was good enough to make a blind tiger see. The bread pudding was warm, smooth and soft.

Always thinking, my friend asked if we could get a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go along with the bread pudding. Milli quickly obliged, though I noticed we were charged $1.50 on the ticket. I remember when things like that used to be complimentary. But these days, there’s no free lunch or a free scoop of ice cream.

Full and satisfied with most all we ate and with Milli’s service, we paid our bill, which was $59.60 before tax and tip. We were out at 8:21 but could have left earlier if needed. It was only when we realized we were the last customers in the restaurant that Milli told us The Blind Tiger closed at 8.

I am happy to report that my car was right where I left it – wheels and all. We drove away agreeing that The Blind Tiger definitely deserves Four Forks. We would go again and would go out of our way to do so. Even if it was just for bread pudding.