By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Contributor
It seems like there has been an explosion of restaurants opening in the Shreveport-Bossier area lately, which in my case, just feeds my content, and of course my stomach.
Thiago’s Seafood, 1130 Central Park Blvd., Bossier City, opened recently, and there has already been a buzz on Facebook about their food. That’s where I heard about it and after looking at their menu, I knew I’d be quickly checking them out.
This weekend I picked up food for my daughter and son-in-law as they were stopping by to show me my granddaughter rolling over and crawling — she’ll be five months old next week.
I wanted to get a range of items to get a good feel for how well Thiago’s handles different themes of food. On the weekends they offer some Mexican dishes, so we had to try a couple; we went with Sopes with the Barbacoa Chicken and the Pupusas with mixed meat. These come individually and are very tasty.
The handmade corn torillas absolutely make these dishes. They are night and day compared to store bought tortillas. The flavor works so well that I’ll probably make sure I go on the weekends so I don’t have to miss out.
My daughter ordered the catfish, the whole one by mistake. She had never had a whole one, and struggled with the bones. Once she was able to clear the bones she enjoyed the catfish. I tried a little taste and the breading had just the right amount of flavor and crunch, while keeping the catfish juicy. She also loved the hush puppies as one of her two sides.
My son-in-law had the Mexican dishes and ordered the combination fried rice. I guess he wanted a Latin and Asian fusion meal! Don’t knock it, he finished everything. I was lucky to get a bite of each, all of which I enjoyed.
I ordered Fried Jumbo Shrimp, which come in many different amounts, I had six. Normally I’d get more but I wanted to order a couple chicken wings. When they say Jumbo, they mean Jumbo. The shrimp were fried perfectly, the coating had a nice flavor without overpowering the shrimp. The shrimp were juicy, even when I got to the last one after eating everything else.
The Chicken Wings are traditional fried three-part wings with no sauce, strictly letting the wings speak for themselves. It was refreshing having wings that way; it feels like I’ve been only eating flavored wings lately. These reminded me how good regular wings are, and being able to order one or two fit well with my meal.
I ordered the French Fries and the Red Beans and Rice as my sides. The fries were well cooked and seasoned, but the Red Beans and Rice was really good. It’ll be double Red Beans and Rice as my sides at Thiago’s from now on.
While I was waiting for my order, I saw a friend of mine in the dining room. He had a Shrimp Po Boy, and it looked good with authentic New Orleans French bread. He told me it was a good sandwich and he’d be back to try the oysters next time.
I usually take the Teague Parkway home, but I can see myself getting off on Barksdale and picking up dinner at Thiago’s regularly — at least on Fridays, so I can get those weekend specials.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net
