Two Hungry Piglets: Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

The Hungry Piglets are going to South America!! YAY! And how do we get there? 5 hour flight to the George Bush International Airport in Houston, Texas. Now an 11 hour layover... Jebus save us. There better be some decent food in the airport... I'm dreaming aren't I? *sigh* Well, here it goes...

We end up here at Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen, one of the rare sit-down restaurants in this giant airport. There's 5 terminals people! 5!! And each terminal has like a gagillion gates! I need a drink... or a good meal. Yeah, I need a good meal.

Pappadeux's Seafood Kitchen has locations in over 6 states and boasts good ole French Quarter/Bayou/Cajun cookin! What does that mean? Andouille sausage, crawfish, etoufee, dirty rice, gumbos and more from the Southern regions of the US of A. Mr. Piglet and I haven't experienced much in the way of New Orleans food so we were pretty excited to give this place a try.

It's upstairs and has it's own atmosphere providing a nice break from the airport. The downside? No bathrooms on site. You have to go back downstairs and use the general washrooms. Argh. Ok, let's move on to the food...

"Louisiana" Seafood Gumbo - $8.99

It arrives at the table and... it's tiny. I've had bigger side soups. What the heck?? I'm starving so I dive in. It's got some nice spice with a good balance of tomato broth with a punch of seafood broth. There's also some veggies (if you can call celery that), long grain rice, shrimp, clams, a few pieces of fish - lots of stuff in this bowl but it's a small bowl so I guess it's not so hard to fill. It's super tasty but the size somehow leaves a tinge of bitterness in my mouth... A few spoonfuls and I'm done. Still hungry... I'm going to need another meal for the plane.

Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich - $12.99

Now, THIS is a meal. Tons of crispy perfectly fried shrimp shoved into a big thick bun with some coleslaw and a creole mayo concoction with a mountain of fries on the side. Coleslaw is crunchy and the mayo gives everything a nice bite - an awesome combination of ingredients and pretty darn tasty. It's a really good sandwich and Mr. Piglet makes short order of it. While he's full and satisfied, I'm left to finish off the crispy fries in frantic hunger.

These were both very tasty and good representations of Creole food and the po boy sandwich was nothing short of very tasty. The gumbo was also tasty but it's just too bad it was toddler-sized. In this airport full of fast food options, if you're looking to slow down, get away from the airport without leaving the airport, watch some sports while enjoying a drink with a good sandwich, I think Pappadeaux is good option - just be warned that some of the portions are super small and the prices are on the expensive side (but it's an airport so that's to be expected). Bon appetite!

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