“Could we get an order of the salmon cheesy bread, an order of the crawfish bread, a shrimp po’ boy, a catfish Etouffee, a cup of the gumbo, a side of potato salad, a slice of king cake, and a serving of the banana pudding please? And that’ll do me.”
Greetings Huntingtonites, this is Trey Cobb with Huntington News Network; welcome to the first episode of my food review series, where I go to local businesses and tell you what I think.
This week I’m doing the Gumbo Stop Cafe, so I wanted to get one of everything. This place has been on my radar for a while now. Just in case though, I got the staff’s perspective on what they would have ordered had they been in my shoes.
(Sitting at the bar, watching the food be prepared)
Trey: If there was something I missed, what would you recommend I get next time?
Staff: Try a pepper jack sausage po’ boy.
T: Pepper jack sausage po’ boy?
S: It is so good!
Review
Potato Salad:
Nothing really stands out here. It’s just a good ol’ straight forward homemade potato salad. Delicious. 8/10
Cheesy Salmon Bread:
You can’t go wrong with this, the sharpness of the cheese, the salt with the salmon, and the toasty bread really brings it all together. 10/10…wait, no. Maybe 11/10.
Cheesy Crawfish Bread:
Heard a lot of praise about this one; the richness of the shellfish stands out in a good way, and it’s complimented by butter, garlic, and cajun spices. Love it. 10/10
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo:
Never had gumbo before, so I have nothing to base my opinions off of; this came across kind of soup-y at first, but then I discovered plenty of hearty ingredients. I wish it was bigger! Very tasty, pure comfort food. 10/10
Catfish Etouffee:
I was a little surprised the catfish wasn’t fried, just because I’ve only had fried catfish. The grits are next level cheesy, and all the flavors work really well together. The sauce is savory, the grits soak up the sauce. I cleaned my plate. 10/10
Shrimp Po’ Boy:
Back to basics with the shrimp po’ boy. Similar to the potato salad, nothing special here, pretty straight forward. Nothing to complain about either. I do wish there were more shrimp, and that the breading on the shrimp was a tad crispier. I’ll try the pepper jack sausage po’ boy next time for a potentially fuller experience. 7/10
King Cake:
Including this time, I’ve only had king cake twice; this was at least better than the last time I had it. Still didn’t blow me away though. At least the cake itself was moist, and the icing wasn’t too rich. Would have eaten a second slice in hindsight. 6/10
Banana Pudding:
Now for a little bit of controversy, I can respect their take on banana pudding; it’s got real banana, vanilla wafers, and a toffee crunch. However, the pudding itself isn’t giving off natural banana vibes. I did enjoy the combo of toppings, especially the toffee crunch. 4/10
Final Grade:
My final grade for Gumbo Stop Cafe is an 8.5/10. I would definitely recommend checking these guys out.
