Lyn D's Cajun Gypsy Cafe

From February 15, 2008
Yes, Virginia, there is a Cajun restaurant . . .

Got another review: Lyn D's Cajun Gypsy Cafe

First of all, this place is run by people from Lake Charles, Louisiana (west of Lafayette) so it's actually around Cajun Country. It's a no-frills type of place, and boy do I mean no-frills. You walk in and place your order and pay. They give you a number and you go sit down in the dining area. There were about 7 tables (2-person and 4-person) in the dining area, plus another room with 2 larger tables. They do have sweet and unsweet tea, but you have to get it yourself. They have red plastic cups, a big metal ice pail, tea, lemon wedges, and a roll of paper towels. So it's partially a bus-yourself type place. The tea is Luzianne, but they really need to wash out their teapot. It was a bit off. Still drinkable though.

We got there a little after 11:30, and placed our order. The menu is small, but it's a small place. They also have daily specials. It was only a few minutes for our food to come out. It comes out on a styrofoam plate with a fork or spoon, depending upon what you ordered. I had the Crawfish Etouffe. Frank had the Combination Gumbo. The gumbo came out in a styrofoam cup, and they brought him a large bowl so he could combine it with the rice.

Crawfish Etouffe: My plate had Crawfish Etouffe over sticky white rice (like it should be!), a garlic pistolette (roll cut open with garlic butter inside), and a slice of lemon pound cake. The crawfish were good. They were a good size and I could taste them! The etouffe was a bit creamier than I'm used too, and tasted like it might have had Worcestershire in it. It was also hot. It was pretty good, and the garlic roll was very good. Heck, even the store-bought lemon pound cake was good. Oh, and there were chopped fresh green onions on the etouffe as a garnish.

Gumbo: The plate had sticky white rice with fresh chopped green onions as a garnish, garlic pistolette, and potato salad. If you're wondering why it came with potato salad, in some parts of South Louisiana they put that in the bottom of their gumbo. I didn't think the potato salad was that good, but I tend to judge potato salad by Boar's Nest standards. It was homemade though, and it had olives in it. The gumbo was dark, which is traditional, and pretty tasty.  They had seafood gumbo; chicken and sausage gumbo; and combination, which is a mix of both. Frank said it tasted pretty good. And there was a lot of it.

Overall, there was a nice atmosphere. I like hole-in-the-wall type places, as long as the food is good, and it was good! They had Cajun music playing, and the walls had nets, traps, and posters of Mardi Gras and New Orleans on them. It actually reminded me of some places I've eaten at in Louisiana. There was even an "attack turtle." And if you've ever wanted to try alligator, they do have fried gator there. We got out of there a little before noon. And they do bus the table after you've eaten, you don't have to do that. Yes, overall it was pretty good, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants Cajun food.

Edit:  I haven't been there since 2008, but this place would get 4 stars in my current rating system.