Taste of Soulard and Saturday Seafood night

So yes, it is in fact Wednesday as I'm finally writing my post of the weekend.  I have a confession though.  I am full-stop, unashamedly addicted to The Hunger Games Series.  If I have had a free minute in the last week, I have had Catching Fire in my hands and reading at warp speed.  I will put up my take on the book in the next few days, but take away one thing from this intro: RUN (don't walk) to buy these books.  So amazingly well written. 

Saturday was the start of Mardi Gras celebrations here in St. Louis, specifically in a sub-city in St. Louis called Soulard.  There are events throughout the entire week and the Mardi Gras Parade is this coming Saturday.  Quirky fact: St Louis' Mardi Gras is the 2nd largest celebration/parade in the country, respectfully behind New Orleans celebrations. 

We headed down mid-afternoon to start the Taste of Soulard, which involved over 25 different restaurants/bars throughout Soulard participating in tasting samples from their menu.  We had to buy a booklet of tickets good for 6 samplings at the restaurants of our choosing, and then 1 specialty drink at any of the stops.

Our hit list was as follows:

1. Sage - Crawfish Ettoufee and Blue Crab

2. Nadines - Chicken and Sausage Kabobs

3. The Great Grizzly Bear- Cajun Shrimp and Scallop Rice Bowl

4. 1860's / Hardshell Cafe - Famous Crab Cakes w/ creamy crab sauce
5. Llwelyn's Pub - Housemade Chips and White Chicken Chili
6. Lumiere Place Tent - Budweiser Braised Bratwurst

7. Carsons - Chicken Jambalaya

He's my great grizzly bear all right!

I didn't end up eating the White Chicken Chili at Llwelyn's, so we had an extra ticket and Terry used it for Carsons Chicken Jambalaya.  We both agreed that the best thing we tried was the Cajun Shrimp and Scallop Rice Bowl at The Great Grizzly Bear.  The Crab Cakes at 1860's were ok for Midwest seafood, but they just made me crave crab cakes from back East.  There's just had too much filling and it was fried and greasy. 

I have to admit that I was not up to food par with how the day played out.  My stomach was just feeling funny, and while the food that we did eat was great, the partying atmosphere and the mobs of people were just not doing it for me.  While I think Terry would have happily stayed downtown celebrating late into the evening, we ended up coming home for Saturday Steak Night. 

Much to his dismay though, we opted to make it Saturday Seafood Night instead.  I had been craving Crab Cakes for a while now and after 1860's sampling it was just the icing on the cake that I needed good seafood! He begrudgingly obliged me and, per usual, knocked me off my feet.  Sarah joined in for dinner, and we all licked our plates clean.  The plate consisted of Crab Cakes, Israeli cous cous in a white wine butter sauce, steamed broccoli, and a shallot and cream roumalade on top that was out of this world. YUM!