Dining out - Viola & Agnes' Cafe

Back in the NASA area with my job, I hope to be able to restart this occasional series of dining reports.  I plan on reporting on mostly restaurants I have not been to before, but the occasional old standby by may show up.

Today's lunch experience was Viola & Agnes' Cafe in the old shopping center in Nassau Bay about where Allen Maxwell Books used to be.  They're a restaurant with a theme of New Soul food.  The menu comes shows up as mostly cajun-inspired with a bit of Oxtail thrown in.  The service is a blend of counter and sit down.  You place your order at the counter and the staff deliver it to your table.

They have a sign as you come in that says, in effect, we'll be slow, but good.  And that is a wise warning to take to heart.  My meal from ordering to leaving out the door took right at 60 minutes for a Friday lunch.  And I'm a bit of a quick eater, especially since I'm normally dining solo. The interior of the restaurant is shabby New Orleans, with a wall of clocks all set to different times to encourage you to not pay attention to any markings of time. If you have a tight window for lunch, go somewhere else.  If you have some time, and a companion or two to converse with, come in, order, and sit a spell.

My lunch today was a fried catfish sandwich, side of red beans & rice, glass of tea and a slice of their Coconut Cake.  All were fabulous.  It took about 30 minutes from the time I placed my order to the time I received my meal.  If I'd known if was going to be that lengthy, I would have brought a book with me to read.

The catfish was nicely fried and of a length twice as long as the diameter of the bun in which it resided.  The dressing on the sandwich were coleslaw, remoulade sauce, and homemade sweet pickles.  There was a small ramekin of what tasted like a slightly spicy raspberry sauce that went well with the catfish.  The red beans were good, with a small serving of rice and green onions on top.  The coconut was nice, and light, and gone quite quickly.

Total for the meal came to just around $22, with the tea.  $13 for the sandwich, $4.5 for the cake, and $2.5 for the tea.