Where Are the Waffles?

Last week, I wrote a blog post about my primary reasons for coming to Coastal Mississippi in January - sunshine and running. There is another reason, however, and that is southern food. Seafood and butter. Lots of butter. Apparently lots of waffles too because there is a Waffle House on every other corner. I am positive they outnumber McDonald's here, and that's saying something. But...well, hold that thought. 

I have not had a burger or a taco since I got here. What I have eaten is red fish, catfish, crab, and shrimp as entrees or in po-boys, fresh and fried and grilled and all ways in between. And of course the oysters, perfectly in season, raw, char grilled, Rockefeller. You name it. 

Here are some standout meals.

Peche Seafood Grill, New Orleans. Raw oysters, smoked tuna dip, and Brussels sprouts with chili vinegar.

Shaggys Pass Harbor, Pass Christian, Mississippi. Crispy fried green tomatoes and crab cakes with homemade remoulade.

Fill-Up with Billups, Pass Christian, Mississippi. Split cathead biscuit smeared with creole cream cheese, topped with smeared ham, two eggs, and crawfish etouffee. 

Now back to the waffles. Fill-Up with Billups is the place to get waffles. Not, as one might expect, Waffle House. The Waffle House doesn't really have waffles. They offer a thin, sad dough and if you ask for a topping, like chocolate chips (they only have three toppings), it gets sprinkled on top rather than baked into the dough. Very disappointing. 

Waffle House does have many tasty, greasy spoon egg plate breakfast options, but I prefer my local place, Daddy's in the Pass. This breakfast may not look special, but it's five dollars. Five dollars! Right around the corner from the house. I have brought home breakfast from there a lot. Also, they really know how to make some damn fine cheesy eggs.

Surprisingly, I've never once while here had fried chicken or a crawfish boil. But I have eaten more  of all the tasty seafood at a number of other excellent places in the land where people pretend COVID doesn't exist. So if you're looking for some recommendations, any of these places are well worth a stop:

• French Kiss Pastries, Ocean Springs, MS
• Half Shell Oyster House, Biloxi, MS
• Coast Roast, Gulfport, MS
• Bacchus on the Beach, Pass Christian, MS
• Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine, Pass Christian, MS
• Elizabeth's, Bywater, LA
• Bourbon House, New Orleans, LA

And, while I've only had waffles once, I've enjoyed plenty of iconic desserts, like pralines, bread pudding, and pecan pie (which here is pronounced pih-KAHN and not PEE-can). It's a damn good thing I started running again!