A Taste Of New Orleans On Gumbo

First and foremost, I would like to thank the Gumbo people for providing me this New Orlean’s Mardi Gras-inspired headdress and necklace. I just wish to have a photo with their restaurant, but they let me wear these. This shows how nice and approachable the servers of Gumbo is, which is a good thing for a restaurant. Aside from that, if the waiters are in their beautiful costume, what more can we expect from the interiors of the restaurant. It is so inviting!

With such a good ambiance and service, Gumbo is a casual dining restaurant that provides extraordinary atmosphere of the taste of New Orleans. Imagine there’s no need to go Louisiana to taste Cajun and Creole cooking because its Filipino owners brought Gumbo here in the Philippines. In fact, Gumbo is Burgoo‘s sister.

Gumbo offers a wide array of menu choices from appetizer, soup, salad, seafood, meat, pasta, pizza sandwiches and desserts. Among all of these mouthwatering food, here’s what we ordered.

Gumbo Bread

I always love restaurants with appetizer promos because who wouldn’t love free food, right? While we waited for our actual orders, we were served with Gumbo bread and its accompanying olive oil dip. We felt the softness of this Gumbo bread. It’s just like an ordinary bread but there’s something in it that makes me wanna have some more. The dip was simply olive oil with a clove of garlic yet it fits well. It’s indeed a good way to start our dinner.

Shrimp and Artichoke Soup

Shrimp and Artichoke Soup is not really in the menu of Gumbo. We actually ordered the soup of the day and we’re so lucky to have this soup. Even though it is not loaded with the flesh of shrimp and artichoke, its rich thick creamy soup got the essence of these two items. The soup was able to retrieve its goodness. I hope to have this again when I come back in Gumbo, but I want to try their other soups as well.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

This is another complementary dish from Gumbo since we have a value perks coupon from SM, which entitles us to exciting offers and freebies at their retail establishments such as Gumbo. If you know me, I’m not a chicken eater. But I thought, nothing’s gonna change if I tried this spicy hot wings. It’s a good thing I did. The spicy heat off the buffalo sauce mixing with those Jalapeño bits is a great flavor combo. I also love their bleu cheese dip.

Family Feast

Though the family is incomplete when we dined in Gumbo, we still opted for their Family Feast because unlike us, it’s complete. It has shrimp and mushroom kebab, fish, chicken, pork ribs and rice in one platter. It’s more than just a surf and turf experience. I love the softness of the fish and the freshness of the shrimp. The chicken has slight crisp in it. The pork ribs is tender, too. It made the three of us eat like a whole family as we finished the whole platter.

Angus Burger Steak

What a divine lip-smacking meal this is! If you’re craving some burger steak, this is the one for you. It’s Angus so we’re already sure about the quality. The sauce is bossed up. It’s not your regular gravy. It got a nice spice and sweetness into it. My advice is to devour it when it is still hot. The rice was full of distinct strong flavors that reminds me of New Orleans cuisine. The corn kernels were sweet and the patty was beefy. It was a bit dry but overall, it really tasted heavenly!

Bayou’s Stuffed Crab

The fact that Gumbo already removed the crab’s soft shells inside for me and switched it into well-seasoned crab meat is already incredible. I am proud to say that I’m the only one who finish this dish. I can really recognize the crabness from it despite of the stuffed celery, bell peppers, onions, special herbs and spices. It is also served with a bed of shredded lettuce and red cabbage. What a great combination! Because of this I leave their restaurant, not just full, but very contented.

Barbecued Shrimp

Upon hearing Barbecued Shrimp, I thought it was skewered into a stick. Instead, the shrimp were circled around a cup of rice. Gladly, my expectation on the taste was correct. The touch of spices onto it was perfect. The shrimps have generous amount of the seafood’s flesh. The shrimp head still has its natural flavors. I never feel uncertain that Gumbo really gives the best seafood specialties. This is New Orleans, ladies and gentlemen!

Four Season

My mother ordered Four Season, which, in Gumbo, is a salad and not a drink. This new-to-my-eye salad is composed of soft lettuce, kiwi, ham, grapes and mango slices. She actually have high standards when it comes to salad because she has her own recipes of salad. I’m glad to say that Gumbo’s Four Season passed her standards. This is freshness on a plate. Although they weren’t able to make the ingredients crisp, it was still satisfying.