Dining Out: Galveston Island, Texas - Benno's Cajun Seafood

When you're on vacation to a location you've never visited before and you eat lunch at a restaurant and enjoy it so much you go back for dinner a few nights later, you know you're on to something special.  Where is this magical place?  Benno's Cajun Seafood.

Benno's is located right on Seawall Boulevard on Galveston Island.  You can choose to dine either indoors or on their patio with an unobstructed view of the Gulf of Mexico.

Walk up to the counter, place your order, and take a seat. Every order is prepared fresh as you wait. No heat lamps here with sad fries waiting on you to order them.  

Sweet Harold ordered a Fried Oyster Po'Boy for his lunch selection. The bread was toasted, the po'boy piled high with delicious, well-seasoned oysters, and as he requested, was served dressed (with lettuce and tomatoes). Those fries were HOT, and the coleslaw was cold and crunchy.

The lady behind the counter suggested the Cajun Oyster lunch special. I was intrigued and expected fried oysters with Cajun seasoning on them.  But more on the oysters in a moment.  Boiled new potatoes on the menu???  My favorite way to eat potatoes.  Yes, please. 

Now more on those oysters.  Compare these oysters to the ones on the po'boy in the picture above. See how they appear to be flattened and have an excellent crust to them?  This is because they are cooked on the flattop. I had never had oysters prepared this way, but I do know these were the best-fried oysters I've ever had! The seasoning had just the right amount of heat and wasn't overly salty as some Cajun seasoned food tends to be.

As we left, our server mentioned we might want to come back for dinner and try the Cajun Seafood Platter and the bread pudding.  We followed her recommendation and were indeed glad we did!

The "platter" description is very accurate. The oysters prepared as they were for the lunch special (yay!!), large Gulf shrimp, and tilapia.  Coleslaw and roasted quartered potatoes completed the platter along with a toasted piece of French bread. All menu items were well seasoned. I was very impressed with the size of the fish, as well as the shrimp and oysters. $17.95

Isn't that a beautiful plate?

And then along comes the dessert:  Bread pudding with Bourbon sauce $3.95. This was a very large serving with a more than adequate amount of luxurious sauce. We shared and still couldn't finish the entire serving.

These lovely people were great!  Thanks for two great meals while we were visiting Galveston!