Dining Out Gulf Coast: Dat Cajun Place, Panama City Beach, FL

The oppressive heat index continues on the Gulf Coast.  After a long day at the beach yesterday, we discussed and decided to take a break for a while today and drive the 35 minutes to Panama City Beach and have lunch at Dat Cajun Place. The chef/owner is Trudy White who is originally from Houma, Louisiana.  We had read/heard great things about this restaurant and wanted to give it a try.

Upon entering, we were immediately struck by the noise in the dining room.  There is definitely a party vibe here!  If you want to enjoy a meal where you can hear someone across the table while they speak, this is not the place.  We counted 23 televisions, but could have missed one or three.  These aren't criticisms, just an honest observation.

We started with the fried green tomatoes which were sliced thick and lightly battered and fried.  The batter was well seasoned and the end result was not greasy.  The house made crawfish cream sauce was delicious and carried a little heat.  Beautiful presentation.

The appetizer menu covers all the Cajun favorites including gumbo, boudin balls, gator bites, and frog legs.

The remainder of the menu features daily specials including red beans and rice on Mondays, Cajun Chicken Alfredo on Tuesdays, chicken and sausage jambalaya on Wednesdays, Cajun Sausage Spaghetti on Thursdays, and a tower of Crawfish cakes and fried green tomatoes on Fridays.

There are fried chicken options, steaks, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, and, of course, po'boys.

Sweet Harold selected the fried oyster and shrimp basket with homemade chips, and slaw.

These were some of the best fried oysters (and shrimp!) we've ever eaten.  Perfectly fried seafood is a skill that requires a deft touch and this person has the skill!

The homemade chips were nice and crunchy until they begin to cool and then they became a little tough and chewy.  The slaw received two thumbs up from SH.

I decided to venture over to the spicy seafood category and chose the shrimp creole which is described as grilled shrimp in a spicy Creole Tomato Sauce served with rice and a side of "Dat Bread."

The menu did not lie.  This IS a spicy dish.  I love heat and spice and this delivered. The gravy was thick and super tomatoey.  Shrimp were medium/large sized and I was unable to tell if they were seasoned as the tomato gravy really took over the dish.  The bread was nicely toasted and seasoned as well.

I spied the side dishes listed on the menu and the Ragin Cajun Potato Salad caught my attention.  I ordered a serving because I had to taste this (as listed on the menu) spicy potato salad.

It was a good potato salad.  It wasn't spicy, but it was a good potato salad.  In fact, I had to add a touch of salt.  

We'd return and try some more items on their extended menu.