Broadway Oyster Bar - St. Louis, MO

Just two blocks away from Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis lies the Broadway Oyster Bar.  The small restaurant in two buildings connected together brings a touch of Louisiana's French Quarter to St. Louis.  The restaurant that operates in a building with over 150 years of history, provides a full range of Cajun cuisine.  Music lovers will also find the Broadway Oyster Bar is a great haven, offering live music seven days a week.  Music is also a theme in the eclectic decor right down to the collection of vinyl record albums that are all over the ceiling.

 The Oyster Bar's Eclectic Interior

Now I am admittedly not a fan of oysters.  In fact, I have only eaten fried oysters before.  The thought of trying to gulp down a wet and slippery raw oyster just isn't in my culinary playbook.  Now some quality Cajun food is right up my alley.  If you are into oysters, however you can certainly get your fill.  Raw oysters, Oyster Rockefeller, Oyster Bienville, Oyster Cardinale and much more await the oyster lover.

I started my meal off with an appetizer of Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake.  A spicy, savory alligator sausage is mixed with cream cheese and shrimp.  The whole thing is baked to a warm, gooey cake and each appetizer serving comes with a healthy slice.  All of it melts well together and the spicy flavor in the sausage is mellowed by the creamy texture of the warm cream cheese.  I thanked my server for recommending the dish.

Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake

Along with my appetizer, I had to try a cup of the house soup, crawfish bisque.  I am a sucker for any bisque and I am glad that I got it.  The buttery flavor of the soup was consistent with a quality bisque and the creamy texture of the soup was good.  The other pleasant aspect to the soup was the plentiful supply of crawfish in the dish.  The appetizer and soup were a great start to my experience at the Broadway Oyster Bar and I was awaiting my entree while sipping on a Louisiana lager by Abita known as Purple Haze.  The rasberry wheat beer, is not usually part of my beer-drinking repertoire, however I found it to be light, crisp and the perfect beer for a hot, summer night.

Crawfish Bisque and a pint of Abita's Purple Haze

For my entree, I decided it was time to go big or go home.  I ordered the sampler platter, which came with a complete selection of traditional Cajun dishes.  The sampler platter had Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, and Crawfish Etoufee.  

Cajun Sampler Platter

I sampled the Red Beans and Rice first.  The rice had a hint of crunch to it still, showing that it was not overcooked and the tomato flavor was excellent.  Large chunks of Andouille Sausage were peppered throughout the dish.  Perhaps the only thing missing was one important ingredient.  A namesake ingredient.  As I ate the dish, I struggled to find any red beans.  Perhaps the only disappointment in the meal thus far.

Next, I tackled the Etoufee.  this was the weakest element in the sampler for me.  the sauce was light and creamy and I saw plenty of crawfish, however the dish was overwhelmed with large, stringy pieces of onions and peppers.  While these items were well cooked, it just wasn't for me.

The highlight of the sampler was the Jambalaya.  Born of a great, dark roux, the entree had just the right mix of spices, vegetables and seafood goodness.  Crawfish and Andouille sausage abounded in every delicious bite.  My dish also came with a pleasant little surprise.  Several small cornbread muffins accompanied my entree and they were little pillowy buttons of deliciousness.  These dense muffins had just the right amount of sweetness.  What a great way to end my meal.

Wait!  Don't stop reading!  I couldn't leave without trying dessert.  So fear not because I stuck around for dessert.  In fact, I got the bread pudding.  I love bread pudding, but the one thing that usually prevents me from getting it is that I don't care for raisins.  The Broadway Oyster Bar had my number though since their bread pudding has no raisins.  It does take a while to get your bread pudding, but that is to be expected since they bake each serving to order.  And damn it was well worth the wait.  The bread was firm and crispy on the outside, while being moist and soft on the inside.  The whole thing was backstroking slowly in a pool of whiskey sauce.  The buttery, savory flavor of the whiskey sauce was a perfect partner for the cinnamon flavor of the bread.

 Bread Pudding

All in all, the Broadway Oyster Bar was a great stop.  Quality Cajun cuisine, steps away from Busch Stadium, live music nightly, and a friendly staff all made it a great experience.  The prices were also fair for the most part, with the exception of the Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake appetizer, which seemed a bit steep at $11.95.  The cup of bisque was $3.95 and the sampler entree was $16.95 and it was way more than I could've finished making it a great dish to split with someone.