Cajun Kitchen Cafe

Gary:     Good Morning everyone. Well, this weekend was a whirlwind of activity and it flew by. Hope and I were busy from Friday night right up until Sunday afternoon when we both decided we had had enough and needed to get some well-earned rest for the week ahead. But we did ride on Sunday and again, in spite of this insane weather we are having in Southern California. After a long Friday which included working a Hollywood Trade Show called Cinegear at Paramount Studios and a business dinner that Hope and I attended until the wee hours of the night, I was back at the trade show on Saturday until 6 p.m. When I got home, I took a shower and immediately went into a coma on the couch. I woke up long enough to drag myself to bed.  When I came to on Sunday it was very early (for me, mind you), so I just made some coffee, got ready, got on my bike and left for Fillmore.

Guess who I surprised? Yep, Hope said to me upon arriving,” I knew you were going to do this to me” as she was still in her PJ’s. LOL. Since I am never in a rush it was not a big deal, plus I got to have some of her fresh off-the-tree orange juice, which is just so damn tasty and it’s a good way for her to shut me up while she gets ready.

Hope:    After a long and exhausting Friday and Saturday (not to mention Monday through Thursday), I wasn’t sure if I was going to have enough energy to make it to Sunday, but here we are..and I’m hungry. It was already about 8:10 am and I hadn’t yet heard from Gary, so I sent him a text and then left a voice mail message and figured he was either stuck in the bathroom or already on his way up to Fillmore without calling me first. A few minutes later, I heard his bike pull into the driveway, so I sent the dogs out to greet him and then followed, despite the fact that I was still in my jammies!!!

Gary:     We had some stuff to go over this Sunday morning so we wanted a place that would afford us some quiet and nice scenery. Hope had remembered this place called Eric Ericssons on the beach in Ventura so we decided on that. She didn’t remember if they served breakfast or not so I got on the internet (from a phone; I am still not used to that) and I checked. Their website claimed that they just started serving breakfast and it’s from 8:30 am to 11:00 am. Ok cool, we are set and Hope gets ready in about 10 minutes, (she is the fastest chick I have ever been with getting ready) and off on our bikes we go. This is where the tale gets interesting. Since my patience was very thin (being around too many people does this to both of us) I will let her tell you about the next part of this in fear of getting myself all pissed off again at stupid rules that make no fucking sense.

Hope:    While Gary entertained my four pooches and enjoyed some fresh orange juice from my own orange trees, I threw myself together and was out warming up my bike in under 10 minutes! Gary had this great idea to visit a restaurant at the beach, so I gave him the name of the only one I know of in Ventura and he did his magic on his i-phone and informed me that Eric Ericcson’s now serves breakfast. I expressed my surprise (and trepidation), but we fired up the bikes and headed to the beach. We exited the 101 at Sanjon and made our way to the beach parking lot where we were informed it would cost $10 EACH to park the bikes. Trying to reason with the mindless twit at the booth by telling him we would share one parking space was a waste of time, effort, and energy, and we were met with the same asinine stupidity that sometimes precedes “postal” behavior. We pulled away and headed to a nearby parking structure where we were informed we could park for $2.00 with validation from the restaurant. So, we park, walk to the pier, and are met with a sign on the front door of Eric Ericcson’s, “We are closed.” What the fuck??? The prices of their food are reason enough to sometimes avoid this place, but now add nightmare parking, and they’re not even open? Why advertise on your website that breakfast hours are 8:30-11:00 if you aren’t open at that hour. I think it may be a frosty day in hell before I try to give them anymore of my business.

So, then the big question of the morning becomes, “Where do we eat?” We’re close to Pete’s, Allison’s, Busy Bee, Vagabond, and the Cajun Kitchen Café, the latter being the only restaurant we haven’t yet tried. Mind you, one of the reasons we were hesitant to visit the Cajun Kitchen Café is because it is a chain; with 5 or 6 other locations, but this place does not seem anything like a ‘chain’. So, a quick right onto California Street and left onto Main Street, and we parked the bikes. There was already a small crowd in front of the restaurant, so we give our names and opt for a table (the counter is first-come, first-served). We grabbed a menu and joined the other patrons outside. Their breakfast menu covers several pages with a few specials on the board.  There are the regular breakfast items-pancakes, eggs, omelets, and quite a few vegetarian offerings, but what really got my attention was the blackened catfish, redfish (snapper), salmon, and chicken as well as boneless pork chops Benedict, jambalaya, gumbo, 5 different types of sausage, and etouffe. And then I knew I was in trouble!

I have such fond memories of Cajun food from my motorcycle trip around the country where I had the wonderful experience of stopping in Iowa, Louisiana in a serious rain storm where I decided to strip down to my boxers and a wifebeater to do laundry. The restaurant next door offered ’The Crawfish Special” which consisted or crawfish boulette, boiled crawfish, crawfish jambalaya, crawfish rice, and crawfish etouffee. I literally overdosed on every offering of crawfish and I still love the meaty little mud bugs! This morning, I opted for a fillet of blackened catfish (I thought crawfish etouffee would be a bit too heavy for breakfast), scrambled, eggs, grits, and cornbread.

Gary:     When we finally arrived at the Cajun Cafe I was finally calmed down enough to just enjoy the day with Hope. This place was a pleasant surprise to me. It really doesn’t look like much from the street but when you walk in, it all changes. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a booth so we just hung out and read the menu. Even after reading it beforehand, we still couldn’t make up our minds when we sat down because the waitress kept bringing food to other tables that all looked so good. After much deliberation I decided on the ‘breakfast’ Jambalaya with over easy eggs on top. After taking about three bites, Hope reminded me that this has shrimp in it. What the hell was I thinking, I forgot this has shrimp and I am extremely allergic to shrimp. Damn it. I was about to give it a try anyway, but realized how stupid that would be. My face turns the color red with big bumps on it. If you have ever seen the movie ‘Hitched’ and remember what Will Smith looked like, that is me. LOL.

Hope:    After they served Gary his jambalaya, I tried a bit and then asked him if he was still allergic to shrimp, since the bowl was filled with them. “Ooops,” was his answer…so we pushed the bowl of jambalaya to my side of the table and he ordered the etouffee. I don’t understand why he can eat crawfish but not shrimp, but well, there are a lot of things I don’t understand about Gary so this is just one more for the list…lol…

I decided to dive into my breakfast, but had to first poke around the bowl of jambalaya and found it to be thick like a stew and filled with rice, chicken, sausage and LOTS of yummy shrimp. Its spicy, so if you're whimpy, sensitive, or afraid of living on the edge, this is NOT the menu item for you. It will make your nose run and beads of sweat form on your brow... and you will love every bite of it!!

Gary:     Ok, so there was this guy at another table that ordered the Crayfish Etouffee that looked just outstanding so that is what I wound up with and to go with it, I also ordered some Louisiana hotlinks and cornbread. What a f’in meal. I was so stuffed that I couldn’t finish it and not because I didn’t want to. It was a huge portion of food that makes your taste buds ignore your stomach. The result is, you can’t breathe properly. LOL. The coffee was great, the service was outstanding with smiling people everywhere. You can either sit inside at a booth, counter or table. They have a back room with beautiful art work on it, or you can enjoy a beautiful day on the patio out back. This place has it all and like I said, unless you look, you wouldn’t know it. This place for me was ‘Off the Charts’ good.

Hope:    My breakfast was fabulous! The fish was fresh and flavorful, the (huge helping of) grits were covered with melted butter and the cornbread was right out of the oven. And I enjoyed my eggs covered with the jambalaya Gary couldn’t eat!  After we couldn’t eat anymore, I packed up the rest of my fish with the jambalaya and a healthy portion of grits, vowing to have another wonderful breakfast tomorrow!

The Cajun Kitchen Café offers an abundance of menu items and the accommodating staff is flexible in serving you anything on their menu, even if it’s a dinner item for breakfast! They have the front dining area (about 8 or 9 booths, a dozen tables, and a small counter), a small rear dining area, and an outdoor patio area in back. The décor is simple and tasteful, staff is friendly and accommodating, and it’s a great neighborhood find. Truth be told, I’m glad they have more than one location, so I can add it to my travel list when I find myself north of the Ventura area. The Cajun Kitchen Café was indeed OFF THE CHARTS… My only regret was that I didn’t have room for dessert…lol…

Cajun Kitchen Cafe                                                                                             301 East Main Street                                                                                          Ventura, CA 93001                                                                           805.643.7701