Pousson’s Seafood

5920 Common St., Lake Charles • 337-477-1075

By Mario Pacetti

Well, this past year was a complete bust for me with regards to eating crawfish. I was down with two different knee surgeries. That didn’t have me motivated to get out and deal with crawfish season crowds. And the couple of times I had a chance to eat them, they were pretty disappointing.

Times have changed this season, and my first two outings have been nothing short of bad ass. One was to a spot here in Lake Charles that had been around for a bit, but I had never heard about. The other was off the beaten path in Mowata, La.

My buddy Rudy and his wife Ashley had been asking Chelsea and me to come eat some crawfish at Pousson’s Seafood for weeks, but we just hadn’t been able to make the time. But recently, I found the time, and I sure wish I’d found it sooner.

Rudy does the crawfish for our annual Good Friday crawfish boil. He makes the best crawfish I’ve ever eaten in my life. It’s always consistent, so if he’s telling me how good the crawfish at Pousson’s are, I’ll listen to his recommendation.

The first thing to remember at Pousson’s is not to let the little place fool you. They’re packing big flavors into a small place.

There are really only so many things you can say about crawfish, and that is, do they have a nice size? Do they peel easily? How expensive are they? And finally, how’s the flavor?

Pousson’s knocked it out of the park on all these questions. The crawfish were full to the brim with flavor; they peeled super easy; the sizes were above average; and the price was more than fair for what you got.

I would highly recommend anyone to stop in. The staff are friendly and the beer is ice cold, so it’s a win-win situation.

 Off The Beaten Path: Mo’ Crawfish 

29017 Crowley Eunice Hwy, Mowata • 337-457-8434

The other night, we were invited to Mo’ Crawfish in Mowata, La., by our friends Alex and Christine Rasmussen and Bryan and Melina Fralick. Well, people bring football helmets from local high schools to Mo’ Crawfish, and these are mounted on the wall. Both Alex (Sam Houston High School) and Bryan (Sulphur High School) are high school football coaches in SWLA. Bryan brought his Sulphur Tor helmet to be mounted.

Mo’s sits right there on Hwy. 13 all by itself. The place was packed full, both inside and out. Clearly, they’re doing something right.

Mike and Katherine Hundley opened Mo’s four seasons ago. They’re only open during our two crawfish seasons. But you’d never know they weren’t a full-time restaurant given how well decorated and full the place is.

Mo’s has some of the coldest beer you’re going to find anywhere. And they have one of the best ideas I’ve seen with regards to the trays they use to serve their crawfish. The tables are a little small, so they don’t use the two-tray method that most places use,  which involves one tray for the crawfish and one for the shells. They use cake pans with a hinge divider; as you eat, your shell area can continue to grow as you keep your tray divided until you have nothing but shells.

We had their homemade crawfish cakes, which were clearly a spin on crab cakes. They were the bomb.com. I should have ordered another one, because we shared, and I could have eaten it all by myself.

This was the coolest little spot. I would be more than happy to make the drive out there again. Everyone was nice; they made it a point to make sure we enjoyed our experience.

It’s nice to find these gems for crawfish at all, because all too often, people think they can just open up a crawfish place and start serving people. Often, the quality of the crawfish in such places is grossly inadequate. They either over-season them or don’t use enough seasoning.

Mo’s should be an example of how to do it right.