Da-De-O, Edmonton - 50's Style Cajun Dining

You wouldn't know it from the inconspicuously narrow shop front, but open the door to Da-De-O New Orleans Restaurant & Bar, and an interesting world awaits you. From the black & white chequered tiled floor to the red pleather couch booths, this place oozes old-school charm. The care and love that has been spilled into this place is obvious from the meticulous interior decorating that instantly makes you feel welcome, like you have arrived in a happy fantasy land that you never want to leave. But just like you don't go to IKEA for the great food, we weren't here for the furniture. So how was the food??

This place just stretches back for a mile

The menu was quite extensive, offering a wide range of southern fare. You could even order oysters cooked in a variety of methods should the seafood cravings kick in. However, we came to Da-De-O to try their famed Po'Boys. What is a Po'Boy? Good question, because we ordered two of them with little knowledge of what we were getting ourselves into. Basically, they are a chunky sub sandwich served with coleslaw. But not just any ordinary ham and cheese on bread kind of sandwich. These are sandwiches that take pity on the old ham & cheese and arrogantly scoff in the direction of the tuna melt. These are big sandwiches with attitude.

While we were intrigued by the oyster Po'Boy and tempted by the blackened catfish option, we opted for the Philly steak Po'Boy and the pulled BBQ pork Po'Boy. They come with salad, but for an extra $1 you can substitute the salad for their sweet potato fries. Bring on the fries!

Skip it.

Before our meals arrived, we were served with a complimentary appetiser - I would call it a scone, but I think they are known in Canada as "Biscuits". Same same, just different name. They were accompanied by a small tub of jalapeno jelly, which had a dominant vinegar flavour at first with a sugary finish. It was odd to look at and weird to taste. After the first confused bite, we politely pushed it away and waited for the main attraction to arrive.

The Po'Boys arrived shortly after and were impressive in their size, but not particularly overwhelming otherwise. Not to say they weren't nice - the Philly Steak one in particular could have passed for a really great pizza if you closed your eyes. The steak was moist and the cheese was generous. The pulled BBQ pork was a little heavy on the mustard which disguised any true meat flavour. Basically, they were just great sandwiches which had a little flare to them. The sweet potato fries however were awesome! They had been lightly battered and coated in plenty of spices which gave them a fantastic crunch on the outside but they were still soft and moist on the inside. So much better than ordinary fries.

We had just enough room for dessert so we ordered a slice of the pecan pie with ice cream. Even though the crust of the pie was a little thick, the filling was a perfect balance of sweetness and richness that was well accompanied by the ice cream. There were certainly no crumbs left on our plate by the end of it.

Pecan Pie & Ice Cream. Hard to screw that up, really.

Boring on the outside.

RECOMMENDED

Da-De-O scrapes in as a recommended on the basis of originality, good value and a great atmosphere. The Po'Boys were not the awe inspiring meal that we had hoped for, but the sweet potato fries took up some of the slack and the pie left our desert stomachs happy and satisfied. It is a good option for a relatively cheap meal out that's fast, but doesn't taste like fast food.





The bill (for 2):
1 x Philly Cheese Steak Po'Boy with Sweet Potato Fries - CA$10.00
1 x Pulled BBQ Pork Po'Boy with Sweet Potato Fries - CA$10.00
1 x Slice of Pecan Pie - CA$6.00
TOTAL: CA$26.00 (Approx. US$25.50)

Note: All Po'Boy sandwiches are only $9 on Mondays and Tuesdays ($1 extra for sweet potato fries). They are usually a couple of bucks more.

Restaurant address: 10548 Whyte Avenue, Edmonton, T6E 2A4, Canada
Website: http://www.dadeo.ca/

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