A Taste of Lawrence: Terrebonne Po' Boys

I love Cajun food. If you love Cajun food, you should check out Terrebonne in Lawrence, you won't be disappointed.  It's located on Vermont street, one block west of Massachusetts Street, and 8th Street.

It's a small, hole-in-the-wall spot, with a few tables set up and a patio outside. The counter is where you order and there's a cooler with goodies like brownies and carrot cake, as well as deviled eggs and beer.

I ordered a deviled egg because they are only $0.50. I was not expecting the burst of spicy flavor I was greeted with when I chomped down on my deviled egg. It was peppery and cajun-y and maybe just a little too much for me in the way of spice. I shoved the other half in my husband's mouth and didn't warn him, but he likes hot/spicy food and loved the egg. I thought it was good, just spicy, of course. It had a good mustard flavor and what seemed to be a cajun seasoning to it. They also have wasabi deviled eggs, and those weren't as spicy as the first one I tried.

For dinner, I ordered the jambalaya, which comes with two hushpuppies. I also ordered a few other things to share: Red beans and rice with andouille sausage, some desserts, and an alligator po'boy.  (The po'boy was actually Ryan's dinner, but I tried it!)

The jambalaya was so good, I didn't want to share it. It was full of shrimp, shredded chicken and sausage, I was surprised at how much meat was in there. The shrimp was my favorite part, moist, spicy and not fishy or rubbery. The rice was cooked perfectly, the seasoning was just spicy enough, with a dominant oregano flavor, which I liked. There were chunks of celery and tomatoes, too, but kind of got lost behind all the other great stuff inside. It wasn't too greasy, which I appreciated. Sometimes jambalaya can be greasy because of the sausage but this wasn't bad.

The red beans and rice is another dish I want to order again. The beans were tender, the rice was fluffy and the andouille sausage was juicy and flavorful. The sausage was grilled and put on top -- you can order it with or without the sausage.

I tried the alligator po'boy, but only one bite. It was good, but I wanted to get back to my jambalaya. The alligator meat is fried and it seems a little chewy, but I hear alligator is chewy in nature, so that's normal. It was a good chewy, though, and the sauce they put on the sandwich was tangy and creamy. It comes with tomato, lettuce and onion, too if you want it. I liked the flavor, but it did just remind me of a fish sandwich.

Hushpuppies came with my jambalaya, and I was impressed. I just wish they wouldn't have been burnt. Not all of the hushpuppies were burnt, but a few of them were. I happened to get one that wasn't burnt and it was pretty amazing. It was pretty big, -- probably twice the size of the ones from Long John Silvers and maybe a bit bigger -- fluffy and crunchy on the outside. I enjoyed the chunks of corn inside the fluffy cornbread-textured filling, I'm not sure but it seems as if they may make their own hushpuppies.


I got some of the sweets, too of course. The chocolate brownie, carrot cake, and a peanut butter bar with chocolate. Everything was tasty but my favorite was the chocolate, gooey brownie. It was soft and ooey-gooey and I enjoyed the chocolate flavor. I ate this one the day after I went to the restaurant and it was still soft and fresh. The carrot cake bar was a little dry, but the cream cheese frosting in the middle helped. It was still pretty good. The peanut butter bar had crunchy rice pieces in the peanut butter part and the chocolate was a dark chocolate that was hard like a bar chocolate, whereas the peanut butter was soft and sticky. That one was my second favorite, and for $1.25 a bar, that's a score.

Everything I had was good and I would definitely return. The jambalaya was my favorite and I want more, but I'll have to wait until next time.  It was full of meat and just spicy enough. The hushpuppies were good, greasy, but good. I am ready to go back and try some of the other items on the menu.

Papa Keno's Really Has Slices Bigger Than Your Face!

Today was the grand opening for Papa Keno's, a pizza place from Lawrence.  I don't usually review restaurants on the day of the grand opening, but this place impressed me so I thought I would share.

Two slices of pepperoni pizza.

For some reason I didn't listen to their motto, "Slices as big as your face." I ordered way too much. One slice could easily fill me up, but I ordered six. Two pepperoni, two Italian sausage and two hamburger, one each for me and my hubby. Needless to say, it was too much food and we will have leftovers tomorrow. Lesson learned. The guy that handed me my pizza said, "Whoa, you got a lot." Yeah, thanks.

What I enjoyed was the thin slices that were baked alone, not as a whole pie. Cooking it this way gives the edges a slightly crisp texture and some of the cheese seemed to bake like a crust, which I enjoyed. It wasn't burnt, but cooked just right. (You can kind of see what I am talking about on the left side of the left slice of pepperoni).

They cut the slices into squares, and I thought that some of the sections were as big as normal slices of pizza at other places.

 The thin crust was welcome. It was chewy but crisp at the same time -- I didn't feel like I was eating a cracker with pizza toppings.

I found out via Twitter that Papa Keno's uses whole milk mozzarella on all their pizzas and make their dough from scratch every day. Yum.

Two hamburger, two It. sausage

There wasn't anything I didn't enjoy. At first, before I saw the sizes of the slices, I thought it seemed overpriced. But when it came I totally understood, and feel I paid for what I got.

The wait was worth the pizza and I plan to go back soon. I look forward to trying their various pizzas, salads and sides. Tonight they were only doing single slices because their ovens aren't big enough to hold all the slices and whole pizzas. The line was long the entire time I was there, from about 7 p.m. until 7:45 and the staff was working hard the whole time. For a grand opening, everyone seemed to be on top of everything, as I waited 40 minutes and they told me the wait would be that long, and the pizza tasted amazing.

I Went Back For Round Two

House salad with ranch dressing

The second night I went to Papa Kenos I knew to only order one slice of pizza. This time I got a meal -- one slice of pizza with two toppings, choice of breadsticks or salad and a drink. I got the salad and it was a basic iceberg salad mix with tomatoes and cucumber with your choice of dressing and there was plenty of it. It was actually quite large, I was surprised. My friend ordered the same meal only breadsticks instead of a salad and there were quite a few of those, too. I would say if two people went the best thing would be to order a salad with one meal and breadsticks with another meal and split the two and have a feast.

One slice with tomatoes and pepperoni

The breadsticks were good, but nothing too special. I liked them dipped in marinara but I would say alone, they are a little plain. But still good.

The meal is a good deal. You get a huge slice of pizza, a good amount of whichever side you choose and a refillable soda all for $7.50 plus tax.

Both times I went to Papa Keno's I enjoyed my visit. The pizza is good, the service is friendly and the price is right.

To check out their menu, click here.