HEED THE WARNINGS…
One of the places that use to be in our Friday night rotation was Willie’s Ice House..it is a great place to go with the kids because you can sit outside and they can play in the huge sandbox…..I guess with cooler weather or maybe for some reason(s) I’m not aware of we kinda dropped it….not sure what those reasons might be…..the food’s great and we always enjoy ourselves when we go….it’s amazing what warmer weather and a coupon can do for bringing a place back into favor….
And coupons we had….so we headed to the Willie’s in The Woodlands for our Friday night with The Big Willie’s (no he doesn’t own Willie’s Ice House…nor do they give him any sorta discount cuz he is Big Willie)….if you’ve never been to Willie’s you stand in line and order from the counter….the menu is varied and there is a pretty good selection to choose from….
There is the usual faire found in your ice house kinda joint…..burgers, nachos, sandwiches, etc. (you get the idea)…they also serve chicken fried steak, fish, and a variety of po-boys…..we always get some fried mushrooms (The Wife’s fave) and after debating between the cfs and a cheeseburger, I decided on a catfish po-boy….with a side of sweet’tater fries….
As I told the girl behind the counter what I wanted she says, “That comes with our hot and spicy cole slaw…..is that ok?”….
My brain spun around in my skull and I thought ….Wha……me not ok with hot and spicy?
“Why yes, miss…..I’d love it hot and spicy”……is what came out of my mouth….
She gave me an OOOOO-K BIG BOY….WHATEVER YOU SAY kinda look and moved me down the line to get my drink….
After filling my plastic glass with ice and Coke Zero I made my way to the table by the sandbox and gave the waitress our ticket….I took my seat and she began to list what we had just ordered and when she got to the catfish po-boy she asked just what the girl behind the counter had just asked, “You know this comes with our hot and spicy cole slaw…..you ok with that?”
I know I smirked as I said, “The hotter, the better….”
Like the girl earlier, she gave me that YEAH, RIGHT look and took our orders to the kitchen….
We sat back and watched the kids in the sandbox and relived the events of the past week….the fried mushrooms arrived shortly as well as some chips and salsa….we started to dig in and I must say the mushrooms are pretty good…..they come with a honey-mustard sauce (dressing) to dip them in….battered and deep-fried they can become addictive and before long you’ve wolfed down a dozen or 20 and suddenly you’re not so hungry for your main course…
But alas…..I some how found it within myself to scarf down the last couple ‘shrooms and make room for the catfish po-boy being set in front of me…..it’s a good looking sammich….full of golden fried catfish, that scary spicy cole slaw all laying between a sandwich roll….I smacked my lips and picked it up….surprisingly it held together and I took my first bite….I tasted bread and catfish….either the cole slaw wasn’t all that or I just hadn’t gotten to it yet….bite #2 was more of the same……the bread was fresh and the catfish good…..lightly breaded and not greasy…..so far no big bad hot and spicy….
Then there was bite #3…..to say it set off fireworks in my mouth would be a slight understatement…..not the hottest thing I’ve ever tasted but…..it was hot….and spicy……and did I say…..HOT?
It wasn’t the type of HOT to build a little at a time….it was a light switch being turned on…..an explosion of flavor inside my mouth…..my nose ran….my lips burned….my eyes……watered….and again it wasn’t an unpleasant heat…..it let you know it was there but didn’t overpower you to where it began to take away from the catfish….
Dang it was good….
I would have to say this is one of the best catfish samiches I’ve ever had…..the combination of lightly breaded catfish and the hot and spicy cole slaw worked great together….
The sweet’tater fries were ok….not the best I’ve ever had…..but not the worst either…..just sorta so-so……then again my mouth may have been so fired up with the cole slaw that the fries just couldn’t compete with the heat….
This would be a FatJoe recomendation…….not sure if they serve the cole slaw on any other po-boys…..if they don’t maybe you can request it….
But if you’re scared of the heat…..HEED THE WARNINGS……..
EAT WITH FATJOE 