Crescent City - Tustin

Had a decent meal at Crescent City at the Tustin Marketplace. We tried the Crawfish Etouffee ($8.95), which was served in a deep plate with a small scoop of mushy white rice which was holding on to the edge of the plate for dear life like a small child in a Olympic sized pool. The dish was primarily all etouffee, which is sort of like a stew, sort of like a soup. The word "etouffee" means "smothered" and it definitely did that to the rice. We ate the dish with soup spoons, and practically licked it clean. There was a plentiful amount of crawfish meat in the etouffee, along with onions, green peppers, and topped with garnish of fresh diced scallions. The etouffee had a lot of body, and eventhough it doesn't come close to the etouffee I've had at K. Paul's in New Orleans, I still liked it a lot. Crescent City's food, in my opinion is a world away from the sad, "New Orleans" inspired eateries like Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen over at Downtown Disney, which I think is just horrendous.

Our dish of etoufee contained also, teetering on the edge of the plate, two small hushpuppies, which I ate with a little dousing of Tabasco. Not bad, but not the best hushpuppies I ever had - a bit dry in the middle, eventhough it had a nice crunch.

For dessert we tried the beignet sticks dusted with powdered sugar ($0.95 for 4 sticks). These were great, especially when fresh out of the fryer. Salty enough not to be a donut, but not sweet enough to be a churro. They did go a little overboard on the powder sugar though. I almost choked as I accidentally inhaled some of the sugar up my windpipe. I got a side of chocolate sauce for dipping ($0.50), but the beignets really didn't need it, and frankly tasted better without it.

Crescent City
2933 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92782
Phone: (714) 263-3111