333 Bistreaux at Avoyelles

I recently hit up another downtown dining location for lunch: the 333 Bistreaux on Third Street.  I've been walking by their restaurant's daily special sign for a while now, so I figured it was about time to actually go in for a bite to eat.  Justin met me downtown and we walked into the 333 Bistreaux to see what we could find.  

333 Bistreaux

Their daily special happened to be a filet mignon poboy, which certainly seemed worth trying.  Upon sitting down and looking at the menu, I decided that the poboy would be the right path.  The lunch menu seemed a little too ordinary and yet still over-priced, though I guess every entrée ended up in the $10-14 range, which isn't terrible if the food is worth it.  The restaurant itself has around 15 tables, of which perhaps only one or two were occupied.  We were seated and promptly greeted by our server who did a pretty good job, though annoyed me a little at times by being over involved with our table (presumably since there was hardly anybody else in the restaurant).              

Shrimp and Lobster Bisque

I started with a cup of shrimp and lobster bisque.  The cream-based soup came out warm, but not hot.  The shrimp and lobster pieces were adequate, though not quite as plentiful as I would like.  The bisque did have a nice flavor with smooth and creamy textures and mild seasonings which added sufficient taste without much spice.

Filet Mignon Poboy with House Salad

The poboy didn't arrive at my table quite like I expected.  Rather than come out as thinly sliced filet mignon on  classic New Orleans style French bread, the sandwich instead came with tender chunks of stewed beef that had been tossed in a steak sauce.  The meat itself actually tasted great.  It nearly melted in my mouth and the sauce added a nice touch of originality to the sandwich.  The bread, however, did nothing to help make the poboy great.  I wouldn't say that it ruined the sandwich, but I'll certainly never crave that bread in the way that I crave the best poboys.  It did strike me as being a little odd when the poboy came out with no dressings at all.  Typically a poboy will at least have the option of lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.  Fortunately the sauce smothered steak made up for it and needed no additional toppings.  I opted for house salad instead of fries, which I think ended up being a fine choice as the salad was a notch up from typical lettuce-and-dressing-only house greenery.  In the end it was a decent lunch, though after tip I had spent $20.  I can see potential, but for now this is not one of my top downtown destinations.