I had a dream the other night that I had to eat my way out of a hamburger. I know, on the surface that sounds really pleasant — being trapped inside of quality beef patty and having to chew your way out of it.
I thought it was a great dream too, until I realized the burger was made by my uncle. He is without a doubt the planet’s worst cook. It’s almost as if he was born without taste buds.
I mean, he kind of knows what a burger is supposed to look like — a slice of tomato here, a piece of crisp lettuce there. So, that’s good, I guess. But that’s about the extent of his knowledge.
Needless to say, once I realized where the burger came from, I found myself in the throes of a full-on night terror. Eating my way out of that burger was equivalent to entering a competitive eating competition where the dish was a pile of sand. No thanks.
When I woke up Wednesday morning panicky, and drenched in a cold sweat, for some reason I was relieved. It was only a dream. But I couldn’t shake the thought of wanting a well-crafted burger, even if it was just to wash the flavor of that other disaster out of my mental taste buds.
And here is where Rikenjaks Brewing Co. comes into the picture. Rikenjaks is my guiding light when it comes to good food. The place is my north star, my compass rose, my TV guide for great meals at reasonable prices.
If Rikenjaks sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The place was a local hot spot for entertainment years ago before closing its doors in 2006. In the beer house’s heyday of the early to mid-2000s, the shop’s Broad Street location was the place to be for anyone looking for a fun night out on the town.
Fast forward to 2016 and Rikenjaks is nestled on Ryan Street with a new building, and a faithful customer base of older patrons who remember what it was, and a new, younger crowd enjoying what the place is becoming.
For me, I recognize it as an establishment where the adult beverages are amazing, and the hamburgers are some of the best you’ll find in all of Southwest Louisiana.
The menu has a bit of everything. The Southern- and Cajun-inspired dishes like shrimp or grilled chicken pasta, fried catfish, tacos with varying meats, and steaks in various forms are all extremely popular.
What might be the best thing offered for lunch or dinner is, in my opinion, the Chuck Vegas Burger. This thing comes with a thick beef patty, lettuce, tomato and topped with a fried egg.
The Chuck Vegas Burger is everything a burger lover could want in a dish — big flavors amid a symphony of unique textures.
The Chuck Vegas Burger I ordered was filled with natural flavor because the patty was thick and cooked to perfection. The vegetable toppings were fresh, only adding to the already pleasant flavors. In a way, the burger had the appeal of what a master grill cook would make at a barbecue. And the addition of the egg took the dish from something deliciously familiar to something incredibly unique. The yoke broke and mixed well with the oils from the burger, a twist in the taste that I think was the point of the dish.
I also ordered some pistolettes that came with a creamy seafood sauce. Take the greatest version of your favorite spinach dip. Now remove the spinach and dump in a pile of the most delicious shreds of seafood you could ever imagine, and you have the Rikenjaks version. Couple the flavor of the sauce with the crunchy, yet soft texture of the pistolette and you have the stuff dreams are made of.
All together, my bill came to around $25. Not bad when considering the serving sizes of each dish.
So my Tuesday night ended with a long, bad dream about a poorly cooked hamburger. Thanks Uncle Greg. But luckily, my Wednesday afternoon peaked because of the magnificent symphony of meat, vegetables and cheese from Rikenjaks called a Chuck Vegas burger. I don’t know who the cooks are at the quaint little beer house, but I have to extend a sincere thank you to them. You all have restored my faith in the burger arts. And because of you, I can have a resentful night’s sleep.
Maybe I’ll even have that burger dream again, except this time, it’ll be from Rikenjaks. I may wake up and go back to sleep to do it all again if that’s the case.
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Find Justin B. Phillips on Twitter and Facebook.
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