Great Taste Coaster

Went to Prudhomme’s on Tuesdays and it looks like crawfish season is upon us. We were informed that “buckets o bugs” were available, “alive until we kill ‘em,” and that was an offer we couldn’t resist. Started out with some hush puppies, natch. When the crayfish arrived we went to town. Not a lot of meat in those suckers. Like a tiny lobster, the tail is where it’s at.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it, since you go through a bit of work for a small payout, but if you’re looking to try out some fresh crawdads and live anywhere near Columbia, PA, I highly suggest stopping by Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen and chowing down on some mudbugs.

Those who know me know that I am on a continual quest for the world’s best Reuben sandwich, so when we went to the Starlite Diner the other night I decided to order one of theirs. Being no stranger to the Starlite, I wasn’t expecting much. It’s a decent diner with excellent breakfasts, but I’ve found the rest of the menu to be hit or miss.

It was served open face, heavy on the cheese and heavy on the dressing. A little light on the corned beef if you ask me, but overall quite good. Although, with the Round The Clock Diner a mere 2.7 miles away (East on 30), I’d probably rather just go there instead.

As a side note, it would appear that the Starlite will be changing owners and will become the Nautilus Diner.

Got any Reuben suggestions for me? Post them in the comments.

I was thinking of all the hoagie’s I want to try out there. Almost everyone has some kind of legendary hoagie place that’s a hole-in-the-wall-hidden treasure. I’d like to find as many of those places before I die. By hoagie I mean anything that comes on a hoagie roll. This includes cheesesteaks, subs, grinders, cubanos (if in hoagie roll), torpedoes, po’ boys, etc. Here are places I like so far.

• Captain Gus’s in the triangle of W. Orange St. and W. King St. Lancaster. The cheeseburger sub is my favorite, the steaks are good there too. The Captain is an amazing dude, you gotta get him to tell you a story sometime.
• Campus Deli on Harrisburg Pike and Mary St. Probably best Philly style hoagie’s in Lancaster. Great selection of Italian heart burn producing meats.
• Montgomery Lunch in Norristown, PA . This place has been in Norristown forever, the previous owners sold the restaurant and the recipes to some Mexican brothers. So Montgomery Lunch has all the classic menu items on the front of the menu (great chili dogs), and an awesome Mexican menu on the back. The cool things are their “mash-ups” of the two cultures. I got a chorizo hoagie there, that was a life altering experience. It came on a great Philly style hoagie roll as long as my forearm. It was filled with chorizo, fresh jalapeno slices, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. I had heart burn for days, but well worth it.

So here are some places recommended to me that I’d like to try this year. I’d also like some company to help me objectively evaluate these hoagies.

• Smith’s Hotel in Columbia, PA. This place does the “shifter” which is a traditional sandwich that only exists in Columbia, and they do a Lebanon Bologna Hoagie?!?!
• Smiley’s Deli. Just heard good things.
• That Vietnamese place on Queen St. Lancaster that has “Vietnamese Subs” written on their shop window.
• G&G’s Deli (I just met the owner), and apparently they have a good subs

Post up your recommendations and we’ll try to get a review of all of these places this year.