Inside a catfish po-boy

Tasty po-boys but so-so atmosphere

Frequently, 318 Forum’s always-hungry reporter has lunch at a local restaurant and tells you about the experience.

For me, when it comes to Shreveport-Bossier po-boys, the bar has been set pretty high.

The catfish po-boys at Orlandeaux’s Café and Herby-K’s are my favorites. In fact, they are among the best po-boys I have had anywhere.

However, for several months, a friend had been telling me about Kim’s Seafood and Po-boys (901 Benton Road, Bossier City). He raved about their po-boys and encouraged me to give one a try. So, on a recent Tuesday, I decided to do just that and invited my friend to join me.

I’ve passed by Kim’s many times. It’s not hard to see, as it is on the corner of a busy intersection. Kim’s is in a strip mall with several other businesses, but we found plenty of parking when arriving just after 11:30.

I would describe the restaurant’s atmosphere as, let’s say, interesting. The large dining room had tables (a mix of regular and high-tops) and modern flooring. And there were big-screen televisions in two corners. But the walls were a combination of blue and white. That may sound soothing, but they looked odd and old in person. There was a hokey-looking picture of underwater sea life and a hodgepodge of vintage signs, newspaper articles and flags (the owners are obviously New Orleans Saints fans) plastered on the walls. Hanging from the ceiling tiles were banners featuring flags from countries around the world.

My friend mentioned after we left that he noticed some tables that had not been cleaned where people had eaten. He had also observed this on prior visits.

Kim’s is an order-at-the-counter eatery. And if you’re a newbie, ordering can be intimidating. The large, blue menu board is full of seafood entrees and poboys, not to mention sides and salads. It’s crawfish season, and a few customers were busy peeling. The crawfish looked good and smelled like, well, crawfish.

I was tempted to go with one of Kim’s many seafood platter combinations. But I was there with the person telling me how good the po-boys were, so I felt obligated to order one. But which one? There were 15 options — everything from a cheeseburger po-boy to a fried soft-shell crab po-boy. I’m not very adventurous, so I went with the catfish po-boy ($13). That way, I would compare apples to apples since my standards are the catfish po-boys at the two previously mentioned restaurants.

For an additional $4, I made my po-boy a meal, which meant I also got French fries and a drink.

My friend had a hard time with his choice. He loves a good bowl of pho (a Vietnamese noodle soup), which Kim’s offers. My friend was tempted by the trays of boiled shrimp being served. And, he always has a weakness for seafood gumbo. But since my friend had been bragging about Kim’s po-boys, he walked the walk and ordered a roast beef po-boy ($12). He also made his sandwich a meal with a $4 upcharge.

Some 10-15 minutes after ordering, our food was delivered to our table. Not on a tray. Not on a plate. Instead, we were given two Styrofoam containers and two bags of fries. I opened my container and found a nice-sized sandwich well-dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise.

One thing I needed was ketchup for both my po-boy and fries. So, I went to a table by the counter, where there were several red squeeze bottles and a couple of Heinz ketchup bottles. Assuming the squeeze bottles were also full of ketchup (they were red, after all), I grabbed one, returned to our table and squeezed away.

Oops. What came out tasted like really bad ketchup. So, I went back and grabbed a Heinz bottle. After lunch, I asked the gentleman behind the counter what was in the squeeze bottles.

“Hot sauce.” OK then. Well, it was lousy hot sauce. My po-boy was really good. The fish was served hot and stayed hot. The bread, for which my friend said Kim’s is known, was solid. It didn’t overwhelm the sandwich. The bread was crispy and flaky outside and soft inside. The style of fries was my favorite style. I don’t know what you call them, but they were thick and had ridges. And they were warm.

Roast Beef po-boy (open)

My friend said that, overall, he enjoyed his po-boy. “It was sloppy enough (in a good way) to give it authenticity.” However, he wasn’t totally satisfied. “I was mildly disappointed in the amount of roast beef. I opened the bun to make sure (the roast beef) was there.” He said the roast beef on the sandwich “seemed like an afterthought. There wasn’t much of it, and there wasn’t much flavor to the little bit there.”

The po-boy bar for my friend has been set for some time at another Bossier restaurant. He said Kim’s po-boy didn’t quite rise to that bar.

Our meal before taxes and tip was $37.37, which included a $1.09 credit card processing fee. I’m never quite sure what to do when leaving a tip at a place that does not have servers check on you throughout your meal. Any suggestions?

Because of the food and despite the surroundings, I am giving Kim’s Seafood & Po-Boys Three Forks. My friend said he would be happy to go there anytime but probably wouldn’t go out of his way. I agree. If I’m going to go out of my way, I’m reaching for that high po-boy bar that has already been set.