Let’s talk about gator. The other other other white meat.
Outside of the Mardi Gras season, when you can get it on a stick, alligator isn’t exactly a common entrée option on Mobile’s dining scene. It can be found here and there and it definitely has some drawing power as a novelty. But is it worth foregoing a heap of fried shrimp, oysters or fish?
The joke one wants to reach for is “tastes like chicken.” That’s only true to a point, however. Gator doesn’t have a strong or distinctive flavor, and for all the dishes sampled on this gator hunt it came in nugget form. When the texture was good, it was indeed reminiscent of chicken. When it wasn’t, well, gator can be rubbery in a way that common poultry just can’t match.
I’m not going to talk about the days when the gator gets you. But when you get the gator, here’s how that plays out.
5 Rivers Gator at Dauphin’s
Dauphin’s, on the 34th floor of Mobile’s second-tallest building, has a commanding view of some of the waters your gator could have come from (though it almost certainly didn’t). The 5 Rivers Gator appetizer ($17), features “fried mojo alligator” dressed with a Thai chili sauce and served with house-made buttermilk ranch dressing on the side. The chili sauce adds some welcome color and spice to the nugget-based dish, which is a good way for a party to satisfy their collective gator curiosity. (Note: 5 Rivers Gator is on the brunch and dinner menus, but it’s not an option at lunch.) 107 St. Francis St. in downtown Mobile, www.godauphins.com
Gator Po-Boy, Baudean’s
When you step into Baudean’s Seafood Restaurant & Bar, you’re aware that you’re in a truly old-school Mobile seafood restaurant. Everything from the down-home vibe to the aroma of seafood and fresh fryer oil to the surprisingly broad menu backs up the impression, and it’s glorious. Props to the restaurant for doing more than just offering gator nuggets as an appetizer: You can get them on a po-boy, which is what I tried. The po-boy is okay. The dilemma here is, why get gator nuggets as an app ($12.99) when you could get bacon wrapped shrimp or crab claws or baked oysters? Why get the gator po-boy ($13.99) when you could get softshell crab for a buck more, or a fried green tomato BLT for a buck less?
I’m going to have to get back to this little place way down D.I.P. Seriously, the dinner menu includes some grand platters, steamed seafood by the pound and steaks. Not to mention that the cocktail menu includes things called the “Baudean’s Green Drink” and the “Pain Killer.” All this bears investigation. 3300 River Road, Theodore; www.facebook.com/baudeans
Fried Alligator Plate at the Bluegill
If I was grading on presentation, the Bluegill would be in trouble: Order the fried alligator plate ($23) and you get a bland-looking pile of nuggets on a bare plate, with a plastic cup of dipping sauce on the side. The menu says, “tastes like chicken … but with an attitude.” I don’t know about that, but these nuggets impressed with their excellent, consistent texture. No rubber here, and the portion was generous. It’s always been fair game to order an appetizer as your entrée; this is one case where you might consider doing the reverse, in order to share these around.
I just noticed the fine print on the Bluegill menu, which isn’t really relevant but it’s entertaining enough to share anyway: “Note: Consuming raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness. Of course, other things could cause you harm as well. Smoking, inhaling under water, riding a camel bareback, drinking whiskey, yelling ‘Fire!’ in an airplane and calling your wife Hazel when her name is really Harriet.” Food for thought. 3775 Battleship Parkway, www.bluegillrestaurant.com
Voodoo Pasta at Boudreaux’s Cajun Grille
Leave it to a place called Boudreaux’s to do more than just fry up some gator nuggets. If you order blackened gator ($15) off the appetizer menu, it comes over rice with remoulade. But why do that when you can order the voodoo pasta? Normally it’s bow-tie pasta with “spicy voodoo cream sauce, tasso, spinach and mushrooms topped with diced blackened chicken breast” for $23. For $5 more, you can substitute blackened gator. The dish is lavishly rich, with plenty of spice to cut through the cream. The gator’s texture was excellent and it picked up the blackening flavor well.
But wait! There’s more! The Sunday brunch menu turns out the be prime gator habitat. You can get a “gator and gouda” omelet ($18) with gator sausage and smoked gouda, topped with zydeco sauce. The Bol de Bonte ($16) is a bowl full of gouda cheese grits with “woodfired gator sausage & Conecuh bacon, topped with shredded gouda, sauteed onions, bell peppers, jalapenos and two eggs sunny side up.” And then there’s the Zydeco ($17): “Gator sausage, Conecuh bacon, zydeco & tasso cheese sauces, cheddar cheese & a poached egg, stacked on a croissant bun [and] served with rosemary new potatoes.”
Is gator sausage cheating? Nah. Arguably you lose some authentic gator character, but since gator doesn’t have much character it seems like a fine way to add some. A dining companion tried the Bol de Bonte and found the grits a tad soupy for his personal preference – but the dish was almost as rich as the voodoo pasta and plenty flavorful even without the blackened seasoning. Boudreaux’s is at 29249 U.S. 98 in Daphne; https://boudreauxscajungrill.com/. Note that the hours are a little unusual: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.
Gumbo at Penton’s Bistro
The first time I wandered into Penton’s Bistro & The King Bleu Corner Bar it was midafternoon, I’d missed lunch and I wanted something to tide me over until dinnertime. I went with the gator & andouille gumbo ($10 for a cup, $16 for a bowl), honestly expecting it to be a little gimmicky. I was wrong about that. The broth was so good that if they’d left out the gator and andouille I still would have enjoyed every drop. Owner/chef Jeremy Penton said it all starts with a labor-intensive, time-consuming roux made with butter – in other words, the gimmick is that there is no gimmick.
But don’t take my word for it. Air Supply recently played the Mobile Saenger Theatre, and none other than Russell Hitchcock praised the “gator andouille sausage gumbo” he had for lunch. There’s no mystery about where it came from, given that Penton’s is right across the street from the box office. His verdict, in a Facebook post: “YUMOLA.” Look, when Air Supply sings the praises of your gumbo, you know it’s a love song. Penton’s Bistro & the King Bleu Corner Bar is at 219 Conti St.; for information, see the venue’s Facebook page.
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