DaDeO - Louisianan Comfort Food (Edmonton 30 in 30)

There is a feeling of nostalgia when you return to a restaurant after many months and see the same smiling faces, ordering off the same menu and devouring the same delicious food. There was a span of a few months in second year of medical school when I dined out at Dadeo's ... a lot. At that time I had just discovered the richness of the restaurants on Whyte Avenue and, always looking for value, became a regular on their Poboy Mondays and Tuesdays when they offered a discount on their feature sandwich. It became a little excessive as my schedule began to revolve around the Poboys as I would regularly cancel on or pressure my friends and family to eat on this Whyte Avenue institution. Old habits die hard indeed, and it was off to Dadeo Restaurant for Louisianan Comfort Food.

The restaurant is located on a busy and well developed stretch of Whyte Avenue. Billing themselves as a New Orleans Style diner and bar, you see immediate influences of the 80s and Louisianan culture with a heavy emphasis on jazz and blues music that greets you as one settles into the retro diner booths. The wait staff, friendly, attentive and extremely personable complete the ambiance.

The menu is a simple foldout with the classic Louisianan comfort food choices. The staple is their Poboys, a New Orleans take on a submarine sandwich filled to the brim with your choice of protein. Furthermore, a bevy of appetizers, soups and entrees greet you should one be looking for heftier fare, including the Cajun classic Jambalaya.

Every meal starts with their home baked Biscuits. Flaky and crusty on the outside with a warm soft core, these are paired with their house Jalapeno Jelly. The jelly is a rich gelatinous combination of sweet and spicy and does a great job of whetting your appetite before the meal.

I started with their Bayou Gumbo, a take on the classic Creole dish with roots and flavours from France, Spain and Africa. Dadeo creates a luxurious dish by combining tender rice and topped with a stew of Andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken and vegetables including okra, carrot and celery. The thick stew was accentuated with file powder giving a much needed earthiness to the dish. Overall a tasty dish that spoke of homey comfort food with strong balanced flavours.

Of course I had to order a Blackened Catfish Po'Boy. The submarine sandwich takes crusty French loaf and pairs it with tomato, a smooth remoulade sauce and a bevy of grilled tender catfish. The key in the dish is the bread, crisp and crusty on the outside giving a nice textural crunch but soft and pillowy on the inside, thick enough to keep all the contents of the sandwich but thin enough to not overpower the dish. Excellent!

Whenever I order the Po'Boys I always upgrade to the Sweet Potato Fries. These addictive chunks of sweet potato are double fried to give it a dynamic crunch and seasoned with a herb and salt mixture to give a sensual aroma. Pairing them with the accompanied tartar sauce adds a nice contrast of sourness and savoury-ness to the fries.

As I settled my bill I left with a huge smile. Dadeo gives me a sense of nostalgia and conjures numerous memories of a past life and while I have moved on to newer adventures, I was relieved to see that they still deliver the same consistently great Louisianan Comfort food. Unabashedly unique, Dadeos is a gem in the Whyte Avenue scene and should be an instant recommendation for anyone looking for New Orleans and Louisianan fare in Edmonton.