Burn ban in effect across south La.
July 1, 2009
Brenda Guidry Dantin
July 6, 2009
This month I decided to stay close to home and sample a small out of the way dining establishment in downtown Houma – the café at Bent Pages, located at 1422 Barrow St. at the intersection of Crescent Boulevard.
Bent Pages operates primarily as a used bookstore, but tucked away in the back of the sea of book selections lining the myriad of shelves is a coffee and sandwich shoppe. The atmosphere is decidedly laid back and relaxed. The area is small as the restaurant is designed to complement – not overshadow – the bookstore.
The dining area consists of five or six basic tables. Additionally, there are several patio tables on the front porch. The feel is simple and decidedly quaint. It is open only for lunch from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., with a limited menu on Saturday.
OK, so why go to Bent Pages?
This is a place that takes you back to the time when the literary word mattered. There is something substantive about a structure filled with a mountain of books that causes one to feed both their mind and their digestive system. The smell of the books can be simultaneously both powerful and soothing. It is a good place to relax, enjoy a relaxed bite and perhaps find some new literary interest while you wait… or simply enjoy a cup of coffee, cappuccino, latte or café au lait… or, these days, a variety of iced teas or cold beverages while you peruse the available selections.
What impressed me most was not how a visit to Bent Pages renewed my passion for the written word, but how my children exhibited a similar interest – after kicking and screaming not to venture inside the dreaded bookstore. Just like the TV commercials for Life cereal, Mikey liked the cereal and I’ll bet your kids will like exploring the children’s book selection while they wait for their menu selection.
Bent Pages offers regular menu items consisting of salads, sandwiches, quiches and homemade soups, along with a dessert selection of cookies, key lime pie, cheesecake and snack bites.
In addition, daily specials include usually a sandwich, quiche and soup.
On our first visit, we ordered a muffalini off the “specials” board, which is a healthier and more friendly-sized muffaletta served as a panini. If your palate enjoys olives and the classic muffaletta of Progressive and Central Grocery, you will enjoy the selection here. It’s simple, served in a nice individual portion and very flavorful.
I also decided to sample the cream of asparagus soup, which I understand is available a limited number of times monthly. All I can say is, when offered, order it. Creamy, light and smooth characterizes this concoction. Don’t tell your children the soup is asparagus and they will enjoy it too but be forewarned, they will want their own spoons to devour your bowl.
On our second visit, we tried the spinach quiche ($3.50) – a dish that is based on a custard made from eggs and milk or cream and baked in a light, delicate pastry crust. My friend and I enjoyed this selection. We also noticed they serve a quiche Lorraine (served with bacon).
Bent Pages also serves a crab quiche that can be purchased whole for take home for $20. Similarly, an entire take-home spinach quiche costs $18. Such may serve as an option to feed the family on one of those non-cooking nights.
We also ordered the classic Bent Pages club sandwich ($5.95) on wheat bread, consisting of roast beef, ham, turkey, bacon, Swiss and American cheese lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.
The restaurant also offers a Reuben sandwich ($4.75), homemade chicken or tuna salad, roast beef, turkey, pastrami, ham and bacon, lettuce and tomato (BLT) sandwiches – each for $3.95.
We did not sample the various salads, so will leave that your own devices.
On the dessert front, I noticed and simply had to inquire about several small, cylindrical, bite-sized chocolate-covered truffle-like dessert selections called “snack bites” that toyed with me from the front display case. I learned that Bent Pages offers five different bite-size selections (at $1 each) of strawberry-dipped chocolate, carrot cake, a turtle, birthday cake and mint. Each was definitely unique and gives you just enough to taste to satisfy your sweet tooth without being a glutton.
The idea of “snack bites” resonated well with my dining companions. Next time, I may skip the primary meal and proceed to an assortment of the snack-bites.
Overall, Bent Pages is a place that will permit you to have a relaxed meal, explore some good literature and promote some insightful conversation among friends. It is a place for children of all ages and adults from all walks of life.
It is a nice, refreshing alternative to the drab, cookie-cutter, boxed nutrition conglomerates that line Martin Luther King Boulevard.
On a personal note, I have enjoyed trying to keep you informed of dining options in the Tri-parishes over the last two years, but, alas, it is time to pass the baton. Quite frankly, the joys and time commitments associated with single parenthood and all that goes with it – homework, soccer, gymnastics, sleepovers where “sleep” is simply a word, along with the requirement to engage in my “full-time” employment, leave too little time to devote to this endeavor. I have truly enjoyed exploring the culinary delights in our area and in the process helping you explore new dining opportunities. Now, I shall merely be a faithful reader, rather that writer, of the Gumbo’s reviews and happily anticipate critiquing my successor’s highly cultivated and distinguished palate. Who knows, I may return for a particular review from time to time, but definitely on a more limited basis.
So please, be good, laugh, smile and, by all means, dine well.
Bent Pages 1422 Barrow St. Houma (985) 876-7626 Hours Monday through Friday Breakfast: 7 to 10:30 a.m. Lunch: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
