I like the “Gumbo Ya Ya,” with a spot-on dark roux and a full, roasty flavor. This is also where the word “gumbo” derives from, and appropriately, that classic Gulf Coast stew is a solid choice on this menu. The name “Gombo” comes from “ki ngombo,” which means “okra” in the Central Bantu dialect of West Africa. With each bite you need to scoop deep down into the dish and the reddish pools that lie beneath - that’s where the big repository of flavor lies. “Cajun Boom Boom,” the most memorable of Gombo’s original creations, combines fried okra, fried gator, toasted red chilies, and crushed peanuts with Sriracha and what they call “jambalaya sauce.” All the textural variations, the sweet-savory mix, and the mild heat combine for good fun. The popcorn shrimp po’ boy sandwich with French bread, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet and spicy pickles, and Creole French dressing at Gombo Nola Kitchen & Oyster Bar on Main Street in Northampton.īeyond the po-boys, you can also get fried oysters on their own as a starter with remoulade, or fried chicken as a topping for a creamy bowl of andouille-sausage mac-and-cheese. Louisiana hot sauce, in case you’re uninitiated, is more vinegary than spicy - kind of like buffalo wing sauce - and it works great on anything fried. You should add some Trappey’s Bull - the house Louisiana hot sauce - for kick. All of these versions come fully outfitted with lettuce, tomato, pickles and creamy French dressing. Po-boys can be filled with fried oysters, boneless fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried alligator or fried eggplant. (Depends on the size of your mouth, I suppose.) Expertly formed cornmeal crusts make winners of the giant po-boys, whose baguettes are thankfully soft and squishy enough that you can barely fit a whole bite of sandwich in your mouth. Gombo’s kitchen has a special way with the deep fryer. For starters, don’t miss the Royal Street salad, an ordinary lettuce-and-tomato mix that’s topped, to great effect, with a few big slices of crispy fried green tomatoes and a well-made remoulade. You can come to Gombo and make a perfectly good meal of oysters - including, also, oysters Rockefeller and Bienville - but that would be a foolish thing to do every time, because there’s a lot of deliciousness and creativity worth exploring throughout the menu. You might go through the whole plate of six before remembering that you were sharing. It’s one of the simplest ways to cook oysters, and maybe the best: you drown them in garlic butter, top them with parmesan, and put them on a fire. The grilled oysters with garlic butter, parmesan and panko at Gombo Nola Kitchen & Oyster Bar on Main Street in Northampton.įor me, the greatest treasure on the whole menu is hidden in an appetizer that’s simply called “grilled oysters.” They might call them “char-grilled” in New Orleans. Oysters on the half shell are clean and fresh, among the best in town - even if the mignonette sauce, my favorite raw-oyster condiment, is an outlyingly brown and salty version. Next, it’ll be your turn to welcome the oysters. Wherever you sit, you’ll be taken care of by a young, energetic staff that seem to welcome you just as enthusiastically as they would their own friends. In summer, diners can also spread to an ample array of outdoor tables on Main Street. Near the bar, some casual high-top seating is mixed in, giving the restaurant a vibe that preserves the convivial spirit of the Wine Witch. The design takes advantage of the room’s intimate dimensions and adds warmth to the lighting and walls. Gombo’s new spin on the space is a welcome addition to the downtown dining scene. Gombo, a New Orleans-themed restaurant that opened on Main Street in Northampton in May, is the latest curator of a downtown space that has passed through several hands in recent years (including the wonderful Wine Witch and the insufferable Belly of the Beast). Inside, on every block, their kitchens burst with the blazing flavors of the Gulf Coast. In New Orleans - the sultriest, eeriest, prettiest and drunkest city in America - filigree balconies dangle from creaky old mansions painted in blazing colors.
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