A Metairie fish fry that lives up to the hype
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Lenten fish plates from St. Angela Merici in Metairie. Photo: Carlie Kollath Wells/Axios
The fried fish plates at St. Angela's Merici in Metairie are worth the wait.
Why it matters: On Lenten Fridays, we're on the prowl for good seafood.
The big picture: I took it as a good sign that the drive-thru line was wrapped around the block when I pulled up to St. Angela's last week.
- Inside, the line for the full menu snaked around the gym. The folks near me said it was some of the best fried fish and shrimp they've had.
- They weren't wrong.
Zoom in: I got fried catfish ($12), grilled catfish ($14) and shrimp plates ($14).
- The fried options came with fries, bread and crunchy slaw. The grilled fish came with peas instead of fries.
- The fillets were fat (yay!), and everything had a citrusy zing. The homemade lemon cake and dipped Oreos sealed the deal.
- We're already talking about going back.
More Lenten specials
More Lenten seafood options that caught our attention recently...
🦞 Crawfish menu: Ralph's on the Park has a three-course crawfish menu and we'd like one of everything. The restaurant offers zero-proof drink pairings too.
🎣 Catch-your-own fish: Williby's Catfish in Gentilly lets you catch your meal on Wednesdays. It's been on our to-do list since Eboni & Nick's video.
- Ian McNulty of The Times-Picayune talked with the owners about how they keep the fish so fresh.
🦑 Squid ink pasta: Padrona at St. Roch Market has several tasty-sounding options, including crawfish risotto. We're big fans of the $12 dozen oyster happy hour at The Salted Pearl too.
🌶️ Spicy clams: Good Catch serves them with fresh basil, garlic and chili jam.
🥔 St. Peter Claver fish fry: The Creole potato salad and sides look heavenly. Verite reporter Jasmine Robinson is giving us serious FOMO in this video. Even better — the money supports student scholarships.