Cafe Sydnie Mae — Restaurant in Breaux Bridge

For our 25th Anniversary celebration we felt like trying something different. The inspiration came from none other than our dear departed Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain was quoted as saying that the quality of the food in Lafayette, Breaux Bridge and Eunice was some of the finest he's sampled anywhere. Reading this statement reminded me that we don't get off the beaten path enough any more and I hadn't checked out Breaux Bridge for quite some time now. When I checked out the online menu for Cafe Sydnie Mae, I was convinced this was a place I'd love to try. With these original, special offerings, if they've got a chef who is half decent, it's bound to be great. Well...let me tell you - we found that not only is the chef half decent, Executive Chef Bonnie Breaux is THE BOMB!

I kicked things off with a "Cajun Cosmo" - the best Cosmo that has ever crossed my lips...I kid you not! I was driving, so I limited the consumption to one, but MAN did I leave wanting more :-) Hubby had an Old-Fashioned, but the coolest thing happened. They placed a straw-like feature in the drink, and when he checked it out, it was actually a piece of sugar cane! He had so much fun chewing on that cane like he did when he was a kid. I enjoyed tasting it myself...turns out it's quite a conductor for the liquor in the glass and holds the flavor well :-)

We ordered a cup of Shrimp and Corn Bisque - it was one of the best I've ever tried. We were trying to identify the flavor we were both sensing. Chef Bonnie came over and explained to us it was a local roasted red pepper. We REALLY enjoyed it tremendously. She knows JUST how to combine JUST the right ingredients to blend the perfect concoctions every time!

For our entrees, we decided to order two separate dishes so we could sample two different things. I ordered the Teche Wellington, which is composed of Louisiana Crawfish, Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Shrimp in a Sherry Cream Sauce, served over Seafood-Stuffed Pastry and the side of your choice. (Which for me was Creole Cream Cheese Grits)

My husband decided on the Shrimp and Eggplant Stuffed Flounder with a Stuffed Potato Cake.

The Teche Wellington was one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. The creativity displayed in designing this dish is so evident. It was off the charts. Even BETTER were the Creole Cream Cheese Grits...WOW! Hubby tried it too and thoroughly enjoyed it all. I'm not really a fan of fish, so he got to eat most of his flounder dish by himself. But I did taste and it was very good.

Of course by this time Chef Bonnie had been out to the table to visit several times, so she then took it upon herself to go back in the kitchen and prepare a "special" Happy Anniversary bread pudding dish for us. In addition, I had a good cup of strong coffee mixed with Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur - what an amazing way to end the perfect meal!

Before we had been at Cafe Sydnie Mae for 5 minutes, I had already decided I will be returning...soon. After meeting Chef Bonnie Breaux and tasting her SUBSTANTIAL food preparation talent, not only will I be going back, but I'll be inviting friends!

So if any of our local folks are ready to check out the best new thing...we've...

As someone who comes from a restaurant family I am often critical of a lot of things. It takes a lot to impress me, and I usually am very forgiving of people who work in the industry. My husband and I travel to Breaux Bridge the first weekend in May every year to celebrate everything that is crawfish. With this world famous crawfish festival. We love it! The music, the food, the culture, the atmosphere!!!! We always immerse ourselves in the local flair and eat at as many local eateries as possible! Visiting Cafe Sydnie Mae this year was a repeat visit, we just couldn’t stay away any longer. We were the chefs table a few years back, and have been in love with them ever since. First, let me say this. If you are ONLY going to receive a meal, you are going to miss all that they have to offer. Give yourself time to enjoy the experience that the restaurant serves along with the food. Oftentimes, they have local musicians playing and it helps to bring understanding of the culture to the food. As I said, we have been here before, but they have changed head chefs so we were eager to see how this new one compared to the previous. Let me just say, as far as overall experience, this was by FAR the best meal we had all weekend!!!! Even though we were eating brunch we could not resist trying the special of crawfish eggrolls and Breaux bread as appetizers!!!! They were unbelievable!! The bread had a flaky croissant texture to it and paired wonderfully with the oil. They did bring marinara sauce, however it was a little bland for my palette. I prefer a little more garlic and basil in mine, but that is just a person preference not a negative reaction to the dish. My husband also had a Bloody Mary which he had at every place we went, and again, it was the best one if the weekend. For brunch I had chicken and waffles and he had Teche Wellington!!! The Teche Wellington is part of the reason we came back!! I think my husband dreams about it..lol. This Teche Wellington was a different style but of equal quality!!! It is just absolutely phenomenal! He thinks it is one of the best dishes! My chicken and waffles were also different, however I think they were better. I had my sauces served on the side so I could adequately appreciate everything before combining them! The sauce for the chicken had a bbq flavor with a kick and paired wonderfully with the sweet waffles! We had a 10 a m reservation which was immediately following the parade. The restaurant reached capacity in 20ish minutes and the staff handled it like the pros that they were. Again, come for the good, but stay for the experience. Leave your expectations at the door and let this wonderful restaurant blow your socks off with everything they...

We were able to easily check-in with our OpenTable reservation. We were brought to our table and our server was with us after a couple of minutes. They had a wonderful drink selection but also had mocktails and sodas. Our server, Lacey, was spectacular. I asked her about two drink options and told her what I was looking for and she was able to point me in a great direction (Cherub’s Cup might be the best “summer cocktail” I’ve had). Once she brought our drinks she took our appetizer order and WOW what a treat. The seafood spinach dip was honestly the best I have ever had, we also got the Breaux Bread and that dipped in the spinach was superb. As two people dining, we thought the half bread serving was HUGE! And it was incredibly delicious. We finished our appetizers and still had room for entrees. We got the shrimp platter (sub the fries with zydeco beans) and the filet 5 oz with potato galettes. I do not think we left a bite on our plates. We did not however have dessert - we saw online that they had cheesecake, but didn’t see it listed on the menu. We were too full to ask but would definitely go back for drinks and cheesecake alone. I would highly recommend this restaurant and strongly encourage making reservations as it was busy by the time we left. It was wonderful as they had a live band (three something), and you can see when they’ll have live performances on their social media - just in case you do not want to go then. Again, I can see why the servers had so many regulars, because this was a treat and I would...