Review: Uglesich's in St. Louis

New Orleans may lead the nation in small, personal seafood restaurants, where the shrimp and crabs are fresh off the boats and the food comes out of the kitchen piping hot, redolent of garlic and red pepper. Décor doesn't count, and while service is brisk and competent, servers take no prizes for costume design.

Uglesich's, the classic outside-the-quarter New Orleans sandwich shop and oyster bar, recently closed, evoking a New York Times memorial on the front page of its food section, and a lunch there for the Guru some years ago was a memorable visit. Felix's and the Acme have earned accolades as well, and there's at least one for every neighborhood.

Closer to home, The Gumbo Shop, where Sid and Mary Roberts and staff hold forth, exudes a similar appeal from its small storefront on Manchester Road at the corner where McKnight Road, on the north, becomes Rock Hill Road, on the south. The intersection has been the center of much recent discussion about renovation and rebuilding but if the developers are wise, they'll save room for the Gumbo Shop.

It's a small place, with about two dozen chairs and just enough counter space for people to place orders. Then they find some seats, get a bottle of soda pop from the machine and wait for their food to be brought. The menu has lots of traditional New Orleans touches, from red beans and rice to gumbo and jambalaya. Many dishes have a nice hit of New Orleans spicing, a bit of jalapeño here, a touch of red pepper or ground sassafras root (known as filé and pronounced FEE-lay). Roberts keeps the heat under good control, but the tables hold bottles of Crystal brand hot sauce for those who wish to raise the temperature.

Poor-Boy (or Po-Boy) sandwiches are a New Orleans classic, and the Gumbo Shop does nice things with a variety of fillings, from the classic oyster (fried bivalves with a light batter) to smoked sausage, shrimp, chicken (mild or spicy) and several others.

"Want it dressed?" is the usual question, referring not to shirts and ties but to toppings like lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup and mayonnaise (many Louisianans pronounce it "my-nez"). The oysters are excellent, and drained so that a bite of sandwich (a large bite, given the size of the sandwich) provides a flavor of oysters, not bread, breading or grease. However, the Guru's all-time favorite oyster poor boy came from the Broadway Oyster Bar years ago when the oysters were not fried, but sautéed in butter and garlic before being stuffed into the bread.

Gumbo has a pleasing touch of heat from the sausage and the contrast of the hot sausage and the more-delicate shrimp and soft fish makes for an elegant taste combination. Jambalaya, with vegetables, chicken and pork added to the sausage, seafood and rice is heartier, was a real high spot, rich and satisfying. The dish was splendid.

Hush puppies are excellent, arriving piping hot and with a touch of jalapeno in the batter. They're about the size of ping-pong balls, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and a delightful companion to anything else on the menu.

Red beans and rice, a twice-a-week special, is extremely tasty, and the blackened catfish, served over the jambalaya, is a reason to visit on Saturday. Un-blackened catfish, battered and fried, is available every day. Frog legs are very good, but their availability is erratic, and crawfish étouffée, in a pleasant red sauce, also works well. So does the whole crawfish, sometimes known as "mudbugs," which are rather simple to eat if you merely snap off the tails and suck out the rich, tasty meat. Some crawfish fans, in true New Orleans style, also suck the remaining meat out of the heads, but it's a stretch for many people.

Bread pudding and bourbon pecan pie are available as desserts, and while we found the pudding satisfactory, it lacked the flavor and texture to put it over the top. Still, the Gumbo shop works for eating in or taking home, and its prices fit comfortably into a more economical class.

And there's always the memory of Rosemary Clooney singing, "Son of a gun, we'll have great fun on the bayou. . . ."