VIOLA & AGNES’ NEO SOUL CAFE
The gist: Chef Aaron Davis, who named his brightly painted Nassau Bay cafe after his two grandmothers, cooks from his family’s Louisiana roots and his own experiences cooking on far-flung offshore rigs.
The hook: The menu bristles with eclectic surprise. Caribbean-curried oxtails arrive with a deep mahogany gloss and a raft of fried plantains. Traditional vegetables sides get simmered with a not-so-traditional plant-based stock, so that they’re vegetarian — and the depth of flavor Davis achieves is like some magic trick. He goes out of his way to procure ingredients such as jasmine rice for those oxtails; or the freshest shrimp and crab for his weekly gumbos. He never stops tinkering with specials, either, which keeps the blackboard listings fresh. Davis’ fried catfish is freakishy good. His airy, fresh-fried pork rinds with hot sauce are the stuff of dreams. Just don’t be in a hurry. This is slow food, in the best sense.
What to order: Pork rinds; fried catfish sandwich on a Hawaiian roll, dressed with remoulade, bread-and-butter pickles and blueberry slaw; curried oxtails with plantains; andouille and smoked bacon Creole stew; veggie special with three sides, sweet cornbread and fried plantains.
Outdoor option: A couple of tables out front.
3659 Nasa Road 1, Seabrook, 281-326-2226; neosoulfood.org