Crossing the Mississippi for Love & Fried Shrimp
Perfectly fried shrimp, chewy-flaky New Orleans French bread, cold draft beer, and a little muddy water …
You can also order raw oysters by the dozen since you’re only about a hundred miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico. The Dry Dock Café is a hidden gem amongst the culinary icons and tourist traps of New Orleans – but something a tourist would never find unless they ventured onto the steel-and-concrete ferry terminal at the foot of Canal Street to ride across to Algiers Point.
Looking out to the ferry terminal on a very rainy day from the Dry Dock Cafe in Algiers Point.
Daily commuters board one of the city’s diesel ferry boats every fifteen minutes to embark on the quarter-mile trek across the River – making their way home or to a good meal (or both). Despite their frequency, each run requires intense agility and training to expertly navigate the half-million cubic feet of water that passes each second. But riders leave that to the captain so they can focus on the delicacies awaiting them on the other side. The Algiers Ferry has been in continuous operation since 1827, so I think they’re in good hands now.
‘Dry’ certainly does not refer to the café’s lack of beverage options.
Little did I know that one fateful ride would not only bring me to one of the best shrimp poboys in the city, but also the beginnings of my first serious relationship. Though we weren’t dating yet, this marked the first of many food adventures with my first boyfriend. On this excursion, we spent way more time (and rounds of beer) at the Dry Dock Café than we had ever planned. ‘Dry’ certainly does not refer to the café’s lack of beverage options.
Photo credit: C. Smith
Though I was raised in Algiers, I hadn’t stumbled upon the Dry Dock until I was well into my 20s, when I began bringing any new visitors (and first dates) there. I actually grew up a couple miles South of “the Point.” My suburban upbringing was much more New Orleans-adjacent than in the city - though Algiers is the only part of the West Bank within city limits (and one of New Orleans’ best kept secrets).
A good, shrimp po-boy should have enough fried shrimp spilling out onto the plate to make an extra sandwich.
Or at least enough shrimp to serve as an appetizer before you would consider picking it up with your hands. Lettuce, pickles, sliced tomato, and Blue Plate mayo join the shrimp on one of a only a half-dozen local brands of French Bread that would garner the approval of a New Orleanian. If you really want to make your own, Blue Plate has a good recipe here - but I would recommend visiting one of many sandwich joints (or even gas stations) in the region that have incredible, fresh poboys for less than $10. Add a little hot sauce and wash it down with cold beer before you hop back on the ferry for some of the best views of the Crescent City.
That evening on the river, I could feel the monstrous roar of the diesel engine that pushed us away from the bank and closer to each other. I felt very much at home watching my city loom closer and closer to me. Flirting and holding hands on the deck of a several-hundred-ton riverboat while a quarter of the nation’s watershed rushes beneath your feet isn’t a bad way to fall in love.
Visit the Dry Dock Cafe & Bar | 133 Delaronde St., New Orleans, LA 70114 | (504) 361-8240
