This new Saucier restaurant has pistolettes and ‘the best fried oyster I have ever had’
Captain Wil Phenice has been in the kitchen for a long time.
He has also been a shrimper and seafood wholesaler, so he knows the seafood business inside and out.
He opened Captain Wils’s Land and Sea barely two months ago, and there is still a lot of work to do inside. Don’t worry, there are tables and chairs aplenty, but don’t expect anything fancy.
What you can expect is stunningly good food, that is creative and technically near perfection. No kidding.
The menu is pretty simple — po-boys, burgers, seafood diners and plates. Yup, there’s fried chicken on the menu, mac and cheese, and a daily Hot Box Lunch, which is just $9 for a meat and three sides.
It also includes a stuffed pistolette. Stuffed what? If you are local you’ll think of a pistolette as a small loaf of bread, more like a bun, but if you are from south Louisiana, as Captain Wil is, a pistolette is a small bread that is stuffed and deep fried.
Yes, you heard right. Captain Wil’s is stuffed with seafood in a cream sauce and is simply wonderful. Can you say decadent?
Everything I tried during my visit was really, really good. I sampled a double cheese burger that just may become a legend, but what really rocked my boat was the fried oysters.
Are you ready for this? The best fried oyster I have ever had.
Perfectly cooked, moist as they should be, fried in a homemade batter, and seasoned just right. I’d drive the 30 minutes it takes to get there from my office just for a plate of those oysters any day.
Captain Wil is a character, seasoned chef and businessman, but, according to him, his forte is boudin. I am fond of saying that there is only two kinds of boudin, really bad and really good, so I take note when I hear of the good stuff.
Captain Wil told me he has sold thousands of pounds of his homemade boudin in the first month of being open, but, curse my luck, he was sold out during my visit. If it is half as good as everything else I tried, it must be spectacular.
Captain Wil knows seafood, and serves only the best, and the food that comes out of his kitchen is all homemade. He told me the only thing that comes out of a can or jar is the ketchup. All of it adds up to food that is worth the drive to experience.
If I had to pick one attribute that makes this place as good as it is, I would have to say judicial seasoning. Of course he makes his own, but it takes a certain touch to season that hand-made, never-frozen burger, or the shrimp, fish and oysters on that platter, and Captain Wil has it.
This place is friendly and laid back, there is no reason to hurry through your visit, come with friends and come with the time to enjoy this very unique place.
If you go
Captain Wils’s Land and Sea
Where: 23481 Central Dr, Saucier
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday,
Call: 228-265-5754
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.