Lafayette, two or three hours west from New Orleans, is the reputed heart of Cajun country. It had some very pleasant places to eat or drink, though I was disappointed I never heard anyone end a sentence with “I gua–ron-TEE.”
This leg of the trip was done rather in a hurry, so we unfortunately didn’t get to go out very much in Lafayette. People there are rather contemptuous of New Orleans food, though, as not truly Cajun (nor, for the most part, does it claim to be; most restaurants in NOLA which serve local food describe themselves as Cajun/Creole).
The culinary highlight of our trip to Lafayette, hands down, was Bon Temps Grill. The cocktails were surprisingly sophisticated and non overly-sweet; we both ordered off their mojito menu. Their smoked bird and andouille gumbo is the best thing I ate in Louisiana and could easily compete with the soups and gumbos in haute cuisine establishments. The alligator bang bang was also tasty, mostly due to the bang bang sauce (which is also fund to say), and the bananas foster bread pudding was boozy and great. The frog legs … well maybe I just don’t like frog legs?
The Grill itself. 
Surprisingly sophisticated cocktails! 
That scrumptious gumbo, alongside alligator bang bang and frog legsngside frog legs and 
Bananas foster bread pudding
We also finally had a traditional Louisiana crawfish boil at The Cajun Table. It was tasty, spicy, messy and labor-intensive.
Finally, for some very tasty and creative beers we went to Parish Brewing Company. They have German-style, Belgian-style, fruity, IPA, dark, amber and all sorts of other beers, and everything we had was very good. We even got some guava and coconut Berliner weisse to go.
