Sun-Wed: 11:30am - 10:30pm (Bar open until 2am)
Thurs, Fri, Sat: 11:30am -11pm (Bar open until 2am Thurs, 3am Fri & Sat)
Review Date: 2/18/01

Oddfellows Rest caters to those who feel the need for their taste buds to dance like an intoxicated, bead-necklace reveller during Marti Gras. Two partners, Jerry Maher and Liz Stirling, first opened the bar in 1993 as a New Orleans style bar. Liz, who is from Louisiana, had experience in Cajun and Creole cooking and started serving food to the bar patrons in September 1994. With the success of the southern dishes and positive feedback, they took a chance and expanded into a restaurant in April 1994. Now, almost seven years later, it is an overwhelming success, with a planned expansion into Jersey City.Liz named the restaurant after a famous cemetery from New Orleans, which was founded by The independent Order of Oddfellow. A very interesting history for a very interesting restaurant. The bar itself is quite large, with seating available on a few scattered tables, or at the bar itself. There is a dartboard, where you can play some of the skilled shooters of the dart team, or rack a few games on two pool tables in the back room. The other half of the establishment is the main seating area. Exposed brick and cool pictures adorn the room, along with plenty of seating. On any given night expect to wait for a table, because I'm not the first person to realize what a great restaurant Oddfellows has become.The Cajun and Creole have a varied history in Louisiana, which many may not know about. The Creoles were aristocrats from Europe, who established New Orleans in the 1690's. Classical and regional Spanish, Italian, French and German cooking influenced their cuisine. For example, Bouillabaisse is a soup that came from French cooking, (along with many other European & African influences) and it is this dish that creates the foundation of gumbo The cuisine of the Cajuns began with the exile of French refugees, known as Acadians, from the wilderness of Acadie in Canada. They, on the other hand, did not try to recreate the classical cuisine of Europe, but chose to use the distinct ingredients available in New Orleans, like fish, shellfish, wild game and local vegetation and herbs. The two cuisines bring the European Aristocracy & the simple outback meal together for a harmony of taste.With that history in mind, our group arrived at the restaurant and wanted to try the signature dishes of Oddfellows Rest. We first started out the meal with some appetizers, ordering the Drummies with Bayou BBQ ($5.95) and New Orleans style Barbecue Mussels ($7.95). The Drummies were your basic buffalo-wing style drumstick and wing appetizer, and they were very good with a just right spicy BBQ sauce. The Mussels were excellent, with a light butter, beer, Worcestershire and cracked black pepper sauce. We also noted that the delivery of the appetizers was very quick, only a few minutes after we ordered.Once we were done sharing those delicious treats, it was a mere ten minutes later that our entrees arrive! We ordered the Filet Au Poivre ($18.95), the Blackened Catfish ($13.95) and the Catfish & Crabmeat Lafayette ($15.95). USA Today rated Oddfellows Rest as one of the top 10 U.S. Catfish Restaurants, and all of their catfish is farm raised. The Catfish & Crabmeat Lafayette featured a catfish dusted in cornmeal, pan-fried, and set atop a crispy matchstick potato pancake, with a generous cover of spinach béchamel with a dollop of crabmeat on top. It had a fine presentation, showing the care the kitchen takes to build. The Lafayette was good, but a bit plain. Nothing on the menu indicated it would be spicy, but I guess I was expecting something with more zing. Now, as for zing, try the Blackened Catfish. Its pan-seared and seasoned with Oddfellows Cajun seasoning, and served with two Louisiana Samplers. Nicole chose to have the swamp salad & buttered mushrooms. The catfish was delicious, with just the right amount of Cajun spices to make it right. I think if you want to try catfish, or really don't consider yourself a fish person, this would be the dish to experiment with. We then had the Filet Au Poivre, which was an eight-ounce filet mignon, with cracked pepper sauce gravy. It also came with two side dishes; swamp salad & buttered mushrooms were chosen too. We found this dish to be very good, with the juices of the steak and the gravy combining to create a steak delight. After having our entree we tried two scrumptious desserts - the pecan pie and chocolate mousse. Both were excellent, and ended the meal with quite a flourish. The pecan pie was described to me as the best pecan pie I ever ate, by Brad. I had the chocolate mousse, and for any chocolate fans out there - get this right away! The mousse had a creamy caramel bottom, and my Irish metabolism kicked into overdrive. After that meal, I was ready to be carted home.So now for the wrap up. We gave the appetizers a 9 out of 10, the mussels were superior to the drummies, and we can't wait to go back and try the rest. For the entrees, we did run into a few snags (literally and figuratively), but it still was excellent, so that gets an 8 out of 10. The dessert was out of this world, and gets a solid 10 out of 10. We found the service to be adequate, and very polite which gives them 7 out of 10 rating. Three of us paid $110 (including tip), and that is about $35 per person, for everything. The quality of the food and the price we paid deserved a 9 out of 10. The ambience of the restaurant was good, with the music from the bar interfering a little with your dining experience. During the summer months, the open-air back patio is open, along with the front porch seating, too.Oddfellows Restaurant is a great place to meet some friends, relax and chat over some good food. I have been to Oddfellows plenty of times before this review, and my guests have lived in Hoboken since October, and been to the restaurant six times! So we do know what a great place this is. It would be a restaurant that I would highly recommend to everyone who reads this. If you haven't been to Oddfellows before, now is the time to call some friends and tell them you are bringing them as close to New Orleans as you can - to Oddfellows Restaurant.Overall Rating: 9 out of 10Sean Iaquinto