Swamp Café: A Bit of the Bayou in Farthest North Dallas

Swamp Café, located at the Northwest quadrant of the Dallas North Tollway and Trinity Mills, is run by David Cui, a chef with over 30 years of experience. Originally from Shanghai, he was a chef and restaurateur for decades in New Orleans before moving to the DFW area about five years ago, first with a sushi spot but now returning more to his Louisiana roots with this little Cajun joint that offers the requisite po'boys, etouffee, gumbo and beignets.
Cui was running the counter as well as cooking the day we went for a quick bite at lunchtime, and between courses and other customers, he chatted with us about his café that has been operating for three years now. He chose the location in part due to its proximity to several business parks along the tollway, and the first year, the pre-COVID year, he was doing well just supplying these businesses with delivery at lunchtime. Then, of course, came the lockdown, and naturally, there were no longer many bulk business orders. The somewhat affluent adjoining neighborhood, furthermore, was an older demographic and thus more concerned and careful about their health, adding another blow.

Still, he persisted and is around to tell the tale, though he told us that every day he thinks about closing up shop to relieve his burden. He said this with the infectious laughter that peppers all of his talk, however, so we assumed he was kidding. We’re glad for that because Cajun cuisine is few and far between in our neck of the woods, we ordered a couple of po'boys, some fried green tomatoes and hush puppies, and of course, some beignets to finish off the meal.
The hush puppies were about the size of a SuperBall (am I dating myself?), about an inch in diameter, and had whole kernels of corn within their fried depths. The tomatoes were fine, not overly hard or overly mushy. Both were a tad on the salty side, but that might be personal preference. The plate came with two servings of a homemade remoulade, which was tasty.
Both the shrimp po'boy and the soft-shell crab po'boy (a special that day and not an everyday menu item) were good and came with a side of cocktail sauce, the star being the wonderful bread upon with they were served: a crusty crisp outer layer with a soft flavorful interior. These, too, may have been a bit salty, but not overly so. They were reasonably priced, but are served à la carte. The menu does offer baskets (fried oysters, catfish, etc.) that come with coleslaw, French fries and hushpuppies. Other menu options include muffulettas, jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice as well as salads.
A small cup of crawfish etouffee was a nice little freebie that Cu threw in for us since he was out of the bread for the muffuletta that afternoon, and it was tasty, over and above how much better free unexpected bonus food items always taste. Rich roux, perfectly spiced, plump pieces of crawfish.
Finally, he brought us our beignets when we were done with our sandwiches. Not really much to say about them; who doesn’t like a nice hot fresh beignet? Disregard the photo; they come three to an order, not two, but someone simply could not wait and ate the first one before he got his camera out. Oh well, I’ll take more pictures next time.

Swamp Café, 17721 Dallas Parkway, Suite 104. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. 10 p.m.; Closed Sunday.