Miss D's Hush Puppies Report

I haven't been able to eat out in the High Desert for a while due to some summer trips and a few other factors so when my birthday rolled around I took advantage of the opportunity to go to a local restaurant.  I have been craving BBQ for a while and I knew if I chose that the rest of the family would be excited so when my wife suggested we try Miss D's Hush Puppies we were all in agreement.

Miss D’s is located at 14845 Monarch Blvd in Victorville not far from Victor Bowl. It is in a shopping center and a little hard to see from the road. Once you pull in the parking lot it is on the east side. It has limited seating and when we entered many of the patrons were waiting on carryout orders. There are menus at the tables so you can seat yourself and look over the menu. We were addressed as soon as we walked in and quickly set to figuring out our order. 

The menu is diverse covering the range of traditional items that might be expected at a soul food restaurant. Specialties from the southern part of the US include BBQ, fried fish, Po Boy sandwiches, Jambalaya, Gumbo and Fried Chicken and Waffles. There is also a long list of side dishes and desserts. After familiarizing ourselves with the options for a while and figuring what sounded best we put in our order. Between us we got two chicken Po Boy sandwiches, one of which was shared between the kids, a fried seafood plate, a BBQ brisket plate, a BBQ rib plate and a pulled pork plate.

The kids loved the sandwich. It consisted of a long soft roll grilled and filled with freshly fried chunks of chicken breast lettuce tomato and accompanied by a container of dressing. The plate was finished with French fries.

The seafood plate came with fried catfish, fried shrimp and hush puppies plus two side dishes. I opted for mac and cheese and yams. The fish and shrimp where freshly fried light not oily. The catfish was still moist but fully cooked and the shrimp were large and meaty. The house specialty hush puppies were the highlight of the meal. Fried to perfection they weren't heavy or dense but rather bready and seasoned with a unique spice mixture that highlighted but didn't overpower the cornmeal base. The mac and cheese was delicious and creamy filled with strings of stretchy melted cheese. The sweet potatoes were cooked soft in a sweet sauce and like the other dishes were great.

The BBQ brisket was another highlight. The delicate balance between the BBQ sauce and the smoky tender meat was achieved. It was accompanied with sweet potatoes too but also fried okra. Even okra sceptics would be tempted with the cornmeal battered okra. It was well fried and avoided the risky okra challenges of being undercooked or being too soft and slimy. Rather it was tender and pleasant with the unique flavor okra has.

My son wasn't sharing any of his ribs but I know they were good because he polished them off in no time. I could tell they were tender to the point of coming off the bones. Also I tried a taste of the pulled pork and it was good consisting of minced pork in a sweet barbecue sauce.

Everything we ate was excellent. The recipes were all good versions and each dish was prepared with skill and love. There was a sign by the register that said food is made fresh to order and encouraging patience. Patience is in order especially if there are lots of other customers but your patience will be rewarded with delicious food. Miss D’s Hush Puppies is among the top of the list of restaurants in the High Desert .