It’s hot in heaven

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

We recently received a letter from one of our loyal readers inquiring if we knew of a restaurant that served authentic Red Beans and Rice. After an exhausting search, we stumbled upon a little bit of the bayou in Naperville called Heaven on Seven. Nancy and I checked out their menu online and decided to travel down south to give them the once over.

This restaurant is handicap accessible, but there is a catch. It is in the heart of the downtown Naperville Riverwalk area where parking can get a little hairy, to say the least.

Jim’s take: The food is flavorful but extremely hot. I really enjoyed the Cajun Crawfish Tails.

Nancy’s take: The crawfish were delicious and I was reminded the next day how hot my food actually was!

You immediately get a taste of New Orleans when you start hearing jazz music playing in the background. The aftermath of Mardi Gras was evident by the streamers and beads hanging from the ceiling and lights. Nancy wanted to try and earn a set of beads, but I held her back. This place really seemed like you were in the “Big Easy”.

There were 26 tables in all and on the wall to the left were hundreds of bottles of hot sauces, each having a different derriere-burning name. The wall on the right had jazz artwork that was for sale, with the proceeds going to the hurricane survivors.

The waitress brought some blueberry cornbread and butter to our table and we ordered the Cajun Fried Crawfish Tails with honey jalapeno dressing ($13.99) as our appetizer. These delectable, lightly breaded morsels went well with the oh so flavorful dipping sauce that was not spicy at all. To accompany our entrees we ordered the Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffin ($2.99). The menu said, “You have to try it,” so we did, and it was yummy.

Here’s where it starts to get a little hot in heaven. All entrees come with either soup or salad. I ordered the salad and Jim ordered the Chicken Chipotle Lime Soup. The soup proved to be spicy, about a 6 on his “sweathead meter”. This was a preview of what was to follow. For his entree he ordered the Angry Shrimp (6) over rice ($20.99). This was prepared with roasted garlic, caramelized onions, habanero peppers, and tomatoes.

He took one taste of his meal and sweat started pouring down his forehead until he looked like the pilot from the movie “Airplane!”

He said it registered a 10 on his “sweathead meter”. I tasted Jim’s dish and the shrimp didn’t seem angry to me at all, but I can take heat. He’s such a wuss!!!

Now is when it gets hotter than hell in heaven. Nancy ordered the Voodoo Shrimp (6) over rice with Jimmy’s Famous Voodoo Sauce ($20.99). Nancy had no idea what to expect from the Voodoo Sauce, but she soon found out. She took one taste, her eyes bugged out and started watering. Her nose started running, and she grabbed her glass of water and guzzled it down. She then grabbed my water and did the same thing, but it didn’t help. She said, “If your shrimp was ‘angry’ then mine is p*#sed off at the world!!!” I took a taste of it and couldn’t believe how hot it was. On my “sweathead meter” it would register a 20; that’s just ridiculously hot. After a few bites, her mouth numbed up enough so she could finish her meal.

When it came time for dessert, we both wanted something to cool off our mouths. When we spotted the Icebox Key Lime Pie ($3) we thought it might do the trick, and it did.

The owner, Jimmy Bannos, is an accomplished Cajun chef, but the heat was a little too much for us.

The price for this “too hot to handle” meal was $74.59, ouch!!!

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.

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