Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
I love this quote. I loved the movie, Forrest Gump. If you haven’t watch this movie, make sure you do. I mean, earning US$677 million worldwide during its theatrical run making it the top grossing film in North America and getting 13 Academy Award nominations, of which it won 6. The movie IS that good!
Anyway, during my last review at Vivo American Pizza at The Curve, I chanced upon the opening of a new restaurant … Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, just opposite Vivo. Well, I’ve never really heard about this restaurant … the only one I did was in the movie “Forrest Gump” and I thought it was fictional. Out of curiosity, I didn’t a little research about this restaurant and found this …
The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant and Market is a chain of seafood restaurants inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump. Launched in 1996 by Viacom Consumer Products (part of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, the distributor of Forrest Gump) and the Rusty Pelican Company, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. became the first theme restaurant inspired by a film. As of 2007, it had 28 locations in United States, Mexico, and eastern countries of Asia. The first one opened up in Monterey, CA.
The restaurant is named after the movie’s main characters Benjamin Bufford “Bubba” Blue and Forrest Gump who talked about going into shrimping business.
Now if you remember scenes from the movie Forrest Gump, you’d remember Jenny (Forrest’s girlfriend) shouting “Run Forrest Run” to Forrest Gump as he was being chased by a few bad kids and the quote “Stop Forrest Stop” based on the signs used to help Forrest when he played football at the University of Alabama. When you enter this restaurant, you will never miss the two huge license plate sign on each table. The red “Stop Forrest Stop” sign is used to signal that a table needs service and the blue “Run Forrest Run” means that all is well. Genius !
The menu consists mostly of shrimp dishes, but also other seafood, as well as Southern and Cajun cuisine.
Here’s another line from the movie that says “shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried, there’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. Th-that’s about it.”
Anyway, enough about the restaurant. Let’s move on to the food and what I ate at the restaurant today. I started off with a basket of Mama Gump’s Garlic Bread and it was served … yes, on a basket and the bread was shaped like an arrow. Lining the bread was a piece of …. newspaper, or what I thought was a newspaper. Look closer and you’ll see it’s actually a replica of GreenBow County Dispatch, a newpaper in GreenBow County, Alabama. Again, there isn’t any GreenBow County in any of the 67 counties in Alabama.
Fictional. From the movie of course.
Then came the Garden Salad
From starters, I moved on to the main courses. First the Shrimper’s Net Catch. Picture in the menu looks good …. so I ordered one. And good thing I ordered the 3/4 LB instead of the 1 1/2 LB!!!! Else I’d be chewing shrimps for the next hour or so. This is one of their specialty and it comes with either Bubba’s Garlic Spice or Secret Recipe Cajun Spice. I don’t know …. maybe it’s just me but I don’t find it really that special …. tasted like a chinese dish, in other word …. common.
From shrimps, I moved on to fish. The Bourbon Street Baramundi is another one of their specialty. Menu says it’s Cajun-spiced baramundi (a type of Australian fish, similar to Halibut) with bourbon street sauce (a butter and egg-based. béarnaise sauce) and grilled shrimps served over mashed potatoes. This is a great dish I would recommend, love the combination.
And the final dish, Salmon & Veggie Skillet … grilled Salmon and fresh vegetables (asparagus) with a touch of Garlic Herb Butter and Capers. This is served with Jasmine Rice …. lovely, lovely rice (I am a sucker for rice … yeah I know … there goes my carbo diet).
By the end of it, I was so stuffed I couldn’t even go for dessert which is a shame. I would’ve to to get my hands on their “That Chocolate Thing” … warm, flourless Chocolate Cake, topped with Vanilla Ice Cream and Whipped Cream and drizzled with Raspberry sauce, served in a special jar.
And to end this article, I would say that Bubba Gump Shrimp Company did a good job on this ‘themed’ restaurant and if you ask if I would come back again … let’s just say I will have to refill my wallet before I do that. My last meal there left my wallet bleeding after forking our about RM180++ for 4 person and that’s only with 3 main course and a starter.
Ever heard of the song … “She Works Hard For The Money … ” ?
Well, in my case .. it’s “He Works Hard For The Yummy ……..
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Haha…. love the last phrase. I would love to try but shrimp isn’t my favourite stuff… how how?
jason’s last blog post..Mun Wah Hokkien Mee
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The shrimps portion quite big…
mimid3vils’s last blog post..These were the days…..
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Not a fan of shrimp, tried it in the States…but do like the concept here.
wmw’s last blog post..Midsummer Nights Feast @ Starhill Gallery (11 July – 20 July 2008)
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Hi Jason, don’t you think the phrase is true for us foodies? If you don’t like shrimp, try the fish. They have western food too.
mimid3vils – photo illusion works well.
wmw, actually I find the taste a little oriental. dunno what you think?
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Haha, it was one of my fav movie too, though at that moment I was a mere Primary 6 student. hehe, yeah, I AM that old liao… Read quite a few unfavourable reviews of this place, wonder should I try?
J2Kfm’s last blog post..An Exhausting Journey to Tanjung Piandang
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this place had denitely created a sphere..but the review on shrimp wasn’t tht excellent compared to fish huh??
christine’s last blog post..for the impatient gourmet
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Wow…the food looks inviting, nice snap shot of it too.
A visit to this place will be on my next KL trip itinery.
CK Lam @what2see’s last blog post..Ferringhi Garden Restaurant, Penang
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Hi J2Kfm, my 2 cents. Unfavorable reviews are again personal opinion. As u foodie, you wanna try it yourself and then decide.
Christine, like i told J2Kfm … just try on your own.
CK Lam, you must try. It’s worth the experience. Especially if you like the movie.
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Omgz…another new restaurant in The Curve again.
Food industries keep growing up very fast >JeromeFo’s last blog post..http://welovejaychou.blogspot.com
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pricey nevermind , as long as its good, then its probably worth it….
Bernsy’s last blog post..Restoran Yik Kee @ Karak
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JeromeFo, food industries has never stopped growing ever since you and I started learning to eat out. Haha.
Bernsy, you’re right. A good answer from a true-hearted foodie!
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Forrest Gump is one of the most heart warming movie I’ve seen! The restaurant has a cute concept
All the close up pics are great and yummy
durianberry’s last blog post..Taiping Steamed Chicken Rice & Cendol
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Yeah durianberry, I was told the sales of the Forrest Gump DVD went up after the opening of this restaurant. Talk about merchandising !
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i had their chocolate chip sundae as dessert, was bloated like hell and could not finish. i shall try the salmon and vege skillet next time. looking damn good.
xin’s last blog post..Umai-ya Japanese Restaurant
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Reminds me so much of Australia.. and eating seafood there.
Crunchasarus Rex’s last blog post..Mocha Cubes
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For those who have eaten there, you will be greatly dismayed with the quality of the food. I don’t know why the reviews in this blog is generally good, but for a restaurant that charges that price and is opened for 2 months… i really can’t accept.
Food in general is greasy with tons of oil (even though olive oil presumably but still really gross), sourness is also a very common flavor in the seafood dishes. Possibly the only thing which was enjoyable was the refillable ice lemon teas.
Having a signboard to prompt the waiter’s service is only good… IF THE WAITERS ARE LOOKING AT IT!! DUH?!
I’ll never eat there… never again
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u sshould try that choc thing. i love it soooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Very good – like this a lot – Cheers!
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hmmm, i hears its good in the state. i wonder will it be the same?
Kindly let me know if there’s some promotion going on ya.
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