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New Orleans, LA


FunnyJohn

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Dom's definitely open. Too large a following and I bet they make coin - seem to be higher priced than others and pretty remote location. Another "off the beaten path" seafood and seafood po-boy shop is Crabby Jack's by Ochsner Hospital. Closes early, though, like 3pm most days. 

I think if you have an olive tapenade and cured pork, it's gonna be a bit salty, but man, the one at Central's just left me parched.

 

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 I just returned from an emergency trip to New Orleans to help care for my elderly parents after my father (age 90) fell, and busted his shoulder.  Over 17 days, I did not have time for a lot of dining adventures, but can report on the following experiences.

1.  The $20.18 lunch menu at Antoine's is an unbelievable bargain for delicious, classic New Orleans food in one of the most iconic dining rooms in America.  Paired with the $.25 cocktail of the day, or four dollar drink specials, this has to be one of the best lunch experiences in the city.

http://www.antoines.com/

2.  At 5 o'clock every Friday, Brennan's sabers a bottle of champagne in their lush Courtyard to celebrate the start of the weekend.  Sparkling wine and cocktails are on special, and many bottles of sparkling are half price by the bottle. Hoo boy. I had fun. 

http://www.brennansneworleans.com/

3.  For anyone going to jazz fest, café Dégas has  very good happy hour which is available at all of the tables in the restaurant from 3 PM to 6 PM.  This French café has been around forever.  It's built as one giant patio, around an old tree, with plastic sheeting in case weather gets bad. 

http://cafedegas.com/

4.  If you are going from New Orleans to Metairie, Station six in Bucktown has a really good oyster happy hour special.  There are lots of oyster happy hour specials in New Orleans, and this is off the beaten path, but good to know about if you have friends or relatives in the Bucktown/Metairie area.

http://www.station6nola.com/

5. Borgne,  located in a big hotel on Loyola Avenue off of Poydras, also has a very good happy hour.  Service was outstanding.

http://borgnerestaurant.com/

6.  If you are in the area of Jefferson Davis and Canal Street, or anywhere near jazz fest,  Bayou Beer Garden is magical.  Indoor and outdoor seating built around a series of Creole cottages. Lots of beer, wine, liquor options.  Food is excellent.

http://bayoubeergarden.com/

 

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16 minutes ago, MC Horoscope said:

What did you have for dessert at Borgne? They are excellent! I see from the online menu that they change them up. When we went a couple of years ago there was one with Nutella!

No dessert. I just escaped long enough from care duties for a HH drink and a snack. The gumbo was yummy. 

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On 3/9/2018 at 8:53 PM, MC Horoscope said:

Have not ever tried Central's (sacrilege!)  but I have to say Napoleon House's is very good! And a good Ramos Gin Fizz!

Alas Irene's Cuisine recently either closed or is moving! The sausage lasagna was out of sight!

Last time we were there (11/16), we were told they were going to have to move - the museum owns the building, and uses the upstairs for storage. They apparently have decided that archives and restaurants should not share a building.

They were looking for new space at the time.

In the meantime, try Adolfo's, on Frenchman, above the Apple Barrel.

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i had brunch at sylvains yesterday and the cheese grits are amazing. seriously probably the best i've ever had--so rich and flavorful, yet also with a bit of the sweet taste of fresh corn. my friend who was already full took one bite of mine and immediately placed her own order. the biscuits were really good too. 

and yesterday night I was at a wonderful event catered by coquette. the pimento cheese was crazy delicious--it had horseradish and was decidedly cheesy, unlike most pimento cheese i've had, and though i didn't try it, everyone was swooning over the hanger steak. so my guess is that the versions of these at the restaurant itself are pretty great. i know that if i ever go i'm going to ask for a bowl of that pimento cheese. 

 

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On 4/19/2018 at 10:35 PM, frogprince said:

Get the crab and corn callelloni and thank me later

I don't eat seafood, so I can't testify personally, but the dining companion says "Get with the "Ocean" sauce."

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New Orleans was an amazing setting for a weekend of fun with my college friends. Unfortunately, flight delays on my end threw a wrench into the weekend, especially since a lot of sparkling wine (and not enough food) was consumed by all during the wait for my arrival in New Orleans. 

First dinner/meal was at Peche and unfortunately we were all experiencing -- to a certain extent -- a sugar crash from a morning/afternoon of drinking sparkling wine. While the food was very good, we didn't enjoy it as much as we could have since it seemed like we wanted something greasy and hearty rather than seafood.

Breakfast the next morning was at our hotel restaurant, SoBu. We wanted something not too filling since we were off to massages right after, but none of us wanted a sugary pastry. My breakfast sandwich was fine as far as hotel meals go but the coffee was not good. 

After our massages, we grabbed lunch at Felix's where I devoured some oysters bienville and a shrimp and oyster po'boy. Not sure how the po'boys at Felix's compares to others but mine was enjoyable. 

Our second and last dinner in New Orleans was at Coquette and it was amazing. I had the rabbit pate, liver mousse, and rillettes followed by the fried porkchops. We had a great time and everyone loved their meal. Definitely the best meal of the weekend. 

Unfortunately, the weekend was a fail on the muffaletta front. I was especially bummed when I realized that Napolean is just a few blocks down the street from our hotel. There will be a next time, because the weekend was way too short and left too much to be desired. 

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On 4/19/2018 at 10:35 PM, frogprince said:

Get the crab and corn callelloni and thank me later

41 minutes ago, frogprince said:

Seconded this recommendation wholeheartedly! The cochinita pibil, chicken tortilla soup and mango agua fresca (add tequila) were lifesavers for us after a weekend of Beard Awards tomfoolery, made the trip back home all the more merrier (and less nauseating)

Hey, welcome back, Sam!

Herbsaint?! Good for you (and them!)

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Went to Compere Lapin this weekend, and honestly, I do not get the fuss about it. It was good, but not as good as others in town, and certainly not on the level of some of the great places we have in DC currently.

The space is nice, warehouse/loft-like with exposed brick, etc. Looks more like West Loop Chicago then NOLA. We got there at 9.15p straight from the airport, basically. The cocktail menu is pretty fun. She got the Andromeda (Pisco, green chile vodka, grapefruit, lime, rose, egg white) and I just got a local beer. The biscuits and butter are fantastic, I liked the honey butter and she liked the bacon butter. For starters, we got the fried crispy pig ears, and the arancini balls. These were really tasty, especially the arancini. Our small plates were the marinated shrimp with jalapeno jus and the tuna tartare. The Noble Garden cocktail went really well with the shrimp, and that was probably our favorite dish of the night. The tuna was good, too. We split the curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi were our main. This was easily the most boring dish of the night. Felt phoned in. I can throw some goat into the ol' Instapot and make a curry that was as good. Not trying to be a hater, but it's just talked about so much. The gnocchi was chewy and it felt kind of funny in the dish - it had the texture of those korean rice cakes (the tube shaped ones). We didn't try dessert.

All in all, super fun, a few more people and we could have tried more things. The earlier dishes were interesting and refined, and the entree was 'eh'. 

Also tried Pascals Manale for the first time, and that was fun, but I think her veal gambero (breaded and pan fried) wasn't as tender as she hoped. I enjoyed my soft shell crab. 

BBQ shrimp po-boy at Liuzza's On The Track was as good as I remember, and their gumbo is really solid.

Got crawfish from Cajun in mid-city and brought it to a friend's house. They were awesome - the Vietnamese really know what they're doing with crawfish. 

Final meal was breakfast at Vyoone's. Way too expensive, not very good. My frittata was lame. 

Anyway, always good to be back in NOLA. Cat's Meow was a blast, the wild life preserve in Folsom was interesting (who knew you could see giraffes in LA?), and overall super fun trip.

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DSC05270.JPG.e6bf3e9398faf9e28f1c784ee94adc77.JPG

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Plain beignets

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Conch fritters, pickled pineapple tartar sauce at Compere Lapin

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Hamachi tartare, guava, papaya

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Spiced chocolate mousse, lemongrass, caramel

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Roasted banana zeppole, caramel sauce

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Boucherie plate at Cochon

Clockwise from top left:  pate; mustard; head cheese; toast points; pickled green tomatoes; salami; lard with chopped pork; cucumber pickle; ???; bread and butter pickles

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Cochon with pork rinds, cabbage and turnips

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Braised short ribs, rice pilaf, mushroom gravy

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Pineapple upside down cake, coconut-lime sherbet

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Shrimp Arnaud at Arnaud's

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Quail, gastrique, seafood cake

 

As you can guess, we went to NOLA for a few days. Some meals were great, others not so much. It's ok, we'll probably return sometime in the next year or so.

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2 hours ago, frogprince said:

There are few things better in life than 6# from Schaefer and Rusich, consumed with a 6 pack of Covington strawberry on the shores of the lake

Those mudbugscrawfish :) (do they call them mudbugs in NOLA?) look amazing. I just went to Cantler's in Annapolis over Memorial Day weekend, and now I want more crustaceans.

2 hours ago, dcandohio said:

I'll take a six of Abita Strawberry with mine!

Did you know that Brooks Hamaker (MayhawMan on eGullet, and a dear friend of Ann Cashion) was one of the original brewmasters at Abita? I kid you not. He told me he "invented" Turbodog on an airplane - that beer exists only because of him.

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11 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Those mudbugs (do they call them mudbugs in NOLA?) look amazing. I just went to Cantler's in Annapolis over Memorial Day weekend, and now I want more crustaceans.

Did you know that Brooks Hamaker (MayhawMan on eGullet, and a dear friend of Ann Cashion) was one of the original brewmasters at Abita? I kid you not. He told me he "invented" Turbodog on an airplane - that beer exists only because of him.

Don't go down there and refer to crawfish as mud bugs. Don't say crawdads, either, unless you are dealing with somebody's grandma up around Breaux Bridge and you're being a goof. Spare yourself the derision!

My brother's company used to be somehow tied in with Abita but not anymore… I don't know that much about the history. Turbo dog is not my favorite beer of theirs. But that strawberry. Oh Lordy, it is yummy. 

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Yes! It's like saying 7 take away 2. (Baby talk for subtraction). And DON't say Coonass around anyone my age, 62. Or older.  It very definitely was an insult no matter how much the revisionist appropriators of the term want to say otherwise or don't care that there are still people offended by the term.

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 I am in New Orleans for the week of parental care duty, giving my sister and brother a break.  I snuck off for a mid day respite at Bayou Beer Garden on a steamy hot and overcast day.  The food menu has changed, and not for the better. ☹️  Since last time I was here, some of the yummy things on the menu, like the mussels, are gone.  But it’s still a great place.

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Just spent 48 hours.  Four great, can't-miss--virtually perfect--meals:

Lunches at Marjie's Grill and Turkey & the Wolf.  Dinners at Herbsaint and Coquette.  Coquette is the only one of the four I'd been to before, and it was just as good this time around.  Would go back to all four in a heartbeat. 

Was sorry I didn't have time to try these, all very highly recommended:  N7, Compère Lapin, La Petite Grocery, Saba (NOT Shaya--avoiding Besh places).

(Nor did I have time for Cochon and Peche, both of which I enjoyed on my previous trip.  I think it's very safe to say the forthcoming Link/Wilcomb Italian place will be great, too--they seem to care a great deal about keeping the quality high across multiple restaurants.)

OK, sazeracs and po' boys:

Sazeracs at Herbsaint and Coquette were great.  Decided also to try one at the Sazerac Room, in the Roosevelt Hotel.  Horrible (but what do I know?).  Not balanced at all, and the (too strong) whiskey overwhelmed all other components.  And $17.  What a racket (understandably trading on its legend, but still).

As for po' boys, I've come to think that one could ask 30 or more trusted people for their favorites and not get a single duplicate answer. I like that about New Orleans.  Anyway, taking the word of one such person (a bartender at Coquette), I decided to get the shrimp po' boy at Rampart Food Store.  It was as good as advertised, albeit not life-changing.  Would have been better if I had eaten it within five or so minutes of its making, which would have meant, I suppose, finding a spot in Louis Armstrong Park.  But it was 95 degrees, humid, and I had to get to the airport . . . .  Next time, think I'll try the Peacemaker at Bevi Seafood, also highly touted. 

One more thing:  Found a great little -- and I mean little -- coffee spot in the French Quarter:  Spitfire.  They really know how to pour a cup, and the cold brews were fantastic. Only three or so stools, though, so plan to carry out.

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, frogprince said:

Say hi next time 😎

I asked for you (Thursday evening), but you had been on the early shift!  The (female) bartender, whose name I unfortunately can't recall, was terrific--in addition to mixing a great sazerac, she gave me (warranted) reassurance that the kitchen wasn't resting on its laurels w/r/t some of the old stand-byes (the gumbo, the duck, the banana tart), i.e., that they wouldn't disappoint.  She was right, on all three scores.

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For the record, my 5-year-old is insisting on going to NoLa. Furthermore, she wants to eat her body-weight in oysters and "not spicy" seafood. Maybe we will deposit her at the bar* at Herbsaint and fetch her after she's fully full. (we know the one place we cannot deposit our child is the actual bar...all else, ok).

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17 hours ago, mr food said:

I don't eat raw oysters in New Orleans. Why take the chance when you can go to Drago's and get their famous charbroiled oysters.

I’m not a food safety expert, but I’ve eaten raw oysters in New Orleans  almost all of my 60 years, with zero ill effects. 

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On 1/10/2019 at 9:00 AM, dcandohio said:

I’m not a food safety expert, but I’ve eaten raw oysters in New Orleans  almost all of my 60 years, with zero ill effects. 

It's only since deepwater horizon that there's been a concern...oh and that algae bloom from the  90s. Frankly, my people live really unhealthy lives but long ones. I think the radioactive stuff down there either kills you or makes you roach-strong.  If you are 70 and full of New Orleans food, you just might be roach-like, which in this context is a complement. 

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21 hours ago, NolaCaine said:

It's only since deepwater horizon that there's been a concern...oh and that algae bloom from the  90s. Frankly, my people live really unhealthy lives but long ones. I think the radioactive stuff down there either kills you or makes you roach-strong.  If you are 70 and full of New Orleans food, you just might be roach-like, which in this context is a complement. 

“Roach strong.” Perfect. 

 

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When I am in New Orleans taking care of my elderly parents, I tried to take a daily break to get some time for myself and to eat a tasty lunch.  On this quick trip, I was able to visit three venerable spots off of the tourist circuit, in Metairie, where my parents live. 

 Acme oyster bar, Metairie:  A cup of gumbo ($5) an appetizer portion of fried crawfish tails ($7) an Abita Amber. Note that Acme has a few other locations  

Drago’s Metairie:  famous chargrilled oysters and a cup of gumbo. I was here with other people, Busy talking, I don’t recall the specifics of prices. Drago’s has a location downtown, in one of the huge hotels on the river  

New Orleans Food and Spirits:  Half dozen chargrilled oysters ($10) and a cup of corn and crawfish soup ($6).

The gumbo at Acme was superior to the gumbo at Drago’s.  Dragos was fun because the cup contained a pretty large piece of blue crab, but the roux flavor and the sausage was better at Acme. Super fresh shrimp. Both leagues better than anything I’ve had outside of Louisiana  

I would give Dragos a slight edge on the chargrilled oysters, although New Orleans food and spirits, being slightly less charred, might appeal to people who prefer that.

The crawfish in both the fried and soup preparations were firm and sweet.  It is possible that places are using previously frozen crawfish, but they probably come from a good quality local source. 

These are essentially neighborhood restaurants, places that at lunchtime, are packed with workers,  from guys in steel-toed boots and groups of people in scrubs, to the suit and briefcase crowd.  Prices are reasonable for the quality/quantity of the food, and every dish and every experience is one that would be a standout if it were in any other city in America. 

None of these three places is hip, or cutting edge, or “new and noteworthy.”  They all just work hard to put out delicious food at decent prices in egalitarian settings. 

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On 3/18/2019 at 8:44 AM, dcandohio said:

None of these three places is hip, or cutting edge, or “new and noteworthy.”  They all just work hard to put out delicious food at decent prices in egalitarian settings. 

The Galley in Old Metry and Harbor Seafood out in Kenner (brah) also fall into this most noble of restaurant categories; indeed, ask any industry folk and I would wager that most spend their hard earned time off in establishments such as these (if they choose to go out to eat at all but that’s a whole different topic...)

The crawfish at both are exemplary, also the gumbos, fried things, honestly you can close your eyes and point and it’ll be fantastic (but defitnely the crawfish). 

Yall can find me at either, sometimes both, on my hard earned days off

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On 3/18/2019 at 7:52 AM, zgast said:

St. James Cheese Company has become a lunch standard for me as I visit my daughter at school.  Wish there was someplace like this in DC.   Great cheeses, wine & beer, and a fun atmosphere.  

Does that Cowgirl Creamery joint still exist? That’s the only thing comparable in DC that I recall (granted that was many many moons ago)...

Stick to St James Uptown, it is light years better than the downtown farm team

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10 hours ago, frogprince said:

Does that Cowgirl Creamery joint still exist? That’s the only thing comparable in DC that I recall (granted that was many many moons ago)...

Stick to St James Uptown, it is light years better than the downtown farm team

Cowgirl Creamery is still there.  Not quite the same in my book as it lacks the liveliness.  Glad to see the local expert agrees with a place I randomly discovered!

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3 hours ago, zgast said:

Cowgirl Creamery is still there.  Not quite the same in my book as it lacks the liveliness.  Glad to see the local expert agrees with a place I randomly discovered!

Why didn't Cowgirl Creamery close? I thought it did.

Dec 13, 2013 - "Cowgirl Creamery Closing at the End of the Month (Updated)" by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com

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3 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

 Looking for a great brunch spot for Saturday (not looking for egg dishes).  

Look at Elizabeth's.  It's off the beaten track, and a little funky, next door to a great record store, and it has a great brunch.  First come first served for brunch.

https://www.elizabethsrestaurantnola.com/brunch/

They do a "make your own mimosa" where they just give you a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of OJ and let you do the mixing.  Fun and reasonably priced! 

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I loved Peche.  Not brunchy but casual weekend lunch friendly.  Found Herbsaint meh.  Not bad but vastly preferred Cochon, Cochon Butcher, and Peche.  And Peche was my favorite by a wide margin.  (If you were looking for suggestions, I recall very good meal at Coquette, and Le Petit Grocery).

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On 5/14/2019 at 1:32 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Taking the kids to the Crescent City in August.  Dinners will be at Herbsaint, Gianna, La Petite Grocery and Brennan's.  Looking for a great brunch spot for Saturday (not looking for egg dishes).  The place has to be casual (i.e., allows shorts and sandals).  

Coquette would always be my first choice -- shorts & sandals probably ok, but call to be sure.  Turkey & the Wolf is another excellent (and very different) option. 

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17 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

What's the best place (meaning no long lines) to get a Po-boy and beer on Saturday morning btwn 10-11 a.m.?  LIuzza's, Parkway, or Domilise's?

Liuzza’s and Parkway don’t open till 11. Neither should be very crowded then unless there is a big festival nearby.  But August isn’t really the height of festival season because it is so freaking hot.  If you’re going to either one, you are close enough to City Park that you must visit and see the newly expanded sculpture garden. It’s phenomenal.  I drove by on Wednesday before it was open.  The garden is free, and there is lots of free parking. Trust me. 

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