217 replies to this topic

[philadining]

Bryan: I can't answer many of your questions, but:

Move Hansen's up into the the Definites list.

As for PoBoy places, it probably depends on what kind of Po Boy you want. If it's the classic debris-style Roast beef, go to Parkway or Parasol. If it's shrimp or oysters, Parkway is also very well thought-of, although I haven't had them (but saw some nearby that looked pretty rocking) or you might want to try Liuzza's. Or, maybe it's more geographic - get one from Domilise's because you're going to be out that way anyway going to Hansen's. If you are just picking one with no other variables, I might say Parkway, but you're going to get a good, interesting sandwich at any of the places you mentioned.

Go to the trouble of tracking Chris McMillan down.

It's worth going to the Napolean house, especially if you like a Pimms Cup.

For a non-cocktail bar AND music on a random night, try d.b.a. out on Frenchman Street. They have cocktails, but it's not a fancy cocktailian place, just a good bar with reasonable prices and a very deep selection and usually a listenable band or two. And if it's not doing it for you, there are a few other places right nearby that might.

I've eaten at the bar quite comfortably at both Herbsaint and Mila, which might assuage your guilt over killing a table for something less than a full meal.

BTW, Casmento's is closed until Sept 15.

Edited by philadining, 14 August 2009 - 04:49 PM.

[Timh]

Stella just got 75 beans. Go there.

[docsconz]

The oyster and shrimp po' boys at Parkway are excellent. I especially liked the shrimp. The quality of the shrimp is outstanding.

I pretty much agree with everything Philadining wrote.

[BryanZ]

Thanks for the feedback. What are these beans you speak of, Timh?

[Nishla]

Bryan, I highly recommend Verti Marte for po-boys, especially fried catfish or hot sausage. It's on Royal St (1200ish?), and the sandwich counter is at the back of a convenience store. In fact, I'm still dreaming about the fried catfish. I liked them a lot better than Parkway (and not just because Parkway coincided with puking my guts out from participating in too many Tales events).

I thought Hansen's was really good, but not worth the price of the cab rides (~$30 total from French Quarter). It's the best shaved ice ever, but it's just shaved ice, if that makes any sense.

I second the motion for Pimms Cups at Napoleon. Also, you should try to get bbq shrimp somewhere. Mr B's in the French Quarter was good.

I really did not enjoy the raw oysters...the ones I had at ACME were mushy and gross. Fried or baked were good. It's possible that I just may not appreciate Gulf oysters.

If you can see Kermit Ruffins anywhere, go. Last year we saw him at the Rock n' Bowl, this year at Vaughn's, and and both were a great time.

Have a great time!

[philadining]

It's mostly just a personal preference thing, but, although I had three Verti Marte Po boys on my last trip, that was primarily due to its location and 24-hour-ness. I just don't love the rolls they use, I much prefered the po boys at Parkway, especially the hot sausage. But, a chacun son gout...

But I must object: Hansen's isn't JUST shaved ice!! It's, ummm, MAGIC!

[Tony Boulton]

My wife and I went to New Orleans before we were married and a fellow passenger who lived there recommended The Court of Two Sisters for the Sunday brunch. It was awesome. You could sit there as long as you wished and we just kept going back to the buffet for more. Great Eggs Benedict. Lovely place.

[BryanZ]

The problem with Hansen's is that it really seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. Everyone says such amazing things so I really, really want to try it, but without a car it's hard to justify the cab fare. Ideas?

[Timh]

Mimi's in the marigny is cool and funky local that serves tapas upstairs late. Coops for inner quarter scene and good gumbo, Herbsaint to see both sides of Donald Link (Cochon). And definitely the vietnamese recs are solid.

[TAPrice]

Consider:

I might like Domilise's better for Po-Boys.  Maybe Parkway.  Try both if you can.

I think Domilise's has really fallen in quality recently. Hate to say that, because I people are great and the atmosphere is fun. But the shrimp has been tiny and overbattered recently.

If you're in the area after a Hansen's run, I would recommend Guy's Po-Boys on Magazine or red beans or jambalaya from Tee-Eva on Magazine and Dufossat.

[docsconz]

The problem with Hansen's is that it really seems like it's in the middle of nowhere.  Everyone says such amazing things so I really, really want to try it, but without a car it's hard to justify the cab fare.  Ideas?

Take the trolley or walk.

[BryanZ]

Did not realize how close it was to the streetcar line. Will certainly make it a point to get out there then.

[philadining]

It's a nice bike-ride from the Quarter, and we appreciated the exercise... But if you're not up for that, it's only a few blocks from the st Charles streetcar, as Doc suggests, which is a nice ride, or there are busses on Magazine.

One thing to remember is that the distances we're talking about are not as daunting as they might look on a map. Hansen's isn't WAY out in the middle of nowhere. And you don't want to spend all your time in the Quarter.

[TAPrice]

Did not realize how close it was to the streetcar line.  Will certainly make it a point to get out there then.

I wouldn't consider it close. About 10 blocks. Not a terrible walk, although it will probably be hot as hell and twice as humid.

By the time you get to Hansen's, though, you'll have earned that snowball.

[BryanZ]

Am I reading this transit map incorrectly or is the Tchoupitoulas St. streetcar line right there?

[BrooksNYC]

Not a streetcar. The #10 bus runs up Tchoupitoulas.

The city has three streetcars:

- The St. Charles Avenue line (Route 12) runs the length of St. Charles Avenue from Canal Street to Carrollton Avenue.

- The Canal Street cars travel the length of Canal Street. (Route 47 ends at Carrollton Avenue and Route 48 goes all the way to City Park). NOTE: If Canal Street is still undergoing track repairs, buses will cover the routes.

- The Riverfront Line (Route 2). Runs along the river between Esplanade Avenue and Thalia Street.

Streetcars and buses are $1.25 — exact change.

Route, schedule, and system maps from the N.O. Regional Transit Authority: http://www.norta.com/routes/index.php

Napoleon House. Is this place worth going to?

The reason to go to Napoleon House is atmosphere. It's old, old New Orleans, and if you go when it's not busy, it's a blissfully mellow antidote to French Quarter "woo-hoo!" bars. I like weekdays, mid-to-late afternoon after the lunch crowds have left. The Pimm's Cup is pleasant, but very light — more thirst-quencher than cocktail.

Are jackets seriously the norm even in the summer at Galatoire's and Commander's Palace?

The dress code at Commander's and Galatoire's is business casual. Galatoire's requires a jacket after 5:00 p.m. and all day Sunday. Commander's is a little looser, I think, but you may want to phone ahead to confirm. No shorts at either place.

Nowadays, oysters are served year-round. That being said, I like Gulf oysters best during the winter months. They're plumper and more flavorful.

Music listings: http://offbeat.com/listings/clubs.php

Edited by BrooksNYC, 16 August 2009 - 01:09 AM.

[MikeHartnett]

-At the likes of August, MiLa, Herbsaint, how are they about diners just ordering a couple starters in the dining room?  I'm not sure I want to commit to a full meal at any of these pricier spots and might want to visit a couple on a night.  Is this frowned upon?

At this time of year, I'd guess they would be happy with you showing up. As long as it isn't 7 p.m. on Saturday night, I think you'll be ok.

[mattohara]

We went to MiLa and just had 4 apps, I think., in the dining room. The place was almost empty so we didn't feel bad. Had a great foie dish. Chris M. was not around. :\

Agreed with the above about Napoleon House. If you're in the area and want a refreshing thirst quencher stop by. We like ours with ginger ale, not 7up though.

Didn't chef Link open up a charcuterie place?

[philadining]

Didn't chef Link open up a charcuterie place?

Cochon Butcher is right around the corner from Cochon, I'm not sure, they might even be connected internally. They offer meats and some prepared food to go, and have a few tables and a small bar when you can order casual stuff, like sandwiches and charcuterie.

We liked it pretty well, but wouldn't trade it for a meal at Cochon. I'd go back in addition to a trip the the main restaurant...

[BryanZ]

Just walked in the door after my first visit to New Orleans and quite enjoyed myself. I'm now headed out the door for a quick trip to SF, but I'll post a full report sometime next week. Like any trip, some definite surprises, a couple disappointments, and not quite enough stomach space.

[Diann]

I'm headed down to New Orleans for the first time in September and this thread has been very helpful, as eGullet always is...

What do you think of my plan?

Thursday - Arrive, late dinner at Cochon, cocktails at the Lobby Bar at the Pere Marquette if Chris McMillian is around. Other cocktail options - Sazerac Bar, Carousel Bar, Swizzle Stick, Arnaud's. Staying in the French Quarter. Will go check out the bars on Frenchmen St. and the izakaya if we get hungry around 1AM.

Friday - Bread pudding and bananas Foster at Brennan's. A quarter- or half-muffaletta from Central Grocery (to be eaten overlooking the Mississippi... with an Abita). Po'boys from Parkway. Pimms Cups at Napoleon House. More drinks at Cure. Late dinner at Herbsaint.

Should I replace Herbsaint with Brigtsens, Bayona, Gautreau's, Lilette, Green Goddess... others? I feel slightly silly eating at two Donald Link places in two nights, but the menu at Herbsaint looks great. I'm looking for some variety in my dinners...

Saturday - Beignets and cafe au lait at CdM. Po'boys at Parasol's and Domilise... and/or food at Lil' Dizzys... maybe Willie Mae's... Liuzza's... I'm keeping things pretty open here. Dinner is the tasting menu at August.

Sunday - Unfortunately, leaving at the crack of dawn... which just means we're staying up all night Saturday!

I know some of this is touristy, but I've been told even the most insanely touristy things I can imagine (Central Grocery, Cafe du Monde) are worth a stop.

Thanks for all of your feedback, in advance!

[BryanZ]

In order to keep this thread from getting too clogged up and to make sure I don't hijack Diann's requests, I've started a separate thread for my New Orleans trip report. I was in the city for the first time for 2.5 days in the middle of August 2009. Thanks to everyone who helped me out in the planning stages. I hope you'll read my report and take a look at the pictures.

Edited by BryanZ, 25 August 2009 - 01:54 PM.

[mattohara]

Diann don't feel silly going to both of Link's restaurants. They're different enough to warrant it and my favorite Sazerac was made at Herbsaint. Also we went to Cochon *twice* on our 2-day trip. You might also want to check out his charcuterie place around the corner from Cochon for some late-night or early-morning hotel snacks.

I'm beginning to think there should be some sort of Philly-New Orleans hostel program set up...

[philadining]

We managed to adhere pretty closely to the original parameters of this thread, and spent 72 hours eating and drinking around New Orleans. The majority of the first couple of days were spent up at Jazzfest (first weekend) as documented here>>

Despite eating constantly during Jazzfest, we felt it was important to visit some other spots around town too.

Saturday, after cleaning the Jazzfest mud off, and changing in to some nicer clothes, we headed uptown to Patois. We waited a few minutes at the bar, and had a couple of cocktails: a "Pickled Patois" that featured Gin and pickle juice garnished with a slice of pickle or two, and an improv of something vaguely like a Pimms Cup. The pickle cocktail was actually quite good, despite what one might expect from those ingredients.


After getting a table in the small, but attractive dining room,


We decided to order several appetizers and one entrée.

Lamb Ribs.

We've had a few lamb ribs, although they're not nearly as common as they ought to be, but these were the best we've had: an assertive rub lent an almost smoky note to the meaty, tender ribs. They retained enough fat to make them indulgent, but not so much that they were sickly rich. The pickled green tomato relish cut through any unctuousness, balancing them out, and making them not only one of the best dishes of the night, but of the whole trip.

Crispy Pigs Feet

This special of the evening navigated the same indulgent waters as the ribs, and showed the same balance, negotiating crisp, fatty, meaty, with the help of an elegant remoulade-like sauce. Very nicely done.

Scallop and Pork Belly

We've eaten quite a bit of pork belly in our days, but both my dining companion and I were blown-away by how good this version was. The perfect texture, proportion of meat and fat, and most importantly, char. Or maybe the mustard/Steen's Cane Syrup glaze had something to do with it... The scallop was perfectly cooked as well, and the two went together even better than we'd imagined. Yet another dish we're going to have to get again next visit.

Smoked Rabbit, Andouille and Greens Gumbo.

One of the best gumbos I've had in New Orleans. It featured a very dark roux, but still let the flavor of the meat through. The spicy kick of the sausage, and unusual note from the greens made for a very complex, and delicious soup. Excellent.

Crabmeat Salad

Because there is nothing so refreshing and fundamentally satisfying as a pile of cold, fresh, sweet crabmeat. Some hearts of palm and a light, herby dressing don't hurt.

Charcuterie platter: Pork Rillettes, Boudin, Hogshead Cheese

In case you were concerned that we weren't getting enough animal fat and offal... All three of these components were very good, especially when combined with their condiments. The pickles balanced the fat of the rillettes, pickled onions brightened the spicy headcheese, grainy mustard complimented the subtle liver flavor of the boudin.

They had just run out of the pheasant which had been recommended to us, so our one main course was a Half Roasted Duck.

The blood orange reduction was a perfect accompaniment, but even on its own, it was just so perfectly cooked, with a crisp skin, yet juicy meat, almost all fat rendered away, just the slightest ribbon remaining to add flavor and moisture. A crisp Chinese Celery and Turnip fritter, enriched with Mascarpone, was an agreeable companion.


We washed this all down with a 2006 Scholium Project Naucratis, which had exactly the right level of minerality, acid and quenching juiciness for all this rich food.

We were too full for dessert, although several looked appealing. All in all an excellent dinner, and a restaurant we look forward to visiting again. Or server was very knowledgeable and helpful, but also very down to earth and just plain friendly, helping make the evening quite enjoyable.


After dinner, we headed back toward the quarter, and had a few cocktails at Bar Tonique, at 820 N. Rampart, near the gates to Louis Armstrong park. It has the vibe of a little neighborhood joint, but keeps a deep selection of good spirits. The cocktail list is interesting, and the bartenders can handle the classics as well as some modern experiments. We especially liked the "Bitter Harvest."

After a couple of hours there, we headed back toward the Marigny, where we were staying, and couldn't resist a pass by Mimi's just to see if anything was up. It was pretty quiet, but then it was pretty late, even for Mimi's... So had one quick drink there, and called it a night.

(More to come...)

Edited by philadining, 02 May 2010 - 11:56 PM.

[philadining]

Forgot to add the details:

Patois:
6078 Laurel St (at Webster)
504-895-9441
http://www.patoisnola.com

[saturnbar]

Looks like you all killed Patois, good work. So what is the second cocktail? Anything you wish you had tried from looking around?

[philadining]

The second cocktail was supposed to be a Pimm's Cup, but apparently they had just run out of Pimms, so the bartender improvised something gin and fruit and herb-ish...

We definitely wanted to try the Pheasant, but there's a downside to a late reservation: the last order literally got snatched out from under us. We'd ordered it, but by the time the waiter got back to the kitchen, it was 86ed.

The entire appetizer section looked pretty appetizing, and from spying on neighboring diners, and also from having the menu described in loving detail by an off-duty employee as we sat at the bar, we really did end up wanting one of everything. I would have loved to have been there with more people and just ordered the whole menu, or at least as close as was practical.

[philadining]

Following another great day at Jazzfest, we again cleaned up, dressed up and headed uptown, this time to Commander's Palace.

Started with a truly excellent Sazerac cocktail, and a Pimm's Cup, and perused the menu. We have to admit that part of the motivation for going at this particular moment was that we had recently been reading this list of 100 Best Restaurant Dishes and their description of the rack of lamb at Commander's was very persuasive... So it threw us off a little when there was no rack of lamb on the menu. I'm not sure if it's a seasonal thing, or an occasional special, but it wasn't on the menu. We asked our waiter about it, and he just said no, they don't have it, and offered no more details.

I'd wanted to dine here long before reading about racks of lamb, it's always seemed like one of those places that one should experience, and now seemed as good a time as any, so it wasn't exactly a tragedy that the menu was not as we'd expected. In retrospect, it might not have been ideal timing: Sunday night, during Jazzfest. They were quite busy, but it appeared that the back-up service team had pulled this shift. Everyone comported themselves quite professionally, but in general, the staff was very young, our main waiter in particular, and lacked that certain seasoned style that one expects in these old-school places. There was one exception to that though - I was never completely clear on what his role was, perhaps a Captain, or even a Maitre d' or Sommelier, or some combination of the three. He took a drink order, helped us choose a wonderful bottle of wine when the one we ordered was out of stock, and was just generally gracious and helpful and confidence-inspiring, as we'd hoped-for from the staff at a fine restaurant like this. The young waiter that was mostly taking care of us was a little too rote and pushy, continually volunteering which were his favorite dishes (shocker - the most expensive ones!) not able to answer some questions we had about preparations, and a little perplexed about the wine list. On top of that, there was a second server helping us, and the two of them didn't seem to communicate with one another, so we were frequently asked, or offered, the same things twice.

But we didn't suffer any service gaffes per se, we were just a bit disappointed to not have that confident feeling that our waiter, who has been working there for 100 years, is on top of everything, and has already anticipated our needs.

We started with the trio of soups: small cups of Seafood Gumbo, Soup of the Day, which was Crawfish Bisque, and Turtle Soup. Sadly, the soups were underwhelming, all tasting vaguely thick and brown. Even a dash of sherry couldn't wake-up the turtle soup, which was bordering on brown gravy consistency, with barely discernible granules of what I guess was turtle meat. I guess I'd been hoping for something like the turtle soup at Brennan's, which I thought was spectacular. The gumbo and bisque were better than that, but still surprisingly bland, too thick, blah.


Thankfully, that was the end of the disappointments. Our first appetizer was the Oyster and Absinthe "Dome".

This was elegant and unusual, a ramekin stacked full of tender, poached oysters in an absinthe-spiked cream sauce, topped with flaky puff pastry. I swear there might have been 10 mid-sized oysters in there, all perfectly cooked, and beautifully complimented by artichoke and bacon, and the rich sauce. Classic, old-fashioned, no reason to tweak that.

The other appetizer was Shrimp and Tasso Henican. Large wild white shrimp, spicy tasso ham, a glaze of Crystal hot sauce, and pepper jelly made for a surprisingly assertively spicy dish, but a delicious one. I could eat that pepper jelly spread on toast.


Entrées were Crawfish Maque-Choux with Boudin, and a mammoth Veal Chop with Goat Cheese Grits.

The Maque-Choux consisted of the expected braise of corn and other vegetables, but in this case studded with large, fresh crawfish tails, with a big, crispy house-made boudin sausage in the center. A crawfish bisque was poured around the edges. This had a wonderful range of tastes and textures: spicy, earthy, chewy, crunchy, tender, creamy... Really nice.

The Veal Chop was fairly conventional, but perfectly executed. It was a very high quality product, cooked perfectly. The goat cheese grits were fine, grilled asparagus a pleasant-enough accompaniment, but it was mostly all about the tender, juicy, surprisingly flavorful meat, and the intense green peppercorn sauce.

We were a little too stuffed to go for some of the more elaborate desserts they offer here, like the table-side flamed Bananas Foster, or the Bread Pudding Soufflée, but we couldn't resist the siren call of the Pecan Pie, which was very tasty, even without the melted chocolate and caramel sauce, which we'd asked them to leave off.


We'd been feeling like a light and crisp and resfreshing wine to go with this meal, and ended up, with a little help from our favorite mustachioed staffer, with a 2008 Sancerre from Reverdy, "La Reine Blanche." It was just perfect for our mood, and food, and abstractly a delicious wine, one that I hope to drink more of.

All in all, a very enjoyable meal, marred only slightly by a few moments of vaguely amateurish service. I wouldn't hesitate to go back, but at the same time, I feel that now that I've had the experience, I may turn my attention to some of the other old-guard classic places first.

After dinner, we wandered Frenchmen Street, and absorbed a little apres-Fest giddiness, but didn't encounter anything too profound, so called it a night, and got ready for another day of eating on Monday!

[saturnbar]

I have always wondered the proper name for "those guys" was as well, but they really make the whole Commanders experience. I love the way they swoop in and keep everyone's drinks topped off. When you are at big table and some folks are drinking wine while others are still cocktailing the guys in the suits make sure no one gets out of cink, so I call them "oilers." They are very stealthy too. ch

[philadining]

Monday, we couldn't get motivated for breakfast, so moved directly to lunch. We headed to Mr B's Bistro, to sample their Gumbo Ya Ya. We've eaten a lot of good gumbo in New Orleans, but this particular one has been mentioned as a classic, so we figured we should try it.


And indeed, it's a classic style of gumbo, with full flavor from a dark roux, and generous chunks of chicken and andouille sausage. Sadly the sausage had given up most of its fat and flavor to the soup, so what remained in the bowl was a little dry. It was a decent bowl of gumbo, but not the apex of gumbo-dom that we'd expected. The fresh, warm loaf of french bread was really good, and an excellent partner for the soup, and along with a couple of cocktails, it made a perfectly pleasant lunch, but I wouldn't call it a necessary stop on a culinary tour.

Mr B's Bistro
201 Royal St
www.mrbsbistro.com/

Next we wandered a few blocks over to Johnny's Po Boys.


There was a bit of a line, but it moved fairly quickly. We'd seen their Roast Beef Po Boy mentioned as one of the better ones around town, so we felt obliged to try one of those.

It was, in fact, quite good, very moist and flavorful, but not soaked with dark gravy and debris, as so many of the classic ones are. Perhaps they'll drown it in gravy if you ask for it that way, but I actually liked it like this, it was still plenty wet and messy. If I had a craving for the ultimate roast beef po boy, I'd probably hike out to Parasol's, but if I needed to stick near the Quarter, I wouldn't be disappointed in this one.


The Judge Bosetta po boy took a while on the grill. It's got ground beef, Italian Sausage and Hot Sausage, all smooshed together and crisped-up on the flat-top. Delicious.

We saw a lot of food go by as we were waiting for that second sandwich, and everything looked great, including bowls of seafood gumbo with various claws and shells protruding from the broth, a very credible-looking muffuletta, a bacon egg and cheese po by's Po Boy that made us consider backing-up to breakfast, and lots of enticing fried things.

Johnny's Po Boys
51 St Louis St
open until 3pm weekdays, 4:30 on fri-sat-sun.
www.johnnyspoboy.com/

It was a beautiful, sunny day, so we walked over to the riverbank and ate our sandwiches outside. Afterward, we decided to bike out Magazine St and see what we would discover. We knew that if nothing else, we'd end up at La Divina and Sucré. Good gelato and sorbetto are always powerful motivators.



That's Strawberry-Balsamic Sorbetto and Coconut Sorbetto on the left, Abita Root Beer Gelato and Sweet Potato Pie Gelato on the right. They were all decent, although the flavors were a bit on the subtle side, except for the Sweet Potato Pie, which was fantastic. The coconut-basil sorbetto a few doors up at Sucré was even more vague, just barely a hint of coconut, but it was still pretty refreshing after a bike ride on a sunny day.

La Divina Gelateria
3005 Magazine St
www.ladivinagelateria.com/

Sucré
3025 Magazine St
http://www.shopsucre.com/

It would have made sense to just stay uptown, but we wanted to put on some better clothes for dinner, so we biked back to the Marigny, cleaned up, and hopped a cab back west, for dinner at Clancy's.

The restaurant was very busy, so we were led upstairs to a small room in the library. It was a perfectly pleasant space, but as luck would have it, we were a two-top, squeezed between a table of 8 doctors trying to impress one another with their wine selections, and a table of 12, which seemed to be a family get-together of some sort. This most likely accounted for our feeling that we were getting something less than the service we'd hoped for - nothing egregious - just a general sense that they weren't really all that concerned about us, which is just going to happen when squeezed in-between two tables spending lots of money.

It was a bit like our Commander's experience: nobody was rude to us, but we'd been looking forward to some of that burnished, old fashioned New Orleans service, and we didn't get much of that... Although, also similar to Commander's, we did get a little bit of it. Again, we had tag-team servers, and one of them was an older gentleman who just had everything under control, knew what we wanted before we did, accommodated a few special requests with great elegance - just handled it. Our other server seemed to forget about us most of the evening, poured the last of our bottle of wine without mentioning it or asking of we wanted another, etc.

But that was a minor annoyance, I suspect we would have been happier downstairs in the main dining room, we'll have to remember to ask for that next time. And I do think there will be a next time, because the food was terrific.

We started with a couple of cocktails, including a perfectly balanced Sazerac, one of the best I've ever had, and I've been making a habit of having them anywhere I can get them!

We also knew things were going to be good when the (excellent) bread was accompanied by a huge stick of butter. I'm embarrassed to think about how much of that we actually went through...


We started with another Crabmeat Salad, it always sounds like the right thing, and this one was very good, almost three dishes in one: delicate crab, a nice lettuce salad, and spicy, complex deviled eggs.


I'd been reading about the Fried Oysters with Brie.

It sounded like an odd combination, and it is. It was very nicely done: the oysters were perfectly fried, seated on some sauteed spinach, a piece of brie cheese melted on top. And I enjoyed it, I'm just not completely sure that I love that array of flavors together. I'm glad I tried it, just not sure whether I'd get it again.

One thing I'll certainly get again, in fact I might make a trip back to New Orleans purely to eat this, is the Smoked Duck.


This was almost certainly the best roasted duck I've ever eaten, and I have a hard time resisting duck on any menu. There was an unmistakable, but not overbearing, smoky flavor, and the most incredible texture to both the meat and crisp skin. The fat had rendered down to just a faint whisper of richness, adding flavor and moisture and mouthfeel, but just barely... Both the leg and breast were just mind-bogglingly tender, moist and delicious. I' still dreaming of this duck. The accompaniments, some rather plain noodles and steamed vegetables, were underwhelming, but it really didn't matter, the main attraction was so good.

With Lamb Chops on our mind from the previous night, we decided to try them here.


And they were very good, not as revelatory as the duck, but very flavorful, and well-executed. What knocked us out about this plate was the hash browns. Yes, simple crusty fried shredded potatoes somehow stole the show from beautifully grilled lamb. There's some sort of simple, familiar seasoning in the potatoes that, along with artful griddling to make them so perfectly crisp, turned them into something special.

So, my dream plate is the duck, with hash browns rather than noodles. I'm definitely asking for that next time, I wonder if they'll do that for me?

A bright, clean Grgich Fume Blanc was a nice companion, perhaps a little light for the lamb, but nice with everything else.

I couldn't leave without trying their famous Lemon Icebox Pie.

It lived up to the hype: it's vibrant, tart, sweet, cold, refreshing, yet indulgent. Perfect with a cup of chicory coffee.

I'm already plotting another visit for duck and pie, and anything else will just be a bonus.

Clancy's
6100 Annunciation St.
(504) 895-1111
(warning: www.clancysrestaurant.com is NOT them, although it will come up in Google with their address... )

Edited by philadining, 05 May 2010 - 11:31 AM.