New Orleans Trip Report

[Jaymes]

I will be visiting New Orleans with friends in October.  It is the first time for all of us.

Would definitely suggest Commander's Palace. It is really classic New Orleans' fine restaurant. In my opinion, every noted food destination has one or two restaurants that have been long considered as the best. Even if they aren't any more, I like to visit them, just so I am in the know, and understand what everyone's talking about. It's kind of like "seeing the sights." And both Emeril and K-Paul honed their skills there before opening their own restaurants.

Also suggest: Nola, Port of Call (burgers) Mulates (Cajun with Zydaco Music) Mother's, cafeteria style cajun.

[markabauman]

First trip to New Orleans this October. Got some restaurant recommendations from some New Orleans natives and self-proclaimed foodies (I get the feeling that everyone there considers themselves experts). They recommended the following-some of which were not mentioned above)-any comments?:

-Upperline

-Peristyle (a top pick)

-Brigtsen's

-August

-Dick & Jenny's

-Gabrielle

-they generally didn't care for Emeril's places, but did suggest Delmonico (I'm still skeptical)

-simple places-Uglesich's, Mandich, Elizabeth's, Camellia Grill, Bluebird. Domilise's for po-boys.

Any place other than Acme for fresh oysters? Anybody been to Casamento?

Any comments, criticisms, suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Kim WB]

I was not impressed with Peristyle. As I often dine in Ny and Philly, I must admit that I thought the menu and style of Peristyle a little behind the times, and, well, predictable. The food was well prepared, but he experience left a lot to be desired. I would pick Bayonna, hands down, over Peristyle.

[TommyBB]

Casamento's is a local legend. They close down completely in the summer months. You know the old legend, you're not supposed to eat oysters in the months that have no "R" (May, June, July, August) They do a real oyster loaf there, not a large poor boy, but they take a loaf of white bread, and hollow it out and fill it with fried oysters.

Felix's is directly across the street from Acme Oyster House, on Iberville Street, and the raw oysters are equally good there.

As for Bon Ton Cafe, you will get what are called "outdated" or "original" versions of many classic Creole and Cajun dishes, sort of like the way your grandmother might make them. At one time some years ago, they were the one restaurant in town that served crawfish.

For places to stay, take a look at this place: http://www.ashtonbb.com This is the site for Ashton's Mechling Bed & Breakfast. It's in an antebellum mansion on Esplanade Avenue. The house was built in 1859 (I think) and Patrick and Karma Ashton have done so well maintaining and restoring various parts of the house. Patrick makes a passable crab cake for breakfast on Sunday mornings. The rest of the time, it's normal, plain, home cooking. But the house is lovely.

[barbcutie]

Casamento's is one of the best places I've ever had oysters (Ugelsich's is good, too, and they are really nice people) - plus you get a bonus if you have to use the bathroom because you have to go through the kitchen - no deep fryers, they just fry them in big pots on the stove.

I've eaten at Delmonico's - great weird, creepy atmosphere, decent steak, they crucified the side of broccoli.

My dream meal is breakfast at Camelia Grill (early, early before lines) for a cheesburger with onions, chocolate milk shake, and pecan waffle.

What about Jacques Imo - it's in the garden district and food is really good, very fresh and not so crazy heavy.

I thought Commander's Palace did a better job with brunch than with dinner, although the second time we went they overcooked by eggs benedict - they were definitely in the weeds...

[shugga]

Thanks for all the great posts. We are heading to NO in Feb. for 5 days. I cannot wait.

[Robert_Peyton]

Wish I'd registered for these forums earlier. I'd have given some advice. Though I can't say it would be much different than what people have already said.

One restaurant I haven't seen mentioned is the Bistro at Maison de Ville. Tiny little place on Toulouse street in the French Quarter, on the same city block as Antoine's. Very good food, and very friendly atmosphere.

I could go on at length, but I don't have the time at the moment. When I get a chance, I'll be doing mini-reviews of a number of different restaurants on my website, and I'll re-post that info to this thread.

[phaelon56]

I've only been to NO once (last winter) and hope to return but wish I'd chosen more wisely for dining.

We had advance reservations at Antoine's and a good table in the back (my GF had been there for business dinners several times on previous trips and had a specific waiter to request when dining there). Nice room and a classic traditional experience with good service but I found the food to be lacking. I had Pompano en Papillote - nice presentation but really bland. Can't recall what she had but she was equally unimpressed. The crawfish bisque was excellent but they could not honor our request for Baked Alaska - we were dining early (6:30 PM) but it was Valentine's day and we had failed to call ahead the dessert order - they had already stopped taking orders for it. Price for two entrees, two non-alcoholic beverages, one side dish, two bowls of bisque and dessert/coffee was about $130 with tax and tip - grossly overpriced.

We had oysters and gumbo the first day at Acme Oyster House - great oysters and truly mediocre gumbo. I get better gumbo up in the northeast. The following day we had lunch at Olivier's - excellent gumbo and their house hot sauce (Hercules brand) is outstanding. I can confortably recommend Olivier's as a great choice at a reasonable price range. Our second dinner of the weekend was in the Lemongrass restaurant at the International House hotel. Very cool atmosphere and okay service. Nice presentation and an interesting menu but as Vietnamese inspired fusion cuisine it really fell short of what good Vietnamese food can be. Not a bad meal but not really memorable. If I was staying in the hotel and it was convenient I'd eat there again but wouldn't go out of my way to go there. Cafe du Monde was just way too touristy for me and I'm simply not a fan of chicory coffee, thus my opinion on the place doesn't count. I am a coffe fanatic, however, and did get an excellent latte at Community Coffee (I think that's the name - they have several locations in town).

We missed brunch at Mr. B's but I'd like to try that next time. Word to the wise - if you plan to go out late (e.g. after a show as we did) for dessert, there's very little open after 10 PM for dessert. We tried four or five places, all of which had stopped seating. We finally ended up at NOLA, which is open late. The cappucino was only fair but the dessert was quite good and I'd return there for a meal to try it out. Appeared to be a young and relatively inexperienced staff in the front of house but a lively upbeat and casual atmosphere.

[joiei]

Late dessert in the lounge lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel is great. They

even made us some from the dining room when we asked if they would

do that for us. We went here after a disappointing dinner at GWFinns.

The quality of the desserts and the level of the service made this an

event to remember.

[frankj]

The Bistro at the Maison de Ville used to be my favorite NO restaurant.

And the Maison de Ville was my favorite place to stay.

I think it's where Susan Spicer started out, and I haven't been back

there since she opened Bayona. But if she still runs it, I'm sure it's great.

Thanks for the reminder, I'll have to try it myself.

[Roger McShane]

I feel the need to support the report by phaelon56. A very perceptive set of comments on the dismal eating scene in New Orleans. I'm pleased you mentioned Lemongrass. As far as Asian cuisine is concerned this place is one I would not even consider. I have had two meals there. Both were terrible. They have no idea about true Asian flavours.

I agree also about that horrible chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde - although I dislike the service more than the coffee.

Antoines is an institution serving, in my opinion, food from the 1930s. Why people would go there when GW Fins is just across the road serving food that is edible is mystifying.

Acme Oyster House is a tourist institution just like Cafe du monde and should be avoided.

Your comments about NOLA were interesting, I found the food to be terrible.

It is only the 'new' restaurants in NO that serve reasonable food. Places like Lilette, Herbsaint and Gerards Downtown are OK but the institutions are just awful.

[IrishCream]

It is only the 'new' restaurants in NO that serve reasonable food. Places like Lilette, Herbsaint and Gerards Downtown are OK but the institutions are just awful.

I understand what you are saying but I have to disagree. I confess I am addicted to Pommes Souffle.....until I moved to CA from Houston recently...I regularly indulged my addiction by driving on the spur of the moment (you know how junkies are) to NO and eating Pommes Souffle and Shrimp Remoulade at Arnuad's.

And I always eat at least one meal at Uglesich's. I love that place. Last summer the taxi driver who took us there for lunch totally ripped us off. Consequently, we were upset when we got there, and the owner was so cordial....he called the Taxi Authority to report our driver and comped us a couple of Bloody Mary's. And then served delicious food.

My last visit to Commander's Palace was in the summer of 2000 for lunch. To my amazement, when we ordered Cafe Brulot after lunch......they dimmed the lights in the entire garden room in order to serve us. I guess they wanted to make sure we saw the flames...very romantic.

I have also this year had an excellent rack of lamb at Mr. B's. My one meal at NOLA's was disappointing so I have never returned. So while I understand your disappointment with the old school restaurants...they aren't all bad.

Gee, think I can find Pommes Souffle in SF? Nooooo

[Ron Johnson]

Acme Oyster House is a tourist institution just like Cafe du monde and should be avoided.

Acme Oyster House is one of the few places in the Quarter where the locals actually go for the food. They all sit in the back room and let the tourists have the front and bar.

Locals know that Acme has premium and impeccably fresh oysters because of the sheer volume that they go through per day. They also have the most skilled shuckers, so there is no shell and all liquor with your bivalve.

[TommyBB]

I feel the need to support the report by phaelon56. A very perceptive set of comments on the dismal eating scene in New Orleans....I agree also about that horrible chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde - although I dislike the service more than the coffee....

Antoines is an institution serving, in my opinion, food from the 1930s. Why people would go there when GW Fins is just across the road serving food that is edible is mystifying.

Acme Oyster House is a tourist institution just like Cafe du monde and should be avoided.

Your comments about NOLA were interesting, I found the food to be terrible.

It is only the 'new' restaurants in NO that serve reasonable food. Places like Lilette, Herbsaint and Gerards Downtown are OK but the institutions are just awful.

I haven't been to Antoine's so I'm not qualified to comment.

I guess if a place isn't new or doing new things it's bad, is that it?

Maybe it's a good thing I live here and like all that bad food, because if I had to eat haute cuisine like Gunter Preuss serves at Broussards all the time I'd starve AND go broke. You know the type-ingredient1 WITH ingredient2 WITH ingredient3 in a "ingredient-process" of Ingredient4 with Ingredient5-process.

[Robin Meredith]

Another Trip Report

Just got back from a long weekend in NO (longer than we planned due to the storm). Here's the rundown:

Commander's Palace - A distinct letdown. Five out of six course were solid, grade "B" cooking (including Tasso Shrimp Henican, stuffed quail, potato crusted gulf fish, Chocolate Sheba, and the bread pudding souffle). My wife's sweetbread appetizer was in the "C-" range (poorly thought out and cold). Service was fine, and the beverage program was well above average (we had an interesting Sauvignon de St. Bris from Brocard, a fine Chablis producer, which is just the kind of thing I like to sample in restaurants), but there were absolutely no fireworks. Amazingly enough, I don't think I'd return here on future visits.

K-Paul's - Our original plan for Valentine's Day was to catch an early dinner at a place that didn't take reservations, but that went up in smoke when we discovered at the last minute that they changed their policy for V-Day and were completely sold out. We ended up at K-Paul's because they reserve half the place for walk-ins, but I was kind of dreading it given their rep. The food really wasn't all that bad - crawfish popcorn, very spicy jambalaya, and stuffed pork chops were all pretty good, and the wine list included a nice, fairly priced selection of California bottlings. The food was overpriced, and I probably wouldn't return, but it's definitely not as bad as you might think.

Brigtsen's - This is more like it. Had to wait 30 minutes for a table (with a 9:30 pm reservation), but it was worth it. Had a four course menu including turtle soup, a simply amazing crawfish gratin, tenderloin medallions in a debris sauce for me and spiced flounder meuniere for my wife, sumptious chocolate cake and the greatest pecan pie on earth. Good service, another nice wine list, and an experience I would definitely love to repeat.

Arnaud's - There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the "institutions", but I loved this place. The room is lovely, the food is very traditional, somewhat minimalist, not at all showy. We had a very spicy shrimp remoulade, smoked pompano, fish "en croute" with a scallop mousse, and another crawfish-based main course (my wife was binging on crawfish at this point). A Lucien Crochet Sancerre was a dead-on match with virtually all of the courses. The pecan pie was a pale reflection of the masterpiece at Brigtsen's, but the overall experience was delightful. Would definitely return.

Jacques-Imo - Loved this place. We showed up at 6:10 pm and got one of the last open tables (they open at 5:30 pm) - by the time we left the number of people waiting was truly frightening. Had a decent crawfish and wild mushroon "roulade" first course and an amazing paneed rabbit with tasso and oysters, along with a very well-turned out platter of fried seafood. The menu is extremely varied - this is the type of place you could go back to over and over again. Another fairly priced wine list (we had a New Zealand SB, but they also had Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant 1999 for $42), knowledgeable service, and a really festive atmosphere.

Other Miscellaneous Addresses - Elizabeth's is a great spot for breakfast/brunch in a truly unlikely location, with a number of inventive creole specials. Camellia Grill gets a lot of praise, and you might like to have it your hometown, but it's not worth your time if you're on vacation - fine omelettes and waffles, but ultimately nothing special. Uglesich's is tough to figure - fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade were extraordinary (except for the second portion we ordered, which arrived cold), the signature fried oysters were interesting, and everything else was kind of flat. This place can be a real hassle if you don't arrive before 11:00 am. Acme Oyster Company is great fun - can't understand all the criticism. Just don't order anything cooked (except maybe crawfish), and don't expect it to be like slurping Kumamoto's at Gramercy Tavern - load those baby's up with horseradish and hot sauce and you'll have a great time. I also don't get the problems with Cafe Du Monde - the coffee may be nasty, but if you order Cafe Au Lait there's so much milk in it you won't notice, and the beignets are a delight.

For some great live music, check out Donna's - brass bands and jazz every night, and it feels like it's a world away from Bourbon Street!

[Wilfrid]

That was an interesting report. It made me look back over the thread and wonder why people don't seem to be eating at Bayona or the original Emeril's, which I've found to be streets ahead of the other upscale dining options. Qualification: I haven't been to Brigtsens.

[Ron Johnson]

Acme Oyster Company is great fun - can't understand all the criticism.  Just don't order anything cooked (except maybe crawfish), and don't expect it to be like slurping Kumamoto's at Gramercy Tavern - load those baby's up with horseradish and hot sauce and you'll have a great time.

Bingo!

[Lyle]

That was an interesting report.  It made me look back over the thread and wonder why people don't seem to be eating at Bayona or the original Emeril's, which I've found to be streets ahead of the other upscale dining options.  Qualification:  I haven't been to Brigtsens.

Got back two days ago and, although we didn't even stroll past Emeril's (not out of spite, but general lack of navigation ability) we did eat lunch at Bayona on Monday. We started with garlic soup and tomato soup (I preferred the brothy tomato) and went on to the goat cheese stuffed lamb and wrapped sea scallops. The scallops failed (I still think they were bay) but the lamb was wonderfully prepared and tasted great. Aside the lamb was served a pureed sweet potato that we tried and tried and tried to decompose and figure out exactly how they got it so sweet and creamy. After confidently making our conclusion, we asked our waiter how they achieved this magnificent concoction only to be told that it was pureed butternut squash . I guess the above bay-sea scallop opinion should now be rendered moot .

We ate there based on reccommendations here and I would say, especially at that price point, I would reccommend it. The service was notable.

Oh, and I had never had a sazerac but it was the specialty at our hotel bar. Upon checkout, our bar tab was nearly a full page...all of that dirty 's' word .

[shugga]

Just got back from a few days in NO and loved it! The food was terrific, from breakfast at Clover Grill and Brennans to lunch of shrimp po boys at the Acme Oyster Co. and muffaletta's at Central Grocery, and dinner at NOLA's and Palace Cafe, it was all fabulous! Preservation Hall Jazz is great and the street musicians are so much fun. Love the zydeco bands! And even the piano players at Pat O'Briens! Cannot wait to go back!

[hollywood]

I also don't get the problems with Cafe Du Monde - the coffee may be nasty, but if you order Cafe Au Lait there's so much milk in it you won't notice, and the beignets are a delight.

I'm with you on Cafe du Monde. I get a perverse pleasure in seeing the powdered sugar all over my black jeans. At Commander's, I liked the alligator soup and the bread pudding with Jack Daniels sauce, but I think you are on to something--it's so big. I find Galatoire's more inviting. Maybe for the jazz brunch? Speaking of jazz...Snug Harbor.

Edited February 20, 2003 by hollywood (log)

[Zeb A]

Commander's Palace is not the best restaurant in New Orleans, but it does give a great N.O. experience and authentic food, so your logic of going there is good.

So, what is the "best restaurant in New Orleans"?

My wife and I may be going there in a few months, and I sense that there is not much of a consensus on good restaurants in the city.

Let me ask the question in two ways:

1. If you lived in NO and wanted to go to a special occassion dinner at the best restaurant, where would you go (i.e. best fancy joint)?

2. If you lived in NO and simply wanted to go to your favorite restaurant, where would you go (i.e. best food)?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thx

[hollywood]

1. How about The Grill Room at the Windsor Court or The Rib Room at the Royal Orleans?

2. Brigtsen's.

[lizziee]

For the best fried oyster loaf, Castamento's on upper Magazine.

Bayona is one of my most favorite restaurants in NO.

[southern girl]

I was in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed an outstanding meal at Victor's in the Ritz Carlton...a beautiful room, very nice wine list...and a menu that changes daily...it was the best meal I had in the city...and it is definitely a good spot for a special occasion meal.

[jess mebane]

what is it about the Big Easy that leads us all into endless ruminations about the best restaurant? Besides keeping this thread alive, I mean? It seems as if the best place in New Orleans is the spot where you and a loved one, perhaps yourself, stumble across the ancient magic of the place, and modern hurlyburly time slows to a beat that better matches the romance in your soul as well as the liquor curling around your belly and brain. Just go, and find a spot to sit for a spell. You may not hit upon it the first time, but that's why you return, because it's a pilgrimage for sheer human enjoyment.

And I personally love Galatoire's, not because I've eaten there, but my schoolmarm mother did, and when she asked for fried shrimp, the waiter sighed, and said, "Ah, no, chere. I cannot let that happen today."