Eating in NOLA:

After the cheese and wine pairing at St. James a few weeks ago we headed over to Cafe Granada for some slightly more substantial food. A friend had suggested it and since its in Kerry's neck of the woods we figured it was worth a try. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great either but after a lack luster experience at St. James our bar wasn't set all that high.

We stuck with tapas and just got three things so we probably didn't get a full range of the menu but I feel like we got a pretty good idea of how they roll at Cafe Granada.


We started with the Croquettas de Gambas which were by far the best thing we got. Shrimp and crab fried up and in a sauce with a little bit of spice in it. They were a good size and pretty filling too.


Next were these meatballs. They tasted exactly how they look in the picture. They were pretty par, and compared to the Croquettas they were also pretty insubstantial.


And we finished with the beef empanada. Again, it was just kinda ok, though in all fairness we had just gotten back from Argentina where the empanadas flow like wine and taste like... angels. Unlike the meatballs there was a good amount of heft to it so at least we left full.

So, it was all alright. Kerry got a pretty reasonably priced glass of Sangria too.

I don't know, I always feel like you get ripped off with tapas. Either way there are definitely better restaurant options in the neighborhood and there are better tapas places worth the drive. If you do go, try the Croquettas but skip the other two.

So this is what I ate the last few days. You would be surprised how long 2 pounds of meatballs will last. It was my first time making meatballs. It was pretty easy. Just some beef, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, and basil.

I mixed it all up and then rolled them and put them in a pan until they looked like this.


And as you can see above I like meatball subs so I added some overpriced tomato sauce and made the sandwich you see above.


In the end it wasn't a bad first attempt. Plus like I said, they lasted a few days so it was a gift that kept on giving.