Eating in NOLA:

Alright so frozen pizza wasn't enough for you? You think you deserve more? You're looking for classic New Orleans restaurants? Fine.

How about Pascal's Manale?

I managed two and a half years in New Orleans without sitting down to dine at the Napoleon institution. It's even more impressive when you take into account that Kerry reviewed the restaurant during her undergrad days, and said review is up on the wall. Or so she says.

Well, we went to Pascal's a few weeks back because KM had a craving for red sauce and I had a craving for dinner. It was a Friday so we had a little bit of a wait but nothing that a Heineken and a Dixie couldn't solve.



Kerry got me super hyped for an eggplant medallion appetizer special - the Eggplant Dryades - that they normally have. When they didn't have it, we went with the Combination Pan Roast. Chopped oysters and crabmeat baked in a dish with shallots and parsley. Pretty darn good.



We kept it pretty simple when it came to the entrees. Like I said, Kerry was fiending for some red sauce so she went with the famous spaghetti and meatballs. Look how much she liked them!



I went with the shrimp plate. Whatever, I know its broring. It was good though. Not really much else to say about it I guess.



Oh and we had bottle of wine. Looks like it was red! We had to finish it at the bar cause they kinda rushed us out of the dining room come 11pm...

So there you go. The first restaurant review in months. Was it everything you hoped for? Stay tuned for a post about Luke soon and a Thanksgiving potluck post.

So Frankie and Johnny's is a classic New Orleans spot.

In all honesty- and  it might make me a bad New Orleans food blogger to say it but- there are plenty of classic New Orleans spots that I don't get all that fired up over.  I think maybe its because I'm not huge on fried seafood.  I'm not sure what it is but its just not my thing.

I think that is probably what led to me getting the meatball poboy at Frankie and Johnny's.  Huge mistake.  Why I assumed it would be a decent choice is beyond me.  I think maybe I figured that if Subway could turn out an edible meatball sandwich this place should be able top as well.  Not the case.  I feel silly even complaining about it since its just not what they do there but it was particularly bad.


Kerry fared better with her fried shrimp platter.  She particularly enjoyed the breading on the shrimp.  I enjoyed stealing her french fries.


There isn't anything wrong with Fankie and Johnny's.  They serve fried seafood.  Just make sure that's what you order.  And they have crawfish.  Who doesn't like that?

Frankie and Johnny's

Commander's Palace had the best lunch special in New Orleans.  Oh you thought I meant food special?  Oh no.  Oh God no.

$0.25 Martini's.  That's right.  Two.  Five. Cents. Dig it.  Now I'm not really a martini guy but if you are willing to sell me anything for twenty five cents I'll buy it.  You can quote me on that.

I get the green ones because I'm pretty manly.

Okay okay they have pretty good food specials too.  Like an appetizer and entree for $16.  And this is Commander's we are talking about not Chili's.  You're thinking about how good Chili's is right now aren't you?  Me too.

So Kerry and I actually got the $20 option because it sounded better.  Kerry started with the turtle soup.  Now I don't know anything about turtle soup but I assume this is some of the best there is.  What I do know is there was no turtle shell in it which I expect would be the most common turtle soup problem.


And I started with the Artichoke Salad.  I just thought it was just okay but in all fairness I get pretty upset if there isn't either cheese or some sort of candied nut in a salad.  Preferably both.


And we both had the Shrimp with the Spoon Bread.  Look at all that shrimp.  It was a great deal.  The $16 option was Citrus Glazed Drum which also looked good.


So at some point this showed up.  According to our waiter it is the best drink they serve.  I think it was Holly Berry Martini.  It was delicious... Seriously I don't normally drink these types of drinks but I'm not ashamed.


And last but not least we had dessert.  It was my first experience with pecan pie.  It was awesome.  The only problem is I'm sure I won't be able to get pie of this quality just anywhere.


So there you go all this and you're out the door for $30 a person after tax and tip and enough martinis to get you through a Wednesday.  Not too shabby.

Let me know when you're going.  You can buy me a few drinks.

 Mimi's is great.  There is a reason is consistently named the best neighborhood bar in New Orleans.  Besides some pretty incredible tapas, the bartenders are always friendly and the clientele is always entertaining.

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.

There aren't enough festivals in Uptown. I know it. You know it.


But what we lack in numbers we make up in Po Boys. There is no better festival to have to have down the street than one dedicated to the classic New Orleans sandwich. Who doesn't love sandwiches? I know I do. No joke I have a DVD called "Sandwiches that you will Like." And I like them all.

So here are some other sandwiches I like:


Stuffed Louisiana Crab with Creole Tomato Dressing from BOZO's Restaurant. Now I've never been to BOZO's but this wasn't a bad place to start. Now, it doesn't look like much and I don't know what it was stuffed with it but there was a good amount of tasty in there.



Kerry started with this Shrimp Caminada po boy from Grand Isle. It was getting pretty rave reviews next to the booth. It wasn't quite what we expected but it was great... and messy.


Redfish Grill offered a nice little half and half deal with half a Cochon de Lait and half a BBQ Oyster. Both were pretty good but I'll be honest you throw some coleslaw on some pork and you have me pretty much won over.


Alright this was the winner of the day for us I think. Emeril's Bacon Lettuce and Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade was pretty incredable. It was the one po boy I was looking forward to for a few days before PBPF and it was worth looking forward to.


Last stop was Boucherie. Kerry got the BBQ shrimp with french fries (second only to Delachaise's) and a smile. Pretty good but the shrimp were a little less BBQ and a little more... something other than BBQ but still good.


And I got two servings for the 12 hour Roast Beef because I had been craving it since they ran out at the Magazine Street Blues Festival a few weeks back. And it was good. Actually maybe better than Emeril's BLFGT but I did have to wait something like 25 minutes for it... and I'm a busy guy.

So there you go. Po Boy Fest is 7 Po Boys. It was a good time. We had some good Po Boys, Met these Guys and this dude (all delightful) in person for the first time and then watched the Saints march at Squeal. 364 days till next year.

Well actually probably more... or maybe less. I'm not sure its been scheduled yet. So I'm sure going to say 250 days till the next one and hope for the best.

What better place to eat a New Orleans lunch before leaving for Buenos Aires than Bacco? What's ironic is that I'm writing this post sitting in the Miami airport where apparently every possible place to get food closes at 9 on Sundays. But back to Bacco.



Hey look at that salad up there! It was mine and It was the market salad and the market salad was greens with a warm bacon vinaigrette, seasonal tomatoes, Gorgonzola, and candied pecans. Best bacon vinaigrette I've eva had.



This one was Kerry's. That's goat cheese on there and pine nuts over greens tossed in sun dried tomato vinaigrette.



Alright I'm on my iPhone so I'm just gonna move it along. Up there? Oh that's my pasta with garlic, garden vegetables, and herbs. I might have made the herbs up... I mean I'm sure there are some in there.



And that's Kerry's lobster and gulf shrimp ravioli with caviar. It was real good too.

OK. Next post will be from Argentina... After a 10 hour flight.


- Post From My iPhone

So Taqueros on St. Charles opened back up last month. And we went the first day they were open. Now I've only been her for a year and a half so I don't know the while history of the place... but these people do so check it out for the story.

Long story short they are open again and focusing on small plates. You sit down and grab a sushi-like menu to fill out and take to the bar. Then you pick up your food at the counter. I like that. I mostly like it because it means I don't have to tip (wait... I don't have to tip right?).

So it looks like we has something with corn. I'm 100% sure this wasn't just called "corn" on the menu but I 100% can;t remember. It was good though and sweet and it went well with the fried corn tortillas it came with.


Now when you hear about a menu you fill out and no tipping you might think its not a fancy place. Wrong. Check it out these gambas have heads.


Hey look here are some tacos. Know what they are filled with? Yeah, me neither... it was awhile back. I'll tell you one thing though if they aren't filled with some sort of pork I made a mistake. because pork is delicious.


It was a good meal and reasonably priced. It was so good I tried to go for lunch the next day. And they weren't open. So that was a disappointment but give it a try sometime after 6pm.

So we hit up Wednesday at the Square on... well Wednesday. It was pretty good there. We ran into a bunch of people we know and got a free beer from one of our friends manning the beer table.

Oh and we ate some food! Kerry had some fish tacos. I think it was a set of 3 for $6. I'm not sure where they were from actually (but I was just informed they were from Zoe at the W) but here is what they looked like in 2d.


I had some Ginger Boiled Shrimp in Sweet Soy Sauce from Saltwater Grill and a Smoked Sausage from Pull My Pork (website? No.). Both were kind unimpressive. As you can see below the shrimp were on some shredded lettuce for some reason. The sausage had cold slaw on it which I liked the idea of but it was too spicy and I'm not normally a wimp when it comes to spice.


In general the food seemed over priced. When i mentioned this to a friend there I was reminded its all for charity. So I guess that makes it ok. Regardless I'm pretty sure we'll be back next week for Trombone Shorty.

Well it has been while since we posted. We have been busy. Mainly with school but also with French Quarter Fest like everyone else. So why not a festival food post? Evey one loves New Orleans festival food and we are no exception. We got a few pretty good things too.

We chose Love at First Bite on Friday when we went to see Soul Rebels on the waterfront. This is what the people that worked there looked like.


And this is what the food looked like. Crawfish Pasta for KM and I had a Cochon de Lait po-boy for me. Maybe the best po-boy I've ever had. There was so much pig in it I almost felt guilty.


Saturday we met up with some fellow MBA's and drank a few drinks and listened to a little music, but also ate some shrimp. Like this shrimp with cheddar and bacon grits from Saltwater Grill.

AND... these "shrimp" skewers from Bubba Gump's. I like that in New Orleans Shrimp Skewers come with Andoullie.

So... sorry for a delayed post but it should be a good warm up for Jazz Fest posts. I'll probably live blog via my phone so that should be really really exciting for everyone. Tell your friends and see you there. And more posts soon I promise.

Whatever... We would have gone to Gott Gourmet today regardless...



It's right on Mag and we needed to be on Mag today for other stuff so we stopped for a quick lunch before our marketing meeting back at school. It was our first time and it sure didn't disappoint. Plus it was warm enough to eat outside and enjoy the view so it ended up being a great idea.



Kerry rarely is more happy with a decision than she was about her Shrimp BLT Wrap. The shrimp was sauteed in Tabasco butter. Now I don't know what Tabasco butter is but I'm pretty sure it was made just to saute shrimp in.



I had the Chicago Dog. A steamed poppy seed bun full of goodness, grape tomatoes, yellow mustard, relish, peppers and onions oh and a pickle I took off. Oh right I forgot the salad... tomatoes are in a salad though.



Why not some dessert from Sucre? How about a pink purse full of $2 a piece chocolates for me...



(flavors: absinthe, port, something else, and wedding cake)


And a strawberry stuffed vanilla cupcake for Kerry.



Oh and some of my hair for this baby squirrel


-- Post From My iPhone