The Food of New Orleans, LA

New Orleans is famous for its foods. Beignets, Jambalaya, Gumbo, P’boy, Crawfish Etouffee. While our stomachs are only a certain size, we tried to put a dint in the local seafood population.

Day 1

Our first stop was Drago’s. Drago’s apparently invented the char grilled oyster. These were the best I had while we were visiting. As the oysters weren’t a meal we grabbed the Alligator Tacos and Seafood Gumbo to complete lunch. As this was a late lunch around 3pm, we got a table immediately.

Annoyingly we lost internet on both of our phones, so just wondered aimlessly until we decided it was time for dinner. Dinner would be at Deanie’s, famous for the Crawfish Etouffee. As we didn’t know the address we worked from memory on the rough location and the guidance of a friendly police officer. We arrived around 6pm, and were seated around 7:30pm. As lunch was so late this was acceptable. While waiting for your table be sure to grab a large Dixie Voodoo, a local beer.

Here we had the Prawn Etouffee, I know I know, we said the crawfish was what they were famous for, but it wasn’t available in an appetizer portion. As well as the Stuffed Crab and the Hummingbird Cake for dessert. Bread isn’t provided here, rather potatoes are. The Etouffee was delicious, so very buttery, be sure to have some antacids on hand to survive the night. And stuffed crab was delicious too, the French fries could have been crispier. The Hummingbird Cake was huge, so be ready to share.

Day 2

Breakfast is a great way to start the day and what better location than Brennan’s. The dress code here has recently been relaxed a little, but be sure to make an effort still. Here we had the Eggs a la Turk, Turtle Soup and Eggs Hussarde. As I hadn’t had turtle before the soup was a must for me. Kinda like a gamey beef mince, and the soup was gelatinous, I liked it. Eggs Hussarde, the bacon had the perfect level of brine, and smoked beautifully, the biscuit made fresh. Eggs a la Turk had crawfish pieces in the scrambled eggs which gave it a nice touch. The toast was a buttery brioche.

As breakfast was hearty, we skipped lunch and went straight for dessert at Sucre’ in the Garden District. The cakes were delicious, but I question the freshness of our selection.

Dinner was at Cochon, French for ‘pig’, and they lived up to their name. Here we went for the Fried Alligator and the Louisiana Cochon. We took up a table outside, and if it’s a hot day I’d recommend waiting until dusk before repeating this. The Fried Alligator was deep fried pieced of alligator, kinda like popcorn chicken, but tougher. It was made very well, with the sauce coating being slightly spicy. The Louisiana Cochon consisted of shredded pork shaped into a patty on a bed of cabbage and topped with crackling. Everything about this dish is superb. Our server was very patient with us and explained any questions we had.

Day 3

Breakfast was at TM Breads and Pastries. This is a cute café/pastry shop where we had the Plain Croissant, Smoked sausage and cheese Croissant, Monkey Bread and washed down with a latte. We’d love to return here, but there’s so many other places to sample! The croissants are more on the bready side. The smoked sausage was quality and the monkey bread was beautifully crumbly and spiced, almost like an apple fritter except not deep fried.

Lunch was at Mother’s Restaurant, famous for inventing the Po’boy. We grabbed their Famous Ferdi Special, in a small size, and the Soft Shell Crab, also in the small size. I’m glad we ordered the smalls because they were still big. The Soft Shell Crab Po’boy probably wasn’t their specialty and I wouldn’t recommend it. But the Ferdi Special, consisting of roast beef, ham and a thin gravy was delicious.

As dinner time rolled around, my lunch felt like it had expanded. Somehow I was more full 5 hours later than when I ate. We had dinner reservations at New Orleans Creole Cookery so decided to eat smaller portions. We probably didn’t order their specialty, but we had the Taste of New Orleans and The Cookery Trio. The Cookery Trio was a seafood salad of stuffed crab mushroom, shrimp and crab. Taste of New Orleans consisted of four small portions of Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee and Shrimp Creole. All four were delicious, the Shrimp Creole and Shrimp Etouffee were my favourites from the four.

With the air feeling heavy, and the clouds turning dark we took refuge from the rain at Café Beignet. Here we unsurprisingly order the Beignets. Four dollars for 3 freshly made Beignets, with a generous coating of icing sugar. The dough is yeast based, not cake based, which isn’t common in the USA, and which I enjoy the most. While waiting out the rain there was a live jazz band providing the atmosphere.

Day 4

We started our day at Louise. Here we had the latte, Breakfast Sandwich one with Sausage and the other with bacon. The coffee tasted a little different, not bad, but different. The sandwiches were as expected.

For lunch we checked out Pythian Market and settled on 14 Parishes Jamaican. Compared to the restaurant dining so far this trip, this was more of an understated food court style. We grabbed two serves of Jerk Chicken with the Cabbage and Plantains. It was freshly made and no complaints from either of us.

Dinner was at the popular Bourbon House. There is a huge selection of whiskey, ryes and of bourbon’s to drink here. For the food we had the Char Grilled Oysters and Louisiana Seafood Sampler. The Sampler consisted of Stuffed Crab, Grilled Shrimp, Seared Fish and, Corn and Crab Soup. We also tried the desserts of Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake and the Bourbon Soaked Corn Cake. Both of these were excellent. The Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake wasn’t overly sweet, while the standout was the Bourbon Soaked Corn Cake. Definitely order the Corn Cake when visiting.

Day 5

Our last day and we had a brunch at Willa Jean. We ordered the WJ Breakfast Bun and WJ Breakfast. The biscuit was so good that we ordered four to go. These biscuits are made fresh to order, and seemed to combine techniques between scones and croissants. The flakes appeared to be in layers, which made opening and spreading condiments a breeze.

From our limited selection of restaurants and dishes we’d recommend Cochon, Café Beignet, Willa Jean, Deanies, Drago’s, TM Breads and Pastries, Mother’s and, Bourbon House.

Read more about our New Orleans trip here.

March, 2019