Having just returned from a most excellent short (way too short) visit to New Orleans
I thought that since I was given so much great info on food and restaurants here, that
I would share my food experience. Maybe it will even help others make a decision about
where to go to eat. Let me warn you that I am not a foodie, although I really enjoy
good food, and I had absolutely no experience with, nor knowledge of Cajun/Creole dishes.
Instead of going through a day by day account, I will simply list where we ate meals,
what we ordered and our likes and dislikes. There were three of us, me, my wife (both 50ish) and our 14 year old daughter.
Breakfasts were all at our hotel since they were freebies. There was nothing exciting about any of those, but we're not big into breakfasts anyway, so they were adequate.
Lunches-
French Market Restaurant
We were tired and hot so just plopped ourselves down here, not knowing anything about the place.
We ordered a Catfish Po' boy and a Shrimp Po' boy. I would say they were uninspired and average at best. They weren't bad, but nothing to rave about.
B&C Seafood (Vacherie)
This was a little place out near Oak Alley and Laura plantation.
We ordered fried talapia with crawfish etouffe and cajun potatoes (the special of the day),
a bowl of gumbo, and a sausage po' boy.The po' boy was just ok. but the special of the day and the gumbo were both great.
Bon Creole Lunch Counter (New Iberia)
We were out visiting Avery Island and the Konriko Rice Factory so we stopped here.
We ordered a full shrimp po' boy, a half catfish po' boy, and a half grilled chicken po' boy. They were all heads and tails above any other po' boys we had. Excellent!
We never made it to Cafe du Monde in the morning for coffee and beignets because it was always too busy, but we did skip lunch one day and went there mid afternoon. The beignets were great as was the coffee. Not worth battling the lines and crowds in the morning though.
Dinners -
Upperline
Although this place isn't mentioned often on ChowHound, I saw reference to it, and it looked like a
good fit for us so we booked it.It is in the garden district. I must say it was a quirky kind of
place but the service was great, and the chef (Ken Smith I think) came out to talk to us.
Apparently he is leaving next week after being there for 15 or so years.
Two of us had the 'Taste of New Orleans' which consisted of :
Starters -Duck Etouffe - Corn Cakes with Louisiana pepper jelly - Andouille Gumbo
Mains - Fried green tomato with shrimp remoulade - Spicy Shrimp with jalapeno cornbread
-Roast duck with wine reduction and ginger peach sauce
Desert - Pecan Pie
Our daughter had Tom Cowmans Famous Roast Duck
If you order the 'Taste of New Orleans' go hungry. I thought they would be small samplers
and while they weren't huge portions, I was stuffed by the time I was done, and I can eat a lot.
Everything we had was very good with the exception of the spicy shrimp with jalapeno cornbread.
Both of us thought it was overdone with spices, I think maybe it was chili powder, it just didn't fit well with the rest of the meal. I might have felt differently had I ordered it on its own, but I don't think so.
The fried green tomatos with shrimp remoulade were outstanding.
The roast duck seemed a tad tough to me, but my daughter loves duck and she enjoyed it.
Mr B's
Its in the heart of the French Quarter and is a very nice, somewhat upscale type of place.
We ordered:
Starters - Gumbo Yaya, Duck Spring rolls. Both were absolutely excellent.
Mains - Barbeque shrimp, Shrimp and grits, Wood grilled red fish
I can't say enough good things about all of these. My daughter had never had grits and loved her meal.
Once I got over having a bib tied on (in the end I needed it for the barbecued shrimp) the shrimp was wonderful. I had
never had anything like them before. Yummmm! And I got raving reports on the red fish as well.
Desert - Bread pudding, chocolate molten cup cake. These were booth excellent but not if you are watching calories.
The lava cake was really sweet, and the bread pudding very rich. Not complaining though, they were excellent.
Joey K's
We actually ate here twice as it was convenient for a quick meal and we lost track of time
a couple times. Its a typical diner type place, nothing fancy. We ordered
Red beans and rice with sausage, seafood platter, gumbo, shrimp magazine, onion rings and a few other
insignificant items on our two visits.
Everything was good, a tad greasy but hey, it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives so it is what it is.
We did send one thing back...split pea soup that was a special on the dinner menu. I think
we must have been the first to order it. It was extremely salty, and as soon as we sent it back,
the owner or manager must have tasted it because she came out and wiped it off the 'specials'
board and came over to thank us for letting them know. We obviously weren't charged for the soup. One outstanding item
was the onion rings. HUGE, crispy and just a tad greasy. They were really good.
If anyone has any questions, I'll answer them if I can.
Cheers, and thanks for all the great recommendations.
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Joey K's Restaurant & Bar
3001 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115
Upperline Restaurant
1413 Upperline St, New Orleans, LA
