thursby's Profile
best Chinese restaurant in Houston?
Mala Sichuan Bistro. Head and shoulders above the rest, I actually think it contends for a best of Houston even unconditionally.
http://www.29-95.com/restaurants/story/restaurant-review-mala-sichuan-bistro-offers-emphatic-and-complex-flavors
http://www.houstonpress.com/2011-12-15/restaurants/sichuan-bucket-list/
This weekend's reservations, need happy hours and bars with music
Just a heads up...you may want to re-think your Sunday reservations, because I'm not altogether sure how you will get to Cafe Atchafalaya (on Louisiana) unless your brunch time is well before 11am, since most of the streets providing access will be shut down by about 10am, and whatever cab driver you get will be very unhappy. Herbsaint for dinner in the middle of the Bacchus parade may not be the most tranquil setting for a great meal either. I'm not trying to be snarky, but you should be aware that even though you can easily walk to Herbsaint distance-wise, covering that distance during a megaparade can be daunting at best. You might want to leave an extra hour or so to travel... I find that most folks who visit New Orleans during this weekend vastly underestimate the extent of road closures and travel difficulties they will have, and this often leads to stressful situations. For instance, dinner at Commanders on Friday will also be a challenge, since Commanders is "in the box" and there is only a few ways into or out of the Garden District on Friday night. To make it easy, you should plan on heading uptown around 3pm, and spend time sightseeing around Magazine street prior to your dinner reservation, and then catch the parade after!
Call for Suggestions: Dive Food and Drink Tour of New Orleans
Alibi on Iberville between 4am and 7am is the best dive bar experience in Nola...hilarious. Other must stop on true dive New Orleans tours is the Brothers Three on Magazine, but that's not near the quarter. I suggest taking a cab to Le Bon Temps Roule, then walking down to Brothers Three after they close around 4ish. Then grab a cab from the "new" Ms Mae's on the corner of Mag and Napoleon around 10am...the $1.50 gin and pineapple is a highly recommended morning eye-opener. Bring cash...no credit at the Brother's Three. Also limited plumbing.
Recs for places walking distance from Tulane
I wouldn't really call Dante's and Mat & Naddies walking distance from Tulane in August...but's that's mainly just because I'm lazy. They're each about one and half miles from Tulane, at least. That shouldn't discourage you...it's a nice walk but you should make sure you allow at least 20 minutes or more each way, it'll be hot out. There are a LOT of restaurants if you let yourself have a 2 mile walk from Tulane though...Patois and Martinique Bistro come immediately to mind. And Brightsen's IS delicious. LOTS closer to Tulane, you should look at Maple Street Cafe or Jamilas for a quick lunch or dinner. For breakfast I really would skip Camelia Grill and head to Panola Street Cafe for Crab Cakes Benedict instead. You can get a Plum Street Snoball on the way back to complete the experience....
Camelia Grill?
Y'all should really check the dates on these threads...Camelia Grill now owned by the Byblos people, which really doesn't change much of anything. Very average food, very average experience. Anyone who's visiting New Orleans and contemplating the (usually) long ride out to Camelia should save the trouble and just head to Clover Grill for much better food and a certainly more memorable experience...
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Clover Grill
900 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Wondering about Delachaise. And Green Goddess.
Pains me to say it, but the Delachaise has gone way downhill recently. Last time I was there, they substituted out 3 of 4 cheeses (they were out of the one's I picked) and the fries which are usually dependable were soggy. The bartender told me that the cheeses were "out of season" which was sad, if it wasn't the funniest thing I'd heard in awhile. The best thing on the old menu, the grilled cheese is no longer available...I was told that the porter cheese was no longer available. Of course you can still buy it at lots of places in town... Just lazy. The twice cooked pork is very good though, if you wind up there. Not much of it, but very tasty.
Quintessential New Orleans
Tujagues. Order at the bar and drink beer...
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Tujague's
823 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116
"Hatch" Chiles -- Brand name or real meaning? [split from Texas]
"Farmers from other parts of New Mexico and other states including Arizona ship green chiles to Hatch to be resold. Some Hatch chile producers are reportedly shipping seeds to Mexico and having the chiles grown south of the border, where water and labor are cheaper." Is Arizona better or worse than Anaheim?
"There is no such thing as a Hatch chile, despite all the hype about them," according to Dave DeWitt, one of the nation's foremost authorities on chile peppers and the author of scads of books on the subject." I'm going with Dave, here.
"Hatch" Chiles -- Brand name or real meaning? [split from Texas]
(Note: This thread was split from the Texas board at: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/647372 -- The Chowhound Team)
Funny all of this love for what's just a brand name now, like "Angus" for beef...
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/08/hatch_peppers_myth.php
Extreme Foodies Seeking Down and Dirty
Cochon and moonshine, or the lunch place they run right behind the restaurant. But for down and dirty, Salvo's Seafood, deep in Belle Chasse. Tues/Wed all-u-can eat specials...amazing. Parking lot is crushed oyster shells...really all you need to know, except that pitchers of Bud are $3-$4.
Arriving Late
Clover Grill, Quartermaster Deli, Checkpoint Charlie's, or very close to Canal, my favorite late night Quarter food spot, The Alibi on Iberville. All serve 24/7.
Thin sliced fried catfish-FQ
Joey K's, all-u-can-eat $12.95, uptown. Yum. Add 2 or 3 18oz frozen schooners of beer for another $8, and you'll be the definition of fat and happy!
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Joey K's Restaurant & Bar
3001 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115
Have a few questions regarding my itinerary
Pretty sure that Casamento's is closed on Sunday...you might want to switch that to Saturday since I still think it has the best oysters in the city. You may want to call them for availability though...there has been a DRAMATIC drop in fresh oyster availability in this city due to the hurricanes. I like Liuzza's, but don't think it's as essential as Casamento's, plus you could wander magazine street after. The neighborhood in Casamento's general vicinity has really taken off lately, and if you're coming this weekend, you could get quite a bit of Art for Art's Sake gallery hopping before heading back downtown for (a late) reservation @ Herbsaint. I'm also a big fan of Cuvee lately. As for Sunday brunch, I'd try Elizabeth's in the Bywater...the FQ tends to have relatively predictable and generally touristy brunches. And I think cabs are very easy to get in this town...you just can't flag them down like you would in NYC unless you're in the FQ. Otherwise, look around you, get an address, and call 504-522-9771 (United) and they'll generally come get you pretty quick.
Best Wine List in NOLA
Surprisingly, and somewhat shockingly, restaurants with very interesting and extensive wine lists (which have exploded in recent time in other cities) haven't really caught on here...that's not to say there aren't nice wine lists here, there just aren't really superdeep and IMHO well-chosen ones. Add to that the tragedy that Katrina wiped out some superlative cellars. The best combination that I can think of for food and wine is probably Cuvee...the food is VERY good, and the wine list, while heavily marked up, is pretty excellent, predictably strong on French.
Check out at least parts of it here:
http://www.restaurantcuvee.com/cuvee/index.htm
A lot of the Brennans' restaurants have large wine lists, but generally they're not particularly inspiring. And if you're looking purely for overwhelming, New Orleans Grill at the Windsor Court has a massive list, but has gotten mixed food reviews. Also you might take your friend to W.I.N.O. or New Orleans Grapevine (if you're staying in the quarter) for something fun and much more casual.
Good question...weird as it sounds, I think that wine service in the city is currently lagging a bit, now that I think about it. Anyone disagree? I think we really are missing a low-markup, wine-centered high-end restaurant here...that category has exploded in recent years, and would be a perfect fit for a city where everybody seems to drink 2 or 3 bottles with dinner. I mean, look how popular the bad food BYOB places are!
Where to get boudin balls?
Completely second the Storyville recommendation...they're amazing there, and you can get a cold beer and an excellent burger as well. And you can do it at midnight if you'd like.
decent bar food/drinks?
I've been there, but not super recently. I think of it much more as a sit-down restaurant though..and I actually like eating in/at bars to start an evening out. Sitting at the bar is more casual, generally faster and more lively, and easier to chat with folks who are not in my party. Great bars to eat at (which should probably be a separate category) include appetizers at Cafe Amelie (surprising) and Lilette (which has the advantage that I can walk to it)!
decent bar food/drinks?
Note...just noted that you're vegetarian. Might want to strike Cochon...very meat centric. Maybe someone else has another idea..
Another option is to get to the Marigny (where you'll have more fun starting off your long weekend anyway than in the CBD) and eat at Mimi's. Real good small plates and veggie options.
decent bar food/drinks?
More restaurant than bar, but still casual and fun (more about food, less about drinks):
Luke (same address as Cobalt...)
Cochon
More bar than restaurant, but with good food:
Tommy's Wine Bar
Orleans Grapevine (in the french quarter if you were heading there)
Delachaise (still good after Chris left...$10 cab ride or easy streetcar ride uptown)
I'd probably take the street car up to Delachaise and then go sit outside at the Columns or see if I could eat at the bar at Cochon (Birddog cocktail is seriously refreshing and the food is great). No smoking at the first group, probably smoking at the second group...
Donna's Bar and Grill
We don't do "interwebnetthing" in this town. You should call, after 5pm. When no one answers, just walk over and ask in person. It's a time honored tradition, made all of the more annoying by the fact that it's 2008.
Best Steakhouse in New Orleans Area
Mr. John's Steakhouse (although it's called "Ristorante" now). Cut their own prime beef to order, fantastic meat. Far far better quality than you can get in this city on your own, at least not without some sort of restaurant butcher connection (Whole Food's meat, while pricey, is not that great...just better than most everything else here).
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2006-12-05/restreview.php
Restaurant with big tv's in New Orleans
Unfortunately, unlike virtually everywhere else in the US, this place is VERY scarce in NOLA, if it exists at all. I've been looking for about 9 years...a couple (barely adequate options) are Nacho Mamas and Superior Grill (both at the bar), the back bar area at Slice, the bar at Liuzza's (but they will close during the game), the patio at Bulldog (but not tonight, since it's Wednesday and will be massively overrun), and maybe one of the WOW (wings places), but not the one uptown that only has one or two TVs. Never been to the mid-city one though. The real underlying problem is in the lack of mid-priced Mexican/bbq/burger/pizza/sandwich restaurants (not bars) that stay open past 8:30 in this city...but I digress. If you really want to watch the game and eat, I'd probably put up with the smoke and get a table at cooters...although it's serve yourself and you have to pay for refills of soft drinks, or just drink beer.
Anything decent late night in Quarter area?
Alibi is the best late night food in the quarter...Clover Grill very close second. Just follow the strippers...they know. Get there around 5am.
Near Tip's Uptown
Not sure how casual you're looking, but there's also Theo's (pizza), Nirvana (Indian), and Storyville (really excellent burgers, etc.) very nearby. And Pascal Manale's is definitely a doable walk down Napoleon, and (just) off the evening parade route.
Ignatius for dinner
Had nearly the same experience as chef4hire...barely adequate service, arrogant waitstaff whose explanation is always "that's the way we do it in New Orleans" even though I actually live down the street, and no ice, no refills on iced tea. Went twice and am never going back. Most everything on their menu is available at Joey K's down the street, with friendly service and lots more flavor.
