Kingrover's Profile
Pelican Club
Bad experience here as well. The food is just not up to par with other places. For the price point, you can do much better.
Specific issues with the food - cold, poorly seasoned, and recommended dishes were utterly unmemorable.
Best Steakhouse in New Orleans Area
I like the Besh Steakhouse a lot. Its expensive, but really great meats there. Everything is real rich though.
desperate for a good hamburger
Storyville makes damn good burgers. Great fries as well, but I think they don't come with your burger, so you have to order it as a side - very large portion.
Last couple of trips to POC yielded overcooked and cold burgers. Storyville is nicer, too.
I also loved La Petit Grocery's burger - its huge and delicious, accompanied by shoestring fries piled high.
New Orleans Restaurants
I second the Tasting Menu at August, everything was amazing, and the courses don't stop coming. The wine pairing gets a little crazy, I had a hard time finishing a glass before the next one came out...by the end I was getting pretty drunk. Every course was transcendent though, definitely worth the money if you are going to try August only once.
For a high-end steakhouse, I love Besh's Steakhouse in Harrah's. While people may be a little gunshy about heading in there because its in a casino, the restaurant is well-insulated. The food is really rich and heavy, but damn good. Its a different kind of steakhouse.
Lillette
If they weren't busy, then I don't see why they couldn't accomodate your request. Its not like Lillette is serving some sort of banquet/wedding style dinner where everything needs to come out at the same time.
Sometimes I like to put in the order for apps and spend a lot more time poring over the decision about entrees. I've never had a problem.
Emeril's Restaurants
I'm a big fan of his NOLA restaurant. I thought the food was full of New Orleans flavor, and the atmosphere was great. Delmonico's was a little pricier, and had a more upscale ambience. The steaks were good, but I wasn't overly impressed like I was at NOLA. I haven't had a great meal at the Warehouse District location.
Dinner help needed tonight
After your meal, you should also be prepared to say that it wasn't at all worth the wait. For me, its just overpriced and nothing special.
Most overrated NOLA restaurants
Its still BYOB right? I thought the prices were upped just a little because of that, but its def good Thai.
I like Bangkok Thai in Uptown, on S. Carrolton and St. Charles, next to Cooter Browns. Its pretty solid, reasonably priced, though more college-y and less Marigny than Sukho Thai.
Most overrated NOLA restaurants
Besh Steakhouse BBQ Shrimp Appetizer is $20, but the shrimp are huge and with bread, its enough for an entree. Best BBQ shrimp I've had.
Back on topic, I think the following places are overrated:
Dick and Jennys - though supposedly they have new owners, never had an interesting meal at Emerils Warehouse District (though not NOLA, which I feel is underrated), Herbsaint - my hanger steak was bleh and top 40 in the US on Gayot?? Top 50 in Gourmet? Really? I can think of 50 places i've had better meals at. GW Fins was a disappointment as well.
Oh, and Upperline has a fish entree on their menu that was USA Today's best dish of like 2003 or something. Must have been a down year - Its basically just fish seasoned with cayenne. Thats it.
Only one night to eat out - please help!
K-Pauls is an overpriced tourist trap in my opinion.
Lola's Almond Soup
I'm sure their paella belongs on the most overrated thread. IMHO.
The soup does sound interesting though.
Bagel, bagel, bagel
I second (actually fifth) Steins.
Really good egg bagels. Better than a lot of North Jersey bagels I've had.
With lox and cream cheese, capers and tomato its fantastic. Its 10 bucks, and you get a lot of salmon.
Lucky Dogs, any good?
Ok fair enough - I am not a hot dog connossieur, so I don't have them in the same league as sausages. But I do understand the range of hot dogs that can be had.
So you want to know if these are "gourmet" (for lack of a better term) dogs. Well, they are street dogs, similar (if not worse) to anything you'd find in a supermarket.
I think the people that eat these are either drunk people who are in the mood for hot dogs or tourists who want to eat there because they think Lucky Dogs stands are some sort of attraction.
6 Food Obsessed People Meeting in NO
Dick & Jenny's does not take reservations either. The wait there was ridiculous the couple of times I went. Maybe I'm the one missing something, but I don't think its worth the wait at all. If I'm waiting that long, I'd rather go to Jaque Imo's.
Brigtsen's is a great pick. Cochon is something you'd have a hard time finding anywhere else. Cuvee is excellent fine dining (though perhaps stuffy, as is August). Stella! is an amazing restaurant thats less stuffy. For more "bistro" type similar to Lillette, you can check out Le Petit Grocery.
Commander's Runs Out of Turkey on Thanksgiving!
While its understandable that a restaurant doesn't want excess food to go to waste, when reservations are being taken in advance for a Holiday dinner, its unfathomable that they should run out of what should undoubtedly be a popular item.
Usually, Thanksgiving dinners at restaurants are reserved pretty well in advance (not usually a lot of walk-in's) and CP here clearly failed to properly estimate how many people would be ordering turkey. That they ran out at 730 just shows that they didn't even attempt to make a cautious guesstimate and buy a little extra.
As to Tonto's comment about expressing disappointment on the spot, I can understand not wanting to make a fuss before what is supposed to be a special dinner. It kinda ruins the mood, and you have to be hoping that the restaurant will spare you the uneasiness and comp you something.
Confused...but must pick one!
I think I would agree on both points. Stella is more consistent on a dish-to-dish basis than August, although August has more of a regional flavor. I do like August's posh dining room a lot more than Stella's.
I think GW Fins is one of the most overrated spots in Nola. The food was terribly underwhelming the couple of times I've been there. Pricewise, if I recall, its in the mid $20 to 30's, and for that money, I'd rather go to Brigtsens or Cochon (for less $). If I was going to be spending that much on GW Fins, I would just go to August one night and Stella the next.
Dinner tonight - need suggestions
No question? Really? What about the question, "Do you like good service?"
This board is littered with posts, and has at least one thread dedicated to the poor service at Luke (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/398351#2541352).
Luke is actually the one restaurant I would say should be stricken from your list because, personally, I feel like a business dinner should run as smoothly as possible. A good waitstaff means you talking about business, not about service.
Has Sonnier hit his stride at the Grill Room?
I really liked the look of the new menu, so I checked it out. We got a BBQ shrimp pie and rabbit tenderloin to start. I really liked the rabbit, though temperature-wise it seemed like it was waiting for the pie (which was out-of-the-oven hot). The pie was not that great, the shrimp lacked that buttery trademark of New Orleans BBQ shrimp.
Entrees
I had Creole Cream Cheese Crusted Lamb Chops. Great sounding idea, but execution was a little lacking. The lamb was a little too fatty for me, so basically you have the meat surrounded by a real thick, greasy layer of fat. The grease kind of soggied up the cheese crust. But it was rich and the meat itself was well-prepared, cooked a perfect med-rare, closer to rare.
Also we had the Mojito Marinated Pork Rib Chop with a Chile Relleno, and Root Beer Glazed Apples. My girlfriend really like this, I though it was pretty good. The sides were very creative and the flavors worked really well together.
Desert was terrific - two fondues - chocolate and sea salt caramel, and assorted dippers (standard fruits, cakes). The caramel was amazing, and i would almost consider asking for two caramel fondues, but the chocolate was pretty damn good too.
Service: It was a little awkward. My "dirty" martini had zero olive juice in it, and the server was friendly, but kind of timid and softspoken. It seemed like he was new or something, and his english was a little hard to understand so it was doubly hard to catch him.
Also, when another server brought out our fondues, the candles under the bowls immediately went out. Instead of getting some matches and relighting them, she simply laughed it off and said how often that happens. So after waiting a little bit to see if she came back, i had to relight the candles myself using the candle on the table (neither the chocolate nor the caramel especially were nearly as good when they got cold). Not what I expect from such a renowned restaurant.
So in summation, I would expect better, smoother, more professional service. But foodwise, the tastes were there, I think the execution might need a little work. A little tweaking, and this place could be up there with August or Cuvee. Not yet worth the price, but perhaps later.
Irene's in the Quarter
How is it worth two hours for bland italian food? The creole cream cheesecake was worth an hour, but the overpriced pastas and sauces were nothing special. I don't understand the love for this place at all, perhaps I am too picky about my Italian. Or Creole Italian or whatever its supposed to be.
New Orleans Italian is all pretty much the same - Vincent's and Eleven79 are slightly better, Tommy's is the same ....
Locals don't really have too many options I guess.
And if I were a tourist, I would spend my time and money elsewhere. But hey, if you want something other than Olive Garden......
The Pelican Club is a bizarre restaurant
I had a mediocre meal and bad service there myself. Some people like it, though it seems really hit and miss from reviews. At those prices, I don't think its fair to give a pass for inconsistency.
You should contact Opentable for your points, they have a contact form on their website for mistake cancellations and nonrewards.
Returning to New Orleans
I kinda agree...I had a so-so steak there with like a teaspoon of overpriced balsamic.
K-Pauls is no good IMO. Bad gumbo, bad veal w/ pasta, bad music = tourist trap.
What Else to Order at Drago's?
brownie sundae with the ridiculous amount of whipped cream?
Best Restaurant Dessert currently in New Orleans
I third the pear and creme fraiche, its really amazing.
Hidden breakfast gems in the Atlanta area??
No one I know can stand the Flying Biscuit's mediocre food anymore. Thumbs Up is really good, as is Murphy's. Babette's has a great brunch. Silver Skillet was always a little to greasy spoon for me. West Egg is my favorite.
Folly Beach update anyone?
If you want horrible service, try Taco Boy.
Really good tapas at 11 Center St.
SNOB v. FIG
When to both recently. While I like the ambience and location of SNOB, the food was much better at FIG.
At SNOB, we started with the mussels and the charcuterie plate. The mussels did not taste fresh, but very fishy. At least they were nice enough to take it off the bill. The charcuterie plate was good, especially the duck liver mousse.
I had the prime rib, which was good. The fish (swordfish i think) with watermelon salad was pretty bad. It was highly recommended by our waitress too. Service was pretty shaky, ie forgot to bring our wine, initially left the mussels on the bill before asking if it was on there and then taking it off.
FIG on the other hand was pleasurable from start to finish. The tagliatelle with lump crab was deliciously light and fresh, although we could've used more of the sweet lump crab in dish.
Entrees were crispy veal sweetbreads with bacon, escarole, and a nice, fresh succotash. Perfect balance of rich meat and vegetables. The other entree was a Portoguese fish stew which was really flavorful. The seafood tasted fresh and the side mayo-based sauce was a good complement.
Then the cheese plate, which was fine, except I was wanting for some honey. The blue was really terrific.
Finally the blueberry crisp, which was marvelous. We should have forgone the cheeseplate and ordered two of these. Could have used a little more ice cream, but now I'm just nitpicking.
To summarize, I would recommend FIG, but not SNOB.
Need Cheap Family Eats in Atlanta
I think Mick's is terrible - its like really bad diner food.
Ted's takes great pride in making everything fresh, and they usually have something for everyone.
Best Burger in NOLA?
I agree with kpangaro... I used to love Port of Call, but the last couple of times I went there, the burgers were overdone and barely warm. I'd try other places like GB's on Carrolton before I go back to POC. I do love the potato's though. The Neptune's are amazing too.
Uptown dinner recommendations
Dante's Kitchen is nice, good food. Really nice patio too.
Then there is Lillette and Le Petit Grocery, both of which I think have gotten mixed reviews on this board. I liked them both, Lillette more than Grocery. Don't know if they are casual enough, but their both bistros.
Everyone loves Dick and Jenny's, I've only been once and had an ok meal. The wait is ridiculously long because they don't take reservations.
