Brenda's French Soul Food

I went to Brenda's French Soul Food for the first time this Saturday. Waited an hour before being seated. Had the plain beignets which I enjoyed. However, it was my first beignet so there was nothing to compare against.

For my entree I had the Hangtown Fry, which is an oyster & bacon scrambler. Had the grits and biscuit with it. The Hangtown Fry was delicious, much better than the one I tried...+READ I went to Brenda's French Soul Food for the first time this Saturday. Waited an hour before being seated. Had the plain beignets which I enjoyed. However, it was my first beignet so there was nothing to compare against.

For my entree I had the Hangtown Fry, which is an oyster & bacon scrambler. Had the grits and biscuit with it. The Hangtown Fry was delicious, much better than the one I tried at Tadich Grill. The grits and biscuit were good as well, but they were a little too heavy in terms of the butter used to make them.

I will definitely go back to Brenda's again to try some of the other items on the menu. But I will go at a time when I won't have to wait an hour to be seated.-COLLAPSE (by eric cartman, created May 22, 2010)

Brenda's French Soul Food is a favorite of mine.

The biscuits are stunning, the beignets wicked, and there isn't a single dish I haven't enjoyed so far. REPLY (5 Replies) (by CarrieWas218, created March 17, 2010)

»Great biscuits, long lines

The biscuits here really do kick ass. But the rest of it is no better than any other brunch spot. Marcia Gagliardi of http://www.tablehopper.com recommends it for those playing hooky, because of the long lines at normal hours. I think it would be good - particularly if you were workin' off a hangover. Check it out along with other recs from the Tenderloin in a story I wrote here:...+READ The biscuits here really do kick ass. But the rest of it is no better than any other brunch spot. Marcia Gagliardi of http://www.tablehopper.com recommends it for those playing hooky, because of the long lines at normal hours. I think it would be good - particularly if you were workin' off a hangover. Check it out along with other recs from the Tenderloin in a story I wrote here: http://www.chow.com/stories/11247-COLLAPSE (by lessleyellen, created March 11, 2010)

»Disappointing brunch at Brenda's

I'd heard a lot of hype about Brenda's French Soul, reading about it in the Chronicle as well as in a few guidebooks. Being a New Orleans-ophile and having a serious culinary hard-on for beignets, creole food and great chicory coffee, I gladly waited the 75 minutes outside while the waitresses flipped the handful of tables inside this miniscule restaurant. When our name was finally called from...+READ I'd heard a lot of hype about Brenda's French Soul, reading about it in the Chronicle as well as in a few guidebooks. Being a New Orleans-ophile and having a serious culinary hard-on for beignets, creole food and great chicory coffee, I gladly waited the 75 minutes outside while the waitresses flipped the handful of tables inside this miniscule restaurant. When our name was finally called from the waiting list clipboard, I practically skipped to our table.

We started with the beignet flight and cafe au lait. The flight is one each of the crayfish, chocolate, apple and plain beignets. Each was delicious, but the beignets were tough, as if they had been prepped in advanced and the outside of the beignets were allowed to dry in the heat of the kitchen. Indeed, when I went to the back to use the restroom I could see trays of beignets cut and stuffed, ready to be fried. My other complaint was the liberal dusting of creole seasoning used to coat the crayfish beignet got all over the sweet beignets, making an odd combination of apple, chocolate and paprika. The cafe au lait was delicious.

My main was the special of the day, shrimp and cheddar grits. When it came out, the aroma was mouth watering, but when I started to tuck in I realized I had a problem. The entire dish was sitting in a huge puddle of red oil/grease. I don't know if it was fat from the broiled cheese grits or from the sauteed shrimp, but there was about 1/2 a cup of oil coating every shrimp and the surface of the grits. I tried scooting the grits out of the way and tipping the bowl to let the fat collect, but it was too late, every bite was oily and stomach-turning. I can't eat a lot of fat without getting sick to my stomach, and with 3-4 bites of the admittedly creamy and delicious grits and snappy, fresh shrimp I was nauseated and had to stop eating, spending the rest of my meal sipping water while my friend dug into his breakfast (egg tartin with tomato chutney and home frieds, which he enjoyed).

Our meal came to $46 for two, splitting the beignet flight, the grits (10,50), the egg tartin and a single pancake (also tough, but delicious). Both of us walked away with a tummy ache and disappointment for waiting so long for a mediocre meal.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (14 Replies) (by christina_hunnicutt, created January 5, 2010)

(by msjade, created November 1, 2011)

(by Melanie Wong, created March 2, 2010)