Anne S.
Yelp
HITS:
1. The carrots were PHENOMENAL, but wow, these are poorly named on the menu as "rosemary carrots." If there was rosemary, it was a fine dusting. More notably, they're served in a creamy wasabi sauce that is absolutely divine (if you like wasabi). I feel bad for people ordering "rosemary carrots" and getting a surprise punch of wasabi in the mouth. Maybe this is designed to be a "secret menu" item of sorts? Like, "Oh, I love those 'rosemary' carrots at Jack and Harry's," wink wink. If you know you know, maybe? (Well, now you know.)
2. The French onion steak dish is glorious. Although it hides a subpar steak underneath a dousing of French onion sauce and broiled cheese, we all were willing to forgive the subpar steak due to the dish as a whole being so delicious. And I guess if it were a really excellent steak, you'd want to eat it plain, but at the same time, this is a $50 entree....
3. None of us ordered the steak frites, so we ordered a side of frites for the table. They were delicious; they almost reminded me of very thin veggie straws. They're extremely light and crisp.
4. Those who could eat the truffle mac said it was divine. Sadly, it features crayfish, and I have a shellfish allergy. On that note, it's a tough menu for sharing plates if you have a shellfish allergy. Almost all the appetizers involve shellfish. (I get it...it's a New Orleans restaurant. Not a criticism; it is what it is.)
5. The grilled branzino is truly fantastic. Delicious herb sauce.
6. The Fleur de Lis "martini" is basically a cucumber gimlet. But sure, call it a martini. I don't care. It's still delicious -- sweet but not overly so. That said, if you're a classic martini drinker, you're not going to love this one. I got a little tired of the sweetness by the end of it, so for my second drink, I ordered just a regular dirty gin martini, which was quite nice. I also noted that they have a chenin blanc by the glass -- my favorite white wine, and not especially common by the glass. Will have to try it next time.
7. The Caesar salad for the table was the perfect size for sharing with four people. It also was surprisingly delicious -- not boring at all, as some Caesars can be.
8. The ambiance is lovely. Trust me; it's better in person than in the photos. We all agreed that the ambiance can best be described as "country club" -- a hint of old-school (including the fun green awning outside) with a modern twist. A vibe that will feel quite comfortable to non-adventurous boomers, but I can love it too. Don't shy away from being seated at the tables in the middle of the room, because those rolling leather chairs are so comfortable you'll never want to leave. I don't quite understand why "New Orleans theme" is interpreted as "equestrian theme" -- yes, I know NOLA has a racetrack, but it's not a well-known one, nor is the city well-known for it. I guess they leaned into horses as opposed to beads and jazz and all that. At any rate, it works.
MISSES:
1. Service was a little weird. Our waitress greeted us and asked what kind of water we wanted (still, sparkling, or tap). Then she walked off without asking if we wanted anything else to drink (and we'd been sitting there long enough to have drink orders in mind). When she returned with the waters, she placed them on the table and immediately left, AGAIN without asking if we wanted anything else to drink. We'd been sitting there for at least 15 minutes by the time she finally returned, at which point she asked NOT about drink orders but about whether we wanted any appetizers. We literally had to interject and request drink orders, so we didn't even get our drinks until probably 20-25 minutes into being seated. (Also, she never once asked about any food allergies, which definitely should be standard for a place with so much shellfish on the menu -- obviously I know not to order crab and shrimp, but it's helpful to have waiters know about my shellfish allergy so that they can alert me to any sauces or other sneaky dishes that might have shellfish.) Service continued to be weird the whole evening (e.g., our side of fries came out before anything else, totally on its own). Maybe she had been assigned too many tables? But it was a Sunday evening, and there were empty tables the whole time we were there -- this wasn't prime time on a Friday night.
2. The artichoke appetizer tasted of nothing but charcoal, because the artichokes were burned.
3. The women's restroom has two stalls, and one was out of order. This led to quite a wait.
4. The prices here really add up. It doesn't have "special occasion" vibes (especially in the entry/bar area), but it has special occasion prices. On that note, I never did get a chance to ask our eternally vanishing waitress why all the prices end in 80 cents. Message me with the answer if you know!
OVERALL:
More hits than misses. I'll be back, for sure. Probably with my non-adventurous boomer parents. They need a sneaky introduction to wasabi.