More New Orleans Food & Fun

I am amazed that we only managed to eat in a couple of non-chain restaurants while we were in New Orleans. But we were actually in the city for only 2 full days and were on the go the whole time. Luckily, even the chain restaurants have pretty good food in that city.

I was actually a little disappointed in the two places we managed to find time for. One was the first dinner we had in town, where the crawfish etouffee wasn't so great and the other was actually the highlight of our trip, Sunday brunch in the Quarter. It was a fabulous experience, but I wasn't really impressed by the food. It was good, don't get me wrong. Just not nearly to the level I was expecting. Looking back, I'd have to say that the quality of the food we got everywhere in town was very hit and miss. I can't tell you how very surprised by that I am.

Although I shouldn't maybe have been surprised that oyster po boys at the airport would upset my stomach. They tasted great, though.

Anyway, here's a little more of our New Orleans experience. I had a great time, but I'm still undecided about actually living there again - the excitement of living almost in the Quarter notwithstanding.

As I mentioned in my last post, we drove around the French Quarter on St. Patrick's day and it was a little wild. But when we went back another couple of times, it didn't seem all that much different. So it seems that the Quarter is back to being a little wild most of the time.

There were always at least a few people walking around in costume. This is at the French Market, just down from Jackson Square on the river.


We met my brother for lunch at Copeland's. This is a chain owned by the guy who started Popeye's Fried Chicken, and he has other chains. There was a location in Baton Rouge near where my grandmother was in an assisted living place that we used to go to all the time. It had a crawfish fettucini dish that was out of this freaking world and I used to stuff myself on it. TGIFriday's now has a similar dish, a Cajun chicken and shrimp fettuccini, I think, that is an excellent substitute. Better, in fact, than the one I got at Copeland's on this trip...which wasn't even fettuccini.


I didn't find it had much flavor. But the dessert more than made up for it. I loved every last bite of it.

Yes, I did share it with others.

We walked around the Quarter some more on the Friday when we returned to New Orleans, and this time I got my beignet fix at the uber fabulous Cafe du Monde. This is one of my all time favorite spots in the whole wide world and probably always will be.

I had hoped to actually get here more than once but, sadly, it didn't work out that way. And I am filled with chagrin to admit that I didn't get a picture of the beignets in all their powdered sugar covered glory. But I'm still not completely trained to photograph my food before digging in, and I had waited waaaay to long to get a bite of them. I took a picture of the menu on the napkin dispenser while we were waiting to order, but my brain went dead as soon as we were served.

Trust me, this is an institution in New Orleans and is not to be missed if you visit. The location and the flavor are well worth it.

Our flight left at 6:20 Sunday evening so we had a plenty of time to check out of the hotel and head down to the Quarter one last time to have brunch. We went to Muriel's on Jackson Square, a former bordello situated next door to St. Louis Cathedral. Once more, my lack of photographic experience is obvious, I didn't get a photo of the front of the restaurant. But it 's not that fancy, the inside - and the food - is way more interesting. There is a lovely indoor courtyard.


And it was a jazz brunch, which is not uncommon in New Orleans. I'm not wild about musicians roaming around restaurants while I eat, but these guys perfectly hit the nice background music mode.


Our table had a nice view of Jackson Square...for me, at least. My mother and sister were facing the wrong direction. There is a great restaurant across the street that is more fully facing Jackson Square. It's not fine dining, but I have it on excellent authority that the food is superb. It's Stanley's.

We all had different appetizers. My mother had the Crab Imperial, which she said was perfect.

My Shrimp Soup was good, closer to a stew than a bisque, lots of tasty flavor.

But my sister's appetizer won by a mile. Crawfish and goat cheese crepes.

My mother had some kind of meat dish, I don't recall. My sister and I were in all seafood all the time mode the whole time we were there, and we had the Seafood au Gratin. It seemed small, at first, for an entree. Though I have to say that it was far more filling than it looked. But I didn't find it had a whole lot of flavor. It certainly wasn't bad, but I was disappointed. It was served with a potato croquette.
However, my second favorite all time dessert was on the menu, creme brulee, so I was more than happy when my meal was done. Particularly since it was a very generous sized serving. In case you might be interested, my all time favorite is Grand Marnier souffle. But that is extremely hard to find. I'm thrilled to have creme brulee when I can get it.

My mother had one, as well. But my sister surprised an involuntary laugh out of our waiter when she gave him her order. You see, she decided to drink her dessert, and the waiter heartily approved of her choice. She got a chocolate martini.

It really was a great trip, and we had a wonderful time. Although I'm still not sure I actually want to commit to living there again, I do look forward to more visits, even an extended stay. But what made this trip most special is the fact that my mother is almost 87 years old and a recent stroke victim. It's only realistic to acknowledge that she won't be around, in a condition to do these kinds of things, for a real long time into the future. And she enjoyed herself greatly on this trip with her 2 daughters, and with her oldest great-granddaughter tagging along for most of it. I know that this will be one of our most special memories of her after she's gone, and I'm so very glad everything went so beautifully.

We had incredible parking karma while we were there, too, scoring the same super primo handicapped spot across the street from Cafe du Monde THREE days in a row - which is a serious miracle, simply unbelievable. And someone backing out of a free street spot across from the restaurant just as we pulled up while running late for our brunch reservation. We walked in exactly on the minute. Seriously, it was a little creepy...in a good way, of course.

Then, of course, our flight home was delayed. But, at that point, it didn't even matter anymore. Visiting family, getting to spend so much time in a really interesting city, perfect parking and good food...you really can't ask for better than that from a quick 5 day trip. We thoroughly enjoyed it.