New Orleans : The Food

The first night when we arrived in Louisiana we were tired and looking for a place to go and eat supper, the owner of the plantation where we were staying sugested a place called Hymel's about 6 miles up the road, to put you in context we are in a rural area between Baton Rouge and New Orleans along the Missisipi, actually on road 44 that follows the levee. All along on top of the levee the locals are building tall bonfires to be light up on Christmas Eve a local tradition. Anyway on road 44 it's pretty beat up it's hard to beleive that people actualy live in some of these houses, so we are driving along and there is an abandoned gaz station and an old beated up building but there is light inside and cars parked all around and even at the foot of the levee across the street, there is half of a sign with Hymel's written on it. So while my wife waits in the car I decide to go inside and inquire if it is the restaurant, I poke my head inside and it's a bar with a Cajun musician and a big dining room on the right side, so I get my wife from the car and we pick a table in the corner of the restaurant, this way I can observe the place. It's hard to believe that there is all that restaurant, they even have a second dining room in the back, could fit in what seemed to be a small abandoned gas station from the outside. I order a crawfish etouffe and my wife a fried catfish platter. The food arive in melamine plates and it tastes great, the place is filling up with locals, they know one another some move from table to table. On our first night we had the chance to experience the real Louisiana.

Hymel's on road 44

Now of course I had researched a few restaurants that I wanted to go in New Orleans but on the first night tjat we went in the city I found out that the wait without a reservation was longer that we could wait, So that night we ate at Napoleon House on the corner of Chartres and St-Louis. We both had Jambalaya and it was excellent.

Napoleon's House

We went back to town the next day and had lunch at Antoines the oldest restaurant in New Orleans and the creators of oysters rockefeler. The staff is in full penguin suit, it feels like you are entering a museum, so we get seated in the "Grande Annexe" one of the most popular room of the restaurant, they have about 8 or 10. We order from the lunch table d'hote. We both have the buttersquash soup for starters, I follow up with a feuillete of oysters and my wife an escalope de veau farcie aux aubergines. I took a bread poudding for desert and my wife took a cheese cake. On the way out of the washroom I could see in the kitchen so I peeked in and asked if I could take a look around, the Chef was sitting at a desk at the end of the kitchen with a laptop monitoring the service, it was quiet so we got the chance to chat, it was very interesting.

Antoine's on St-Louis street

Antoine's Main Dining Room

Feuilleté d'huitres

On the next day we went for lunch at the courtyard of two sister another New Orleans staple restaurant it has an enclosed courtyard similar to Jardin Nelson but on that day it was to cold and they closed it. We ate inside the brunch buffet and it was good with some cajun dishes but it was not to the level that I expected for tha class of restaurant. The staff was nice and helpfull with my wife's alergies, the jazz band was good. The decor nice but the food taste ok at best, the presentation of the buffet especialy on the cold side needs an upgrade.

Inside at Courtyard of two sisters perfect room for lunch

The Cold Buffet at Courtyard of Two Sisters

On our last night in New Orleans we ate at the River's Edge restaurant across the French Market, my wife had the etouffe and I had Catfish and Shrimps both were very good, my wife completly finished her plate, a rare occurance. We then crossed the street to the famous Cafe du Monde for Beignets an Coffee. A must go on any visit to New Orleans.

Famous Café du Monde