Jamie, I was in New Orleans in November, and went to Commanders Palace and Patouts. While the service at Commanders was, by far the best I have ever experienced, I did not think the food was all that outstanding. I even had one of their signature dishes (Turtle Soup with Sherry) and was not impressed. It tasted like hamburger in chicken stock. Maybe my expectations were too high. However, I am in LOVE with Patouts! I hope to return this year, and Patouts will be #1 on my list. The Louisiana Won Ton's were to die for, the Cajun Smothered Roast Duck superb, and the Bread Pudding with Caramel, Cinnamon, Whiskey sauce was to die for. Even the salad with Creole Mustard and Red Wine Vinegar dressing was great! In fact, while riding back to our hotel from Commanders Palace, I had the cabbie stop at Patout's so I could buy his cookbook! My only complaint with Patout's is that their wine list could use improving. It's OK, but nothing special. I have also eaten at K-Pauls, which is excellent, and have never heard anything but good things about Brightsens. Please e-mail me you r impression when you return. I will be interested in your reactions. Colin PS Alex Patout's has aweb site: http://patout.com/ PPS, Alex Patout and Paul Brightsens were both students of Paul Prudhomme. Jamie wrote: >We'll only be in New Orleans for 2 nights. I already have reservations at >Commander's Palace for one of them. Help me decide between Bon Ton Cafe, >Alex Patout's, Palace Cafe, or Mr. B's. We want good, traditional cajun or >creole cooking. What do you recommend? Thanks. > >Jamie > >
New Orleans, LA
Need New Orleans Restaurant Recommendation
As a lifelong resident of Lafayette, LA (The Heart of Cajun Country), I'm afraid to tell you that there IS no authentic Cajun food in New Orleans. If you have the time, about 2 1/2 hours by auto, come to Lafayette and see what REAL cajun cooking is all about. The shysters in New Orleans have adulterated the ethnic cuisine of my ancestors in search of the almighty dollar while passing it off to people from other areas of the country and the world as Cajun. Don't get me wrong, New Orleans has some of the best food in the world, but as we would say back home: It just ain't Cajun! As for dining in New Orleans, save your money and your taste buds and skip Commanders Palace. Try Mr. B's, Emerils, or my favorite, Bayona. Jamie wrote in message ... >We'll only be in New Orleans for 2 nights. I already have reservations at >Commander's Palace for one of them. Help me decide between Bon Ton Cafe, >Alex Patout's, Palace Cafe, or Mr. B's. We want good, traditional cajun or >creole cooking. What do you recommend? Thanks. > >Jamie > >
Dell G. wrote: > > As a lifelong resident of Lafayette, LA (The Heart of Cajun Country), > I'm afraid to tell you that there IS no authentic Cajun food in New Orleans. > If you have the time, about 2 1/2 hours by auto, come to Lafayette and see > what REAL cajun cooking is all about. The shysters in New Orleans have > adulterated the ethnic cuisine of my ancestors in search of the almighty > dollar while passing it off to people from other areas of the country and > the world as Cajun. Don't get me wrong, New Orleans has some of the best > food in the world, but as we would say back home: It just ain't Cajun! As > for dining in New Orleans, save your money and your taste buds and skip > Commanders Palace. Try Mr. B's, Emerils, or my favorite, Bayona. > > Jamie wrote in message ... > >We'll only be in New Orleans for 2 nights. I already have reservations at > >Commander's Palace for one of them. Help me decide between Bon Ton Cafe, > >Alex Patout's, Palace Cafe, or Mr. B's. We want good, traditional cajun or > >creole cooking. What do you recommend? Thanks. > > > >Jamie > > > > Jamie, I was going to respond to Dell, but then I read your post. Go to Bon Ton Cafe. No disrespect to Dell, but Bon Ton serves authentic Cajun cuisine, from, as I understand it, the Bayou Lafourche area. Their menu has hardly changed since 1952. Beyond that, though, there is not much real Cajun cooking in N.O. Most of the places we like -- Emeril's, Brigtsen's, Gabrielle, Upperline, etc -- serves variations on "New Louisiana" cooking. For authentic creole cooking people seem to like Galatoire's the best, but I've never tried it. Have fun! Bob Wells
> How about some recommendations for places to eat in your area? I am not from New Orleans, but I do love the food. My favorite places to eat there are: Palace Cafe just on the edge of the French Quarter -- seared filet with Sweet Potatoes and Honey-cane dressing is the best steak I have ever had. Just a stone's thro away is Mr. B's Bistro -- The Pasta Jambalaya with duck is the best here. Though, I preferred the dinner version better than the lunch portion. >
I have many favorites: Girards Downtown Cafe Giovanni Brigtsens Clancy's Bayonna Chrisitans And the list goes on... Someone wrote: > > How about some recommendations for places to eat in your area? > > I am not from New Orleans, but I do love the food. My favorite places to eat > there are: Palace Cafe just on the edge of the French Quarter -- seared filet > with Sweet Potatoes and Honey-cane dressing is the best steak I have ever > had. Just a stone's thro away is Mr. B's Bistro -- The Pasta Jambalaya with > duck is the best here. Though, I preferred the dinner version better than the > lunch portion. > > > >
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. We've already returned from NO and ate at Commander's Palace and Bon Ton Cafe. We also had lunch at Acme Oyster House and Cortland's. We really enjoyed the service and ambiance at Commander's Palace. The turtle soup and bread pudding souffle were delicious. My entre, the fish in potato crust, was very good but not outstanding. My husband had the seafood stew and it was only fair. Our dinner at Bon Ton was excellent. We had to try their turtle soup and, although it was very tasty, did not compare to Commander's. (Of course we were paying a lot less for it!). I couldn''t decide between the crawfish etoufee and jamboyla so our waitress suggested that I get half & half on my plate. They were both very good. My husband had a steak which was an excellent quality of meat. He had the bread pudding and I had the bread pudding parfait. When we planned our couple of days in NO, we only wanted to eat creole and cajun food. Before going to NO, we also spent a day in Shreveport and Alexandria and made the big mistake of eating crawfish etoufee and other creole dishes as well as bread pudding and pecan pie at dinner. By the time we ate at Bon Ton, we were sick of bread pudding and creole dishes. In retrospect, we should have gone elsewhere that night for dinner. Anyway, we did a lot of "fine" eat'n in Louisiana. I gained 5 pounds from our long weekend. Jamie >> Jamie wrote in message ... >> >We'll only be in New Orleans for 2 nights. I already have reservations at >> >Commander's Palace for one of them. Help me decide between Bon Ton Cafe, >> >Alex Patout's, Palace Cafe, or Mr. B's. We want good, traditional cajun or >> >creole cooking. What do you recommend? Thanks. >> > >> >Jamie >> > >> > >