New Orleans: Mr. B's Bistro for a French Quarter Lunch

Lunch at Mr. B's
Mr. B's Bistro
201 Royal Street in the French Quarter
*****

I got e-mail from Chef Alex Patout a couple of weeks ago asking why his restaurant didn't have a page on Virtually New Orleans. Well, the answer was simple, of course: I haven't eaten there in over a year, and that's too long to just jump in and do a review. So, in an attempt to rectify the situation, I went over to Royal St. for lunch the other day. Only one small problem: Patout's is closed for lunch! OK, I'm already over in the Quarter, and I have to be back to continue a training class at ComputerLand in about an hour and ten minutes. It was the perfect day to see if all of those "Mr. B's means business" ads were really true. Well, they are. I was in and out of one of the best restaurants in town in about 50 minutes, and still had a great meal. It was so enjoyable that when a colleague wanted to take me to Galatoire’s for lunch last week, I countered with Mr. B’s (it was another teaching day for me, so I had the same time constraint).

Mr. B's Bistro is one of those restaurants that makes you feel comfortable without feeling like you're wearing old, worn-out clothes. The dining room's dark wood paneling is reminiscent of Arnaud's; the white marble tabletops remind you of many of the better Creole restaurants in the Quarter. The art deco mirrors and etched, frosted glass windows challenge you a bit, however. They're a subtle reminder that this isn't your daddy's Creole restaurant--it's yours. You enter Mr. B's via a revolving door, a neat twist in itself. A bar runs the length of the right side when you walk in. You can sit at the bar for a drink, and it also services the wait staff. I was lunching alone (hint: if you ever don't want to look like you're doing a restaurant review, walk in with print-outs from Microsoft TechNet. Guaranteed to hang them up), so they put me towards the back on the right side. It's a section that appears to be a bit flexible in table layout, so they can put together tables for big parties or break them up for small ones. I was seated at a table for two that was next to two others which were empty. The location gave me a good overview of the entire side of the restaurant.

As soon as I sat down, the service kicked into gear. The waiter put a lunch menu in my hand took my drink order immediately. My iced tea got back to the table almost as fast as a bus boy brought my water glass and a loaf of cap bread and butter. The lunch menu offers a bunch of selections a la carte, or three table d'hôte meals consisting of appetizer or  soup, and entree. The meals run between $12 and $15, and you can substitute Gumbo Ya-Ya (one of the best, if not the best gumbo in the city) for a dollar extra. The entrees on my first trip were crabmeat ravigote cakes, a creamy shrimp pasta, and roasted medallions of pork smothered in an applesauce-Abita Xmas Ale glaze. The Abita ale glaze on the pork caught my eye, and I went with that and oyster-artichoke soup.  On my second trip, I had oyster pasta (oysters sautéed with mushrooms, green and red peppers, garlic and a little onion in olive oil), and my colleague had another roast pork dish.  We both had the smoked chicken and lentil soup.

The soup came out in no time flat on both trips.  The oyster- artichoke soup was peppery.  I liked it, but I know that my wife Helen would have found it too spicy.  The chicken and lentil soup was much more subtle, but I found both enjoyable.  My advice to anyone who is pepper-sensitive is to ask the waiter before ordering how a dish is running, and make adjustments to your choices accordingly.  Mr. B’s is truly a restaurant run by New Orleanians, because they keep the bread coming, a must with good soup.  The entrees were not far behind the soup.  The pork medallions were tender, and the glaze had a bit of a bite, but not overly tart.  The apple slices were a bit tough, however.  There were new potatoes and steamed veggies with the entree, both of which were tasty.

The oyster pasta I had on the second trip was also very good.  The portion was a bit large, but not so big that I wanted to stop half-way through it and have it wrapped up (something I don’t particularly care to do).  No, it was a filling meal, but I didn’t feel like I was bloated on pasta.  The oysters were a bit small, but there were a bunch of ‘em. Overall, this was a dish you’d expect from Semolina, but you could tell it was at a level a bit higher in terms of preparation.

Since I was eating by myself (and trying to comprehend TechNet articles at the same time), I felt that I was entitled to dessert. There were several daily specials, but I opted for a New Orleans classic--bread pudding with a whiskey sauce.  It was nice and warm, but not too hot to eat, good consistency, and the sauce was rich but not boozy.

Service was tag-team.  We had a waiter assigned to the table, but if a busboy or another wait person came by and saw we needed water, tea, bread, they brought it.  On my solo outing, my waiter brought the check, but a waitress picked it up.  I could see that this system was in force all over the dining room.  My waiter on the solo trip was dealing with a large (12-person) party about three tables from me, and two other waiters would pass by to check on him and to answer questions for the guests while they were pondering the menu.

Lunch on my solo trip was $12, the bread pudding $3.  I left the change from a $20.  My colleague picked up the tab for the second dinner, but the prices were the same (should’ve had dessert! :-))

Anyway, my apologies to Chef Alex for not getting to his place next door.  I promise, we'll be there before Mardi Gras.

Cheers,
Ed.

Questions and comments are welcome:  reply here or to [email removed].