Walked in and grabbed a seat at the bar at Mr. B’s Bistro on Royal St. for Sunday jazz brunch. Was very lively at lunchtime, and there was a jazz band playing inside.
Bloody Mary
Good straightforward bloody Mary.
Gumbo Ya Ya
There are two gumbos on the menu, a “gumbo ya ya” and a seafood gumbo. I asked the bartender which one was his favorite and he recommended the gumbo ya ya, which has andouille sausage and chicken with some rice. Dark, thick, gumbo. Slightly bitter coffee/chocolate like taste, I’m guessing this is from the browned roux. This was ok. A little lacking in flavor. Maybe it needed some salt.
BBQ Shrimp
Their signature dish. They put a bib on me for this, which I appreciated as I got a quite a few drops of sauce on it (and also a little bit on my shirt still unfortunately). This was my first time having BBQ shrimp, which is a New Orleans specialty. It was delicious. The sauce was very buttery. Mr. B’s has a recipe for their BBQ shrimp on their web site and it calls for 3 sticks of butter per 2 servings(!). It was a little sweet and also a little smokey. Lots of cracked black peppercorns that you could taste in the sauce. Shrimp were large and fresh and sweet, with the heads and shells still on. Very good dunked in the sauce. Took a little effort to eat but it was well worth it. I used the bread provided to sop up the rest.
Bread Pudding
Very good bread pudding with an irish whiskey sauce on the side.