New Orleans Trip Report January 2023

[Mr_Happy]

I went on a short trip to New Orleans back at the end of January last year (2023). Why did it take so long to start for me to start writing this up you ask? Procrastination! I figure that if I start writing about it I may eventually finish it. Since I have just mostly my notes to go on this report may be a bit short on details. This was my fourth trip to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities to visit, for the food, for the drinks, for the music, and for its unique culture and architecture.

Day 1

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Patois

I arrived on a Friday evening. My hotel was in the Marigny just a short walk from Frenchmen Street, and my room was in a converted shotgun house. After checking in, I went to dinner at Patois in Uptown.

The Christine ($15)
Gin, St. Germain, Dry Vermouth, Orange Twist
This was like a martini flavored with St. Germain elderflower liquor, on the rocks.

Potato Gnocchi ($22)
Jumbo Lump Crab, Truffle Crab Butter, English Peas, Piave Cheese
I believe this is one of their signature dishes. Pillowy gnocchi that were browned a bit for a little color and flavor and texture. They were topped with chives, peas, and some thin slices of cheese. The rich sauce was slightly crabby and slightly truffle-y. There were some big chunks of sweet crab meat in there too. Delicious.

Catfish Special ($25)
I neglected to write down the components of this dish, but it was one of the night’s specials. This was fried catfish along with a crawfish étouffée. The catfish was nicely fried, with a cornmeal batter that was quite crunchy. It was dressed with a remoulade. The crawfish étouffée had lots of little crawfish tails and plain white rice. There was a square of cornbread that was moist and sweet. Maybe a little sweeter than a typical Southern cornbread. Also delicious!

King Cake Bread Pudding ($12)
This was another special. My visit was during Mardi Gras season and I had a few king cake or king cake like pastries during my trip. This was a bread pudding flavored like a king cake with cinnamon and brown sugar, with a whiskey sauce and the requisite purple, green, and gold icing on top. Very good.

More Pictures:

Outside

Inside

Menus

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On my way back to my room to cap off the night I had a frozen Irish Coffee from Molly’s at the Market, a bar in the French Quarter open 24 hours. This came out of a slushy machine and I added a shot of Irish Whiskey (I think Jameson) for a little extra.

[Mr_Happy]

Day 2

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Liuzza’s by the Track

For lunch I went to Liuzza’s by the Track, a restaurant by the New Orleans Fair Grounds horse racing track. Not to be confused with Liuzza’s Restaurant and Bar in Mid-City.

Tito’s Bloody Mary ($8)
This was a good Bloody Mary with pickled green beans and choice of vodka (Tito’s for me - all vodka pretty much tastes the same to me though)

Creole Gumbo ($8.95 for a cup)
This had andouille, chicken, and shrimp and some rice. It had a nice soup-like broth with dark roux.

BBQ Shrimp Poboy ($16.95)
This is Liuzza’s by the Track’s signature dish. It’s a hollowed out pistolette roll stuffed with a plethora of New Orleans style bbq shrimp, which is covered in a sauce made with a bit of Worcestershire and lots of butter and black pepper. This had also a good bit of lemon I think. Delicious. The pistolette was like a Leidenheimer roll. It had a crisp crackly crust and a light airy crumb. I used it to soak up the sauce and eat with the shrimp and the occasional a slice of pickle. It was a knife and fork kind of poboy.

More Pics:

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Bakery Bar by Debbie Does Doberge

For a snack, I went to Bakery Bar in the Lower Garden District. It’s a restaurant, pastry shop, and bar from noted Doberge cake creator Debbie Does Doberge. A doberge cake is multi layered cake originating in New Orleans, and Bakery Bar had many different varieties. Since it was Carnival season I had a slice of Doberge King Cake ($8). It had lots of layers of cinnamon-y moist cake with a king cake multi-colored cream cheese frosting.

I also had a Parade Day ($10) cocktail, which I had hot. It had coffee, Bumbu cream, and a chicory whip.

Outside

Pastry Case

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Not food - I checked out the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus parade, which is a sci-fi themed walking parade (no floats). Fun!

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Saint John

For dinner, I went to Saint John in the French Quarter.

Grateful Dead ($10)
A Nicaraguan Creole twist on a classic daiquiri using rum, lime, strawberry cordial and Peychaud’s bitters.

Floral Fizz ($6) (mocktail)
A house-made Hibiscus Tea and sparkling water.

Oysters Saint John ($18)
Oysters Three Ways: Poached in Double Cream, Crispy Fried and Oyster Dressing in Vol-au-vent
This was a luxurious appetizer with a generous amount of gulf oysters. The fried oysters on top were nicely fried, and there was a layer of oysters in cream underneath. The flaky puff pastry shell in the center was stuffed with an oyster dressing that I think was made with cornbread.

Redfish ($40)
This was the special Gulf fish of the day, which was a redfish. It had a nicely seasoned fried skin that was very crispy. The crème fraîche sauce underneath was light, with a bit of chili oil for some kick. The crab cake that came with was described as a bit like an arancini. Accurate - it was a crunchy deep fried puck of crab, mushrooms, and rice.

Lemon Ice Box Pie ($9)
I had a slice of lemon pie for dessert. I neglected to write anything down for this, but I remember that it was good.

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For a nightcap, I had a Sazerac from the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel, which was well made and expensive

Frenchmen Street

[travelmad478]

Nice report! I don’t fault you for the long delay…it’s probably going to take me as long to do a post on our trip to Mexico this past January.

Very glad you enjoyed Patois. I live a block from the restaurant and you would have driven right past my house to get there It’s a great place to live a two-minute walk from!

[Mr_Happy]

Thanks! It’s great to be able to walk to a destination restaurant.

[Roro1831 (Roland)]

And I live around the corner from Liuzza’s by the Track. Not a bad place to live near.

Too bad the emphasis is now in the restaurant aspect and now they close early, used to be a good neighborhood bar.

[Mr_Happy]

Day 3

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Bevi Seafood Co

This was a snack-y day. For lunch I walked around Mid-City. My first stop was at Bevi Seafood Co, which has since closed permanently. The building now houses Porgy’s Seafood Market.

I had 2 pounds of boiled crawfish ($6.49 / lb), which were scooped out of a large bin. I didn’t get any sides but did have an Abita beer to wash it down. It was apparently a little early in crawfish season, but these were great! Especially with the cold beer. I could taste the spices in the boiling mix, and also a bit of lemon.

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Angelo Brocato’s

Next, for something sweet, I headed over to Angelo Brocato’s Ice Cream Parlor down the street. Brocato’s was founded way back in 1905. It has a nice old-school ice cream parlor ambiance with wire chairs and checkered floors. I just had a cup of the Sicilian pistachio gelato. They also had a more neon green pistachio variant. It was a very good gelato - super creamy with a nice dense texture and a lot of pistachio flavor.

I also had an espresso.

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Neyow’s Creole Cafe

My next stop was Neyow’s Creole Cafe, which was a recommendation I saw on another thread by @travelmad478

Here I had an order of half a dozen char-grilled oysters ($22). They gave me 8 because they said the oysters were a little small that day. I love char-grilled oysters and these were very good. They were drenched in garlic butter and cheese and served with an airy French bread which was good for mopping up the butter. I think my favorites are still from Felix’s though.

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Parkway Bakery and Tavern

After this little snack, I walked to Parkway Bakery and Tavern where I had a shrimp po’ boy. It was stuffed to the brim with nicely fried shrimp and dressed with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. It’s still the best shrimp po’boy that I’ve had.

I also had a Pimm’s Cup.

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The Will and the Way

I found myself in the French Quarter on a later that night after a failed expedition to find a Hubig’s pie to try. At the time of my visit local hand pie maker Hubig’s had just started production of their pies a few months prior and they were a little hard to find - they had been out of production over ten years since 2012 due to a factory fire. I stopped in to The Will and the Way afterwards for a drink and a snack.

I had an espresso martini

and also a Natchitoches meat pie, which was a nice snack. This was the first Natchitoches meat pie that I’ve had - it’s an official state food of Louisiana. It was fried meat pie filled with a minced beef filling that was a little spicy.

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Verti Marte

Finally, for some late night drunchies after listening to a few sets at Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub on Bourbon Street, I got a sandwich from Verti Marte, a 24 hour convenience store on Royal Street in the French Quarter.

I had a Royal Feast, which was:

Cheese caped grilled and stacked pot roast beef, turkey, and ham complimented with hot pepper cheese, black olives, grilled onions, and our "wow sauce”

This was a huge messy sandwich. The sandwich maker wished me good luck - he said he stuffed it pretty full! I brought it back to my room to eat. It was pretty good for a mostly roast beef debris greasy (look at the translucent wrapper!) cheesy po’boy and definitely helped with soaking up some alcohol. From what I remember though I liked their “All That Jazz” po’boy with shrimp and ham and cheese better.

[travelmad478]

God bless you for managing to eat all that food in ONE DAY

[Ziggy]

Good stuff. One of my favorite meals in NOLA ever was at the original Bevi on Airline rd. The best BBQ Shrimp ever

[BobfromRIinVA]

Love this report! We don’t get to NOLA too often so when we do I really home in on the local cuisine. Sounds like you are of the same mind. Well done!

[TheLibrarian28]

Very impressed by your food capacity!

[Mr_Happy]

Day 4

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Bywater Bakery

After the previous day’s gluttony I had a lighter lunch this day. First, I headed to Bywater Bakery for a slice of their Chantilly King Cake. This was a very nice light flaky king cake filled with a lightly sweetened whipped cream and some berries.

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Bacchanal

I then walked over to Bacchanal to listen to some live music on their patio (love this place!) and also had a Sardine Toast, which was a large whole bone-in sardine. The sardine was nicely grilled with some crispiness on the skin and moist meat. It was atop a piece of grilled bread with a romesco sauce.

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Maypop

For dinner I went to Maypop in the CBD. H/t to @travelmad478 for recommending it in another thread. Maypop is an Asian fusion restaurant from chef Michael Gulotta of MoPho.

Dinner began with a free amuse bouche - a delicious Thai curry flavored beignet with pimiento cream cheese underneath.

To start I had the
Roasted Marrow Bone Topped with Creole Lobster Bordelaise ($24)
Pickled Shallot, Herb Salad, Steen’s Vinaigrette, Warm Roti Bread
This was delicious. The roti was like a roti canai, flaky and crispy. The marrow was like a beef butter. Underneath the bone was some lobster with lightly dressed greens and pickled shallots for some acidity.

Then I had the
Crawfish and Andouille Tom Yum over Garganelli Pasta ($26)
Shitake Mushroom, Tasso Crust
This was a Thai-Italian fusion dish. The pasta sauce definitely tasted like a concentrated tom yum - sour and redolent with lemongrass. There was also a good amount of crawfish tails on top. Some bread crumbs (or tasso?) added some crunchiness. The garganelli pasta was al dente. This was also delicious!

For dessert, I had the
Vietnamese Coffee Budino ($9)
Biscotti Crumble, Praline, Luxardo Cherries
This was like a coffee mousse with crunchy bits of toffee like round things and I think meringue. This was good but not great. They were out of my first choice for dessert - a banana cake.

A delicious meal at Maypop!

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I also finally found some Hubig’s pies at a Rouses supermarket and ate them back at my room. I got an apple and a lemon flavored pie. My verdict - they are ok! Maybe a little better than a Home Run pie. I liked the apple a little bit more than the lemon. I’m glad I tried them but will not be rushing back to try another one.

[Mr_Happy]

Day 5

I was flying out in the afternoon and managed to squeeze in a couple lunches before heading to the airport.

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Lil Dizzy’s Cafe

First, I went to Lil Dizzy’s Cafe in the Tremé, which was within walking distance of my hotel.

Here I had two pieces of excellent fried chicken. You have a choice of dark meat or white meat and I got the dark meat, which was a thigh and a drumstick. The skin was crispy but not shatteringly crispy. It had a very good texture. The meat was nice and tender and juicy. They were not the largest pieces of chicken though - if you are hungry maybe a 4 piece would be more appropriate. It was very high quality fried chicken.

The greens, which maybe were mustard greens and/or collards, were also great. They were quite soupy with lots of pot liquor. The pot liquor vas nicely flavored, in part probably from the smoked meat (bacon?) that was also in there.

The service was very friendly - the chef came out to ask everyone how their food was.

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Cochon Butcher

For second lunch, I made another visit to Cochon Butcher in the CBD. I had a Buckboard Bacon Melt Sandwich and a beer.

Buckboard bacon is made with pork shoulder instead of the usual pork belly, so it is less fatty. It’s kind of like a cross between ham and bacon. There were thin slices of this in the sandwich, with melted swiss cheese and also some collard greens that gave it some bitterness to offset the richness of the cheese and bacon. The sweet pickles on the side also helped on that front. The fillings were between two slices of white bread. It was pressed and fried until golden. It was a very good sandwich.

And that’s it for this trip! I went on another trip to New Orleans last month. Hopefully it will take me less than a year to write about that one

[travelmad478]

Glad you got to Lil Dizzy’s. That is one of my favorite places in town and a must for any people we have visiting us. Everyone loves it. Their fried chicken is superb. If you go when they have white beans, try those too!