Showing posts with label jambalaya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jambalaya. Show all posts

Remoulade (New Orleans)

Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2014 by
Location: New Orleans, USA
Address: 309 Bourbon Street
Website: http://www.remoulade.com/
Type of Meal: Dinner
Sometimes it’s difficult finding a restaurant opened daily and late. Remoulade is such a place, serving Creole classics from 11am-11pm every day at affordable prices. The casual sister restaurant to the more indulgent Arnauds, you’ll get traditional dishes without the high prices. 

Jambalaya ($10.95) is one of those dishes that you’ll find at many restaurants. Remoulade’s is made to order arriving hot and fresh. Although lighter in flavour than the one we had at The Gumbo Shop, it still had some heat to it. Filled with shrimp, chicken, ham, Andouille sausage and vegetables there was enough toppings, just the rice was a bit soft for my taste. All in all, a decent dish but definitely not the best of the night. 


The New Orleans-style stuffed crabs ($13.95) were delicious and resembles a crab cake with more meat and less bread crumbs. Baked in shell with tons of crab and some vegetables it arrives with a golden crispy crust, piping hot, aromatic and certainly made me want more. Creamy soft roasted potatoes accompany the dish and is a good option if you’re not feeling overly hungry.


We were all pleasantly surprised with the blackened catfish ($12.95), which was so much better than the ones I've previously eaten outside of NOLA. At Remoulade it is moist and flaky, almost the texture of tilapia, and the crust of seasonings filled with flavours but not burnt. Hints of chili, garlic and oregano shone through, another dish that left us wanting more.


Service was friendly and efficient with complementary bread brought out quickly after ordering. Staff members took the time to interact with us so we felt welcomed. Moreover, Remoulade was nice enough to send out a rich hot brownie with ice cream after learning we were celebrating a birthday (regularly $5.25).

Mom's brownie (1)

If sweets aren’t your thing than you may want to end off the meal with a shot which will only set you back $3.75. Certainly, a great way to start a night on Bourbon Street.

Shots of lemon drops (1)


Overall mark - 8 out of 10
Like the blog? You can now follow me on twitter for notifications - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog

 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

 Photo Sources:
  1. Special thank you to my friend Jill for the pictures of the shots and dessert!



Gumbo Shop (New Orleans)

Posted on Sunday, June 08, 2014 by
Location: New Orleans, USA
Address: 630 Saint Peter Street
Website: http://www.gumboshop.com/
Type of Meal: Dinner
For a city that has bustling nightlife areas (Bourbon and Frenchmen), it’s surprising that most restaurants close so early. Having taken our time getting ready, we didn’t make it out for dinner until 9pm and found very few options still opened. After asking around, The Gumbo Shop was recommended and thankfully still taking people. Upon arriving we found a long lineup, obviously there were like minded individuals, but it moved quickly and we were seated in about 20 minutes.

Being fairly famished by this point, luckily they started us off with two large po-boy buns. It’s a type of bread that’s synonymous with New Orleans with its airy centre and dry flaky crust. Although it is derived from a baguette, it lacks the chewiness and aromatic fragrance the French counterpart embodies. Nonetheless, when you’re hungry everything tastes amazing.

To begin we each ordered a bowl of gumbo (after all, we were at the Gumbo Shop)! I opted for the seafood okra version ($4.99 for a cup or $8.75 for a bowl; cup shown below), which was thick and contained real pieces of crab and shrimp. The dark brown soup had a chowder consistency but was a tad gooey from the addition of the okra. It was very flavourful but overall wasn’t that good as it simply wasn’t hot enough. Really, a slimy lukewarm liquid, no matter how flavourful it is, isn’t the most appetizing thing to eat. As my first experience with gumbo in New Orleans it was pretty disappointing, luckily after a couple of tries I did end up having a decent one at Peche.


To try a few things at once, we ordered the Creole combination platter ($16.50). On the left was the shrimp Creole, the most simple of the three in a spicy tomato sauce. It was okay but when paired with the other options seemed somewhat plain. The scoop of jambalaya in the middle was the best part of the meal. Thick and flavourful it arrived with tons of slivered chicken and wedges of plump smoked sausage. Lastly, on the right was the crawfish etouffee, a flavourful stew spiced with cayenne pepper which gave it a kick and a more appealing colour. Like the gumbo the dish needed to be hotter, this one was a bit better but still nowhere near a temperature you’d except from a freshly made dish.


All in all, the restaurant had promise as each dish had nice flavours. If only they weren’t such a tepid temperature the experience would have been much better. Understandably, it could have been due to us arriving at a late hour or the fact we were seated at one of the draftiest tables in the restaurants. So, perhaps during normal times and conditions things would have been better. Alas, the stars didn’t align for us – we were able to satisfy our hunger but it wasn’t a fulfilling experience.

Overall mark - 5.5 out of 10
Like the blog? You can now follow me on twitter for notifications - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog

 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!



Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)