Montrel's Bistro

I often pass by Montrel's Bistro while shopping in the French Market, and it always appears to be busy with satisfied eaters. This weekend I decided that I'd go there and see what this place is all about. All of those happy-looking people must have been tourists, and they must have all migrated home for the winter, because the restaurant was completely empty on Saturday. I found that kind of odd since it was 12:30 on a sunny day, but didn't think too much of it after that. Our waiter took our orders and then we sat and talked and waited for bread or salad or SOMETHING, but nothing came. To me, that's unacceptable. A meal should consist of more than an entree, and the fact that this one did not confirmed in me that this must be a tourist trap. Then the food came. I ordered red beans and rice with fried chicken; my fiance ordered a paneed pork chop with mashed potatoes. We both needed to put salt on our food. This should never happen in New Orleans. To their credit, the fried chicken was decent, but overall that's not saying much. Finally, in the middle of our leisurely relaxed lunch, the waiter asked us if we were ready for our bill, and basically ran us out of the door even though the restaurant was completely empty.
Average (at best) food + rude waiter = I'm never going back.

Crazy Johnnie's Steak House

Crazy Johnnie's is not the place where I would expect to have a quality steak dinner. It's a sports bar-type place in the middle of Fat City, and the low prices tend to make one question how a good steak can be gotten for such a low price. I don't know how they did it, but Crazy Johnnie's made one of the best steaks I've had in my life tonight.
Firstly, I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've had a decent meal out. Tonight was definitely long overdue. Our meal began with an appetizer of "dippin' bread," French bread served with a dipping sauce of the juices leftover after the steaks are cooked. It was divine. The sauce wasn't greasy at all; it just tasted like a liquid steak.
For an entree I had, of course, the Filet Mignon. It was cooked to a PERFECT medium, topped with garlic, and served with a side of "crazy potatoes." Once again, I have never had a steak this good in my life, though I must admit I'm not extremely experienced. I wish I could have had a cereal bowl full of the crazy potatoes- roughly mashed garlicky potatoes that were thick and went just perfectly with the steak.
I'm not usually a big eater; at most restaurants I can barely finish half of a meal and I always end up with leftovers. Tonight I was two bites away from clearing my plate. Enough said.

Muriel's Jackson Square

Muriel's Jackson Square has everything one could want in a French Quarter lunch spot. It has classic Creole cooking, an excellent location near the St. Louis Cathedral, and a ghost story. Yesterday was my second time eating at Muriel's, and it wasn't quite as pleasant as my first. This is mainly because my first meal at Muriel's was on a Friday afternoon in the middle of summer, which is typically a slow time of year for New Orleans restaurants. Yesterday there were quite a few events going on in the French Quarter, plus it was Halloween Eve. It took me half an hour to find a parking spot, and the restaurant was packed, but I'll forgive them because the service made up for everything that I could possibly complain about.
Our meal started off with an appetizer of shrimp and goat cheese crepes. I was not too pleased with the temperature; I would have preferred a piping hot crepe rather than the lukewarm one that I got. The shrimp were plump and juicy, the goat cheese was creamy and smooth, and altogether it was a delicious dish.
The soup of the day was a cream of potato and bacon soup. Everything was blended perfectly together- there were no bits of bacon or chunks of potato, just a uniformly textured soup.

For an entree, I had the wood-grilled pork chop served with red beans and rice and cornbread. The pork chop was cooked thoroughly without being too dry and had an excellent smoky flavor, and the red beans were thick and creamy, just like mamma's. The cornbread wasn't my favorite- there were chunks of bell pepper which really messed up the texture for me. It almost tasted Mexican... it did not blend well with the flavors of the pork chop and red beans.

 Service was really slow because there were so many guests eating lunch, and it took an unbelievable amount of time for our entrees to arrive at the table. We were kind of irritated but didn't complain; we figured we'd just have a leisurely lunch and enjoy some conversation. The manager stopped by our table anyway and offered us free desserts to make up for the wait, and of course we gladly accepted.
The desserts chosen for us were a flourless chocolate cake and bread pudding.

The cake had the consistency of the inside of a truffle- it melted in my mouth. It wasn't super sweet, but it was very rich, and even though I'm not a big chocolate eater, I did like it a lot. However, I think the bread pudding was better, maybe even the best bread pudding I've had. There were no raisins or nuts or anything inside of the pudding, but the crust was drizzled with a sauce that tasted like pralines and topped with candied pecans. It was divine. And I forgive them for the three-hour long lunch, because this bread pudding made it way worth it.

Ambiance: 10. There's a ghost story, and if you ask them about it they bring a sheet to the table that tells the history of the building and its former inhabitants. Also, some of the main building structures that survived the big New Orleans fire are still standing, and the newer structures have been built around them.
Food: 8. The crepes weren't hot, and the cornbread didn't mesh well with the pork chop, but everything else was fantastic, and the bread pudding was ridiculously good.
Service: 10. They didn't even give us a chance to complain about the long wait, they just read our minds and brought us make-up desserts. My heart can always be won over with free food, especially free food of this caliber.

Muriel's, I forgive you for making my lunch last three hours. It was actually kind of fun. I'll be back to see you again soon, I hope.

Davenport Lounge/M Bistro

The Davenport Lounge is a classy little jazz lounge that I often visit on Saturday nights out with friends. It's located in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which I love, mainly because the people there are not your typical French Quarter crowd. Around midnight the Bourbon Street partiers start trickling in, and that's usually my cue to leave. Regardless, I love this place, and I feel right at home with the other old fogies who get there at eight o'clock.
The menu here is pretty small, with only a few selections from the neighboring restaurant, M Bistro. There is an extensive wine and cocktail list from which I rarely order, but when I do, I am always pleased.
Last night was my first time at the Davenport Lounge since M Bistro opened. The menu offerings had changed, and I was pretty excited to try something new. Not having too much money on me, I decided to go with something simple and order Grandma Davenport's Apple Pie, and as always, I think I chose the best dessert on the menu. The pie is an actual miniature pie, not just a slice, so you know it's made fresh when you order it. The crust was flaky, the apples were sweet and soft, and the bourbon pecan ice cream with it was the perfect complement. I also tried some of my sister's tuna carpaccio salad, which was something completely new to me. I can't believe I've never had carpaccio before, because I've been missing out on something fantastic. The tuna was thinly sliced, drizzled with a citrusy vinaigrette, and served over fresh, peppery arugula. Once again, neither flavor stood out above the others; the citrus and the pepper blended perfectly to round out the salad.
Two friends with us ordered martinis: one had a blueberry lemondrop, and the other had a classic dirty martini. Both said the drinks were some of the best they had.

Ambience: 9. Once the Bourbon Street crowd arrives, I stop having fun. As long as I can escape before they come in, it's a 10.
Service: 10. Since we got there before Jeremy Davenport started playing, we were actually able to find a seat and order our meals in a timely manner. The server checked on us frequently and refilled the drinks regularly as well. Also, the hotel now offers validated parking for lounge guests, so we were able to park at a greatly reduced rate.
Food: 8. Everything was delicious, but it didn't knock my socks off.

Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro

Last night I had dinner at Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro in Metairie for probably the twentieth time. It's a great place to eat for a spontaneous dinner for a couple of reasons:
1. Complementary valet parking - you will never have to search for a place to park.
2. Large dining room - you almost never have to wait for a table.
These reasons and the fact that it was raining and we wanted to go somewhere with covered parking helped us to make our decision last night.
I always love the ambiance in Copeland's restaurants. The lighting is romantically dim, but not to the point where you can't see your food. Large booths are cozy yet roomy, allowing for good conversation as well as plenty of table space. The decor is modern and classic at the same time, which makes the restaurant feel contemporary and chic.

Our meal last night started with an appetizer of spinach and artichoke dip. Unlike most spinach and artichoke dips, this one was also served with chips, ranch dip, and salsa. These flavors didn't match at all, and they did not make for a cohesive meal; the ranch and salsa seemed to serve as alternates for the spinach dip, which was good for me because the dip was very heavy on the artichokes. The chips, however, were seasoned with sea salt, and were very very good.

For my entree, I selected the blackened chicken with tomato and basil ravioli. This dish was very rich and delicious. The chicken was roasted without being too dry, and was well-seasoned, with pepper being the predominant flavor. The ravioli were bursting with soft, melty cheese, and the tomato-basil sauce was unbelievably delicious.

Normally at Cheesecake Bistro I eat cheesecake for dessert (for obvious reasons). The friend I dined with last night, however, is not a fan of cheesecake, so we tried the brownie a la mode. Unfortunately, I had no room left in my belly for dessert last night, but I took home one of the brownies and ate it today. Basically, it tasted like mamma's. It was soft, chewy, gooey, and it even had a little crust on top. I only wish I had been able to enjoy the ice cream as well.
Overall, here's how I'd rate this experience at Cheesecake Bistro:
Ambiance: 10. (Described earlier).
Service: 9. Other than being a tad late on drink refills, our server was friendly and fast.
Food: 5. Although everything tasted good, the accompanying dips with the spinach and artichoke dip didn't make sense to me, and the food actually made me sick. With that said, I'll continue to visit the Cheesecake Bistro on rainy Metairie days, and maybe on some sunny ones too.

Gott Gourmet, Creole Creamery, and Luke a day later.

This is the first time most of you are reading about this, but I've been searching for the city's best burger for well over a year, and as of now, Jackson still wins. Today, the quest for the best burger in New Orleans continued with Gott Gourmet Cafe.

I love Gott Gourmet. I've been there plenty of times and I have never been disappointed. The location is perfect (Magazine Street), you have the option to dine either indoors or outdoors, and it is CLEAN. I've eaten salads and sandwiches there, so I figured the next logical thing to do was to try the burger. Clearly, I made the right decision.

The bun was soft and soaked up all of the juices from the burger, which was topped with roasted tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, spinach, and red onions. The burger itself was juicy and peppery, and I think I tasted some chili powder in it as well. Although it still didn't beat out the Jackson burger, I'd definitely list the Gott burger as the second-best I've had.

After lunch we went to the Creole Creamery for dessert. I've had their ice cream before at booths for French Quarter Fest and similar events, but this was my first visit to the creamery's Uptown location. There is a great variety of ice cream and sorbet flavors here, which range from the everyday boring to the fun and quirky. I had Hubig Apple Pie ice cream. It tastes just like it sounds: vanilla ice cream with mashed up Hubig pies, and sinfully delicious. My father, who joined me on this adventure, is the type of guy to get the simplest thing on the menu, figuring that a good place won't mess up a classic. He had a chocolate milkshake and liked it very much, so I would recommend that to any similarly safe eaters.

I really liked the atmosphere at the Creole Creamery as well. It's on a section of Prytania street with other houses-turned-businesses, and I think that gives it a lot of charm and character. There's a courtyard toward the back of the restaurant, which I don't think is accessible from the inside, but it gives it a down-home feel that I love in a little shop like that. I will definitely come back here, and next time I want to try the green apple chardonnay sorbet, which just sounds divine.

And finally, some judgement on my day-old croque monsieur from lunch yesterday at Luke. Everything was soggy. Yes, I realize that I should have heated it up in the oven and not the microwave, but the whole purpose of eating leftovers is to have good food fast and maintain some level of laziness. So, I'm slightly disappointed that it didn't hold up well after a day in the refrigerator, but that didn't deter me from eating it because all of the flavors were just as good as they were yesterday.

Luke

Today I revisted Luke, a fantastic restaurant specializing in French-German cuisine. I'd been here before, and the experience was one that I just had to try again. Joining me were three of my friends and fellow food-lovers, with whom I often try new places or revisit old favorites.
The food today exceeded my expectations. On my previous visit to Luke, I had the namesake burger, which was just okay in my opinion. The caramelized onions overpowered the other flavors, and I felt that overall the burger was a bit heavy. However, that didn't deter two of my friends from ordering the burger today, and both were very pleased with it. They especially liked the bun, which was thick and crunchy, unlike typical hamburger buns.
I ordered the croque monsieur. I was served a bubbling, hot, cheesy sandwich accompanied by thin-cut French fries, perfectly seasoned. The cheese on my sandwich was creamy but not stringy, the perfect complement to the thick layer of ham on crisp toasted bread. Tomorrow I'll judge the leftovers.
Another of my companions ordered the fried chicken and waffles. The serving size was just right, with two pieces of lightly battered chicken and one soft, fluffy waffle. It was served with muscadine syrup and a white gravy, both of which appeared to be delicious. I think this is what I will order on my next visit to Luke.
For dessert, I had the gateau basque, a common dessert in the Basque region of France. The cake was thick like a pound cake, and topped with craime freche and blueberries. These added a pleasing sweetness to the cake and really rounded out the flavor. It was simple, well-made, and ENORMOUS.
Only one of my friends ordered dessert today; he had the vanilla bean ice cream profiteroles. The serving was, once again, huge: almost an entire cup of ice cream with soft, crumbly cookies and a warm chocolate sauce.
My only complaint about Luke today is the service. Our waitress did the bare minimum to take care of us, often asking us if we needed anything and then walking away while we were answering her question. This was not enough of a problem to keep me from going back; it was simply a bit of an annoyance.

Overall, here's how I'd rate Luke today.
Ambiance: 10. This restaurant is nestled into the Hilton Hotel on St. Charles Avenue and is actually divided into multiple dining rooms. Our table had a view of the kitchen, and we got to watch the chefs preparing our meals as we munched on classic French bread and waited for the main course.
Food: 10. Enough said.
Service: 7. All of our needs were met, but our server was distant and bored.
Will I go back? Definitely. I need to try the chicken and waffles.