New Orleans – The Eats!

So, on to the food! Long post, so settle in with some coffee. New Orleans is pretty famous for its food. Honestly, you don’t go here thinking in any way that you are going to be able to find salads and fat free dressing. This is one of those times that you eat good food, enjoy it, feel no guilt and move on once you get home. Plus you do a lot of walking, so that helps.

This is a compilation of what the 3 of us ate. Not every meal, but the most interesting ones.

 Of course, you cannot go to New Orleans and not have beignets at Cafe du Monde!

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These are a French style donut. It’s square and thick – kind of like fried dough and not really like a donut. Plenty of powdered sugar on these. Please do not wear dark colored clothes when eating these.  I lost count of how many we ate.  Okay, I know how many we ate, but that will be kept secret 😉

beignets

Bourbon Street is hit or miss with food from cheap bar food to upscale eateries. We went mid level with Remoulade, which is an offshoot of Arnaud’s. I actually had a drink and it was really good, so I will share that. It’s called a Pearl Diver.  It had rum, coconut, pineapple and melon liqueur.

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I enjoyed my meal of crawfish pies, which are filled with a spicy crawfish mixture.

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Note, when eating in New Orleans, don’t waste stomach space on things like fries or stuff you can get at home.

We also love Croissant D’Or on Ursuline. This place is beautiful inside.

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My mother and I had a frangipani, which has layers of pastry and and almond filling.

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John had a Napoleon.

 

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When we took the streetcar, we went way out of the Quarter into Riverbend and stumbled on the Milk Bar.

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What a little gem this place is! I had an unusual sandwich called Yam I Am.  It had sweet potato, sun dried tomato, pesto, feta cheese, spring greens and a balsamic dressing on it (I left off the onions and olives…ewww).  This was a delicious sandwich!

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You know I had to find cupcakes, right?  We happened upon the Kupcake Factory and I couldn’t resist.  They had good prices on the cuppies at $2.50 each. Here is John’s Boston Cream cupcake.

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Our ‘fanciest’ meal we had was at Eat Nola, which is a newer restaurant in the more residential part of the Quarter. It’s a renovated old home.

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We started with a bleu cheese and fig compote appetizer. The bleu cheese was very mild and I quite liked this.

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My entree was chocon with mustard greens and a side of mac and cheese (made with spaghetti noodles).

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It’s basically a barbecue pulled pork. I have never tried mustard greens before. I was expecting a very strong flavor, but they were milder than collard greens, or so they seemed to me. I would not go out of my way to eat them again, but it was fun to try.

John had a crawfish pie with a side of red beans and rice.

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He really liked this. The pie actually had cheese on top, which was unusual – and very rich. He also said their red beans and rice were excellent.

 My mother had the barbecue shrimp. Now BBQ shrimp in New Orleans is something different. It is a buttery worchestershire sauce that is pretty spicy. It comes with french bread to soak up the sauce and also a wet towel for cleaning your hands. The shrimp are not peeled. Normally the heads are left on, but Eat served them in shell minus the head.

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For an inexpensive and good meal in the Quarter, try The Grill Nola , which is kind of a classic diner. I loved the inside, but maybe because I am partial to the marble countertops.

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I had a cheese omelet – good for protein in a city that loves its carbs.

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John had a catfish Po’boy, which is really a sub, but they call them po’boys.

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Really good meal here.

 One of my very, very favorite things is a praline!  We tested a lot of different ones and the 2 top standouts in my opinion are Southern Candy Makers and Loretta’s.  Super fresh:

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Yum!!

Another new place to us this trip was Stanley’s.  A companion restaurant to, of course, Stella’s. (Stellaaaaaa!!!!)  It is very affordable and really good!  I loved the atmosphere, too.

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I had an eggs benedict Po’boy.

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Simple and delicious!

My mom’s dish was a shrimp and crawfish etouffe:

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So, I think that gives you a good idea of the cuisine.  Not that it is all cajun/creole since you can find pretty much any cuisine in this city, but you can’t go wrong with these. Now I am still dreaming of the pralines and will have to wait for the next trip there!

11 thoughts on “New Orleans – The Eats!

  1. Helen

    Once again I’m thinking some sort of French influence because several of those dishes remind me of the Creole food we get in St. Martin.

    Everything looks so delicious. It makes me happy to know that you are able to vacation eat without guilt and just move on. That takes practice and you’re a good role model: “Note, when eating in New Orleans, don’t waste stomach space on things like fries or stuff you can get at home.”

  2. Ali @ Peaches and Football

    Thank goodness you didn’t take an up-close picture of the pralines!!! A lot of that food looks sooo good but I’ve always been nervous about NO and worrying if I could find food to eat. I’m not a shrimp/seafood girl and I do NOT like spicy food. I’m thinking I’d spend the entire time stuffing my face with beignets… not that that would be a bad thing

  3. Kim

    I think I gained a few pounds just seeing and thinking about all this delicious food!! Nice thing about New Orleans – you can balance the eating with plenty of walking!
    I love how y’all seek out new places and try new things!!!

  4. Jody - Fit at 55

    OMG Lori!!! AT 5’1″ & old, crap, I would gain 10 pounds there!!! I love my sweets way more than real food & it looks like New Orleans delivers!!! I am drooling all over my desk here.. I am so glad you choose to enjoy!!! Why not right – just get back to it when you get home! 🙂

  5. Cammy@TippyToeDiet

    Due to the luscious fried-ness, one or two beignets max for me. Depending on the size, of course. 🙂

    I had a muffaletta over in Little Rock today and was thinking it would be NOLA fix for the month. But now I want a catfish po’ boy. Guess I know what my March splurge meal will be. 🙂

  6. Dawn

    Wow, loved seeing all your food pictures. I remember my few trips to New Orleans so fondly so it’s so neat to have you showcasing the places you guys ate at 🙂

  7. Fran

    Crap now I’m even more hungry then before I opened this post (almost lunch time here).
    Boy oh boy how great and tasty all the food looks, delicious!

    The Napolean is pastry that you can buy here too only it’s called a tompouce and the top layer is pink. Although on holidays the top is orange.

  8. Leah

    We went to N’awlins 2.5 years ago and the eats were the main reason for visiting. I loved taking pictures in the French Quarter as well. It was the most delicious place I’d ever visited. 😀

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