I was looking through the photos on my phone recently and went all the back to 2015 to my photos from New Orleans. I’ve been writing for the past week about some of my experiences there because why not?! But I couldn’t find any photos of any of the delicious food I ate while I was there.
UNTIL.
Until I checked my phone that is and all the deliciousness was in front of my eyes and the textures and tastes came back.
Now I’m very aware that most of what I ate in Nola back then is stuff I wouldn’t touch now (like in Scandinavia, it was very heavy), but that doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good back then. And if you’re making the decision to continue eating meat (first go watch Food Inc then get back to me about your fried chicken and bacon), then it is my duty to tell you where it is the tastiest in New Orleans.
The first place I went to on my own on my first full day in Nola was called The Ruby Slipper Cafe in the French Quarter. A friend recommended it to me and it was a restaurant that was named for the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz and their “sense of homecoming” after Hurricane Katrina.
I believe I ordered the “BAM BAM Biscuit,” which was a fried green tomato and candied bacon on a biscuit with scrambled eggs and cheese. Sounds healthy, right? This was quite tasty and I’d highly recommend it.
During the day while I was walking around I popped into Wink’s Buttermilk Drop (YUM), Croissant d’Or Patisserie, and of course, Cafe Du Monde. This is super touristy and everyone who visits Nola stops into Cafe Du Monde.
For dinner that night we went to a more upscale restaurant called Herbsaint, right near Lafayette Square.
I believe we had the Chicken, Tasso and Andouille Gumbo (far right), the Housemade Spaghetti with Guanciale and Fried-Poached Farm Egg (middle), and I believe the food on the far left was the Muscovy Duck Leg Confit with Dirty Rice and Citrus Gastrique. I remember that was loved this meal a lot. It was the perfect to toast to the end of the first day of our impromptu girls’ trip (slash work trip).
For desert we headed back to Cafe Du Monde and bought a few beignets.
The following day after I visited the World War II Museum, I headed over to La Barra at Tacos and Tequila for some lunch. The tacos were super tiny but they were tasty. If my memory serves me correctly, I chowed down on the chicken tacos with lettuce and some spicy chipotle mayo.
Afterward I re-caffeinated at a cafe called Still Perkin‘. You know what a coffee looks like! And later that night before heading to Pat O’Brien’s and the ghost tour, we went to a place called Yo Mama’s!. How could we not with a name like that? It was a total dive, but the food hit the spot. Although it wasn’t pretty and I don’t remember what I had, so there are no photos to speak of.
The next day I started off with coffee from HARO Coffee and Chocolate (which sadly no longer exists) and took a heated yoga class with a very bad hangover. For lunch I found myself at another a restaurant that another friend had recommended called Sylvain. I have no idea what I had but I remember thinking it was very tasty. Verdict: I would definitely recommend checking it out.
The last place we ate at was Three Muses on Frenchmen Street. We’d read good reviews somewhere and made a reservation. It was packed when we got there and we were thankful for the reservation. We ended up splitting the Italian baked mac’n’cheese, the duck crostini, the lamb sliders, and a salad with beets, falafel, and pumpkin seeds on it. Oh, and some sort of pasta ragu dish that I think was a special that night with ricotta.
Needless to say, it was all delicious and the perfect way to end our time in New Orleans.
It safe to say that I ate my way through the city and I loved every minute of it. What are your favorite places to eat at when you’re in New Orleans? Leave them in the comments and I’ll check them out if I ever find myself in Nola again!
[…] written about graveyards and Frenchmen Street and food and ghost tours in New Orleans before. I know. I’ve also written about how Bourbon Street is […]