This nice sandwich and cheese shop is a fun place to stop in for a quick lunch if you’re in the area. The bloodies are good, and the sandwiches and cheese are nice.
I could’ve used a little more roast beef on this sandwich, and thinner sliced, but the smoked blue cheese sorta made up for it. That was unique. But I think I’m starting to notice a NOLA trend with small amounts of sandwich meat down here. Not a good look!
ST. JAMES CHEESE COMPANY
641 Tchoupitoulas St,
New Orleans, LA 70130
I, my wife and some friends ate at this joint for New Year’s Eve dinner before heading to a party in New Orleans. We tried a bunch of shit so I’ll get right to it.
STARTERS: steak tartare, charbroiled oysters, and crispy fried sweetbreads with mushrooms.
Of these, my favorite was the sweetbreads. They were crispy outside, creamy inside, and packed with lots of earthy flavor from the mushrooms. The oysters were great too, and over all the charbroiled oysters in this town are amazing almost everywhere we had them.
ENTREES: lamb chops and game pie.
These were both pretty good. I’d definitely recommend either one if you’re dining here.
SIDE: artichoke gratin.
This dish ate more like a dip, and as such would have benefitted from some bread or chips for dipping.
RESTAURANT REVOLUTION
777 Bienville St
New Orleans, LA 70130
After two previous visits to New Orleans I was dead-set on finally trying some Vietnamese food. This town has a large Vietnamese community, so I know the food will be good.
My wife and I picked this joint because it was the closest to our hotel that was actually open on New Year’s Day. It had nice ratings to boot. We started with a pair of Vietnamese drip coffees, which were excellent.
Next, we shared a banh mi sandwich – their signature “dac biet” special sandwich.
This was great. Just the right amount of filling, nice fresh French bread that didn’t rip my mouth apart from being too hard or crispy.
Then we had some soup. I had the large “dac biet” special bowl of beef pho. This was great for the price tag. It easily surpassed most of the pho I have access to here in NYC (obviously there are some big exceptions since NYC is finally getting some good Vietnamese food).
My wife had the bun bo hue, which I thought was a bit too pungent and overly fishy for my taste, but it was still good as far as this dish goes. Especially impressive were the noodles. The round, “thick spaghetti” style rice noodles typically used in this soup will often get overcooked and become mushy. Then they break easily when you grab them with chopsticks, which is a pain in the ass. But these were perfect.
Give this place a shot when you’re down here.
PHO TAU BAY
1565 Tulane Ave
New Orleans, LA 70112
This little joint is the perfect spot to stagger into for some great drunk eats after hitting Bourbon Street. The po’boy is pretty good, despite not being on the traditional French bread.
This pile of meat really hit the spot though. It’s braised beef in roux gravy, on top of cheese fries. It’s like a NOLA poutine!
NOLA POBOYS
908 Bourbon St,
New Orleans, LA 70116
This joint delivered on some nice Asian fusion food down in NOLA. We started with a few bread specials; one stuffed with cheese and one was a spicy sesame biscuit.
There was also a nice amuse, which was a croquette of sorts, topped with a creamy foam.
The fried oyster dish was great, as was the marrow appetizer with lamb shank.
This spicy pork jowl dish was really awesome.
But the star of the show was this cornmeal garganelli in coconut milk alfredo with curried blue crab, spicy tomato red curry, lemongrass sausage, and basil. A possible best of 2020.
I really liked this gulf fish entree as well. Great crisp on the skin!
Dessert may have looked like a log of shit, but it tasted great. Chocolate mousse with toasted marshmallow and graham crumble. S’mores!
MAYPOP
611 O’Keefe Ave,
New Orleans, LA 70113
We stopped in here for a quick bite and a drink. It was early in the day, so I had a bloody mary.
I wasn’t crazy about it. Something in the mix didn’t sit well, and I didn’t finish it.
The fried green tomatoes app with crawfish remoulade was nice though. Even though it looks like a pile of puke.
FRENCH MARKET
1001 Decatur St,
New Orleans, LA 70116
We stopped in this joint for brunch after landing in New Orleans with an empty stomach. They offer a trio of broiled oysters with three different styles (you get two of each for $18). These were great, and if you eat here, this is what to order.
The fresh raw oysters are nice too.
I ordered a cajun burger, which was supposed to have a sausage patty, a beef patty, and some remoulade. But they gave me the “Hangover Burger” instead by mistake. It was okay, but pretty basic as far as burgers go.
COTERIE
135 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70130
I stopped by this NOLA joint last time I was down in the Big Easy, but I didn’t try anything. I was too full from eating at Cochon, their sister restaurant, next door. This spot is the more casual, bar-style deli. They offer up some meaty hot and cold sandwiches. On rec from a friend, I tried the muffuletta, which he said was better than Central Grocery. I disagree. There was a noticeable lack of meat, and the olive salad and giardiniera is much better at Central Grocery. Pass on this.
I was also disappointed by the porchetta cheesesteak sandwich. This came served in a strange hybrid between a pita and an English muffin. It also lacked meat.
The saving grace at this joint, and a possible best bite of 2020, was the Pig Mac burger.
This was killer, and I highly recommend this if you make the trip over here.
COCHON BUTCHER
930 Tchoupitoulas St b
New Orleans, LA 70130
This Bourbon Street joint is serving some decent grub given the chaotic location, namely, the charbroiled oysters.
Those were great. The red bean hummus sounded promising but was pretty underwhelming.
I had a mixed fried seafood platter for my main course, which was nice, and a great way to beat back the remains of a Bourbon Street hangover.
The bread pudding, however, was awesome.
BOURBON HOUSE
144 Bourbon St,
New Orleans, LA 70130
Sandro’s is a small Italian joint on the upper east side that serves up some really delicious and authentic dishes.
For example, I haven’t had a fried artichoke this good since I was in Rome.
And seeing things like porchetta and culatello in the sliced meats department took me right back to Trastevere.
Back in my wheelhouse, however, was this delicious carpaccio dish that came with white truffles.
We went a little nuts with the truffle:
It was awesome. But even this salad had me excited.
The simplicity of something like chicory and anchovy dressed perfectly with citrus is not really seen to often here, stateside. This was a totally unique salad for me, and I’m glad I listened carefully to the massive list of specials before ordering. I’m not kidding when I tell you they could open a second restaurant with just the menu items that the waiters and waitresses memorized as specials. There were about three or four salad specials, five or six fish specials, three or four meats, four pasta dishes, and a bunch of appetizers too. Oh and dessert as well. Absolutely insane.
But back to the meal. Pasta time:
This first pasta was my favorite – goat cheese stuffed cappelletti with a lemon cream sauce. This was insanely delicious.
Next up was sea urchin ravioli with a scallop tomato sauce.
And finally some rigatoni with meatballs and sausage in a nice tomato ragu.
But we didn’t stop there, because I had to try some veal dishes. First up – and my favorite of the entrees – was this stuffed veal chop.
Inside was thin sliced ham.
After that, a nice classic veal parm.
And then some giant broiled prawns.
I really didn’t think we’d have room for dessert, but I’m glad we tried this delicious pistachio cake with ricotta. This was probably one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.
And the finishing move of bringing lemon cookies with the check really took me back to being a kid and eating these at my grandparents’ house.
This place is a gem! I’ll definitely be back here to try more stuff. There is a LOT of menu to work through here.
SANDRO’S
306 E 81st St
New York, NY 10028
