NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CALLED “TACKLEBOX”
My wife and I stopped in here for a quick dozen oysters and a drink before heading out for the evening in New Orleans.
I don’t know much about the restaurant other than it being connected to a hotel, but these were the freshest and best tasting gulf oysters on the half shell that we had in New Orleans on this trip.
They also serve up some delicious charbroiled oysters.
LEGACY KITCHEN’S OYSTER COUNTER & TAP
817 Common St
New Orleans, LA 70112
This legendary Italian deli in New Orleans is world famous for creating the muffuletta sandwich.
Muffuletta is technically a massive sesame seeded bread, but the name has been coopted here to describe this particular sandwich. When I first saw them back in 2009, I thought they were giant burgers.
So what exactly is in the sandwich? It’s essentially an Italian hero (high quality Italian meats and cheeses) on that circular shaped muffuletta bread, but with one special ringer: the magical olive and giardiniera salad (pickled cauliflower, hot peppers and carrots).
There are lots of joints serving this sandwich all over New Orleans, and even now in NYC.
But the one and only, the original, is Central Grocery. It’s either $10.95 (half) or $20.95 (whole). Below is a half on top, and a whole in my hand.
If you can’t find a place serving muffuletta near you, and if you can’t hop on a jet to NOLA, I highly suggest making one at home. Olive salads and giardiniera salads are usually available in jars at gourmet grocery stores. If you can’t find the bread, just slap those salads on top of a regular Italian hero and you’ll pretty much have it sorted out.
CENTRAL GROCERY
923 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70116
When I first went to New Orleans in 2009, my wife and I walked by this little dive diner joint a bunch of times and kept contemplating going in to try a burger. It looks like just the kind of place where you might find something fantastic. A hidden gem, so to speak.
They even claim to have the best burger in the world.
The menu is actually funny to read. Check it out.
You can actually see the hubcaps they use.
So we had to get it.
But look at the menu description for the hot dog.
So we had to get it.
Well, despite all the excitement, these two items didn’t quite deliver. They were just okay. But I do love the atmosphere here – a very small old style diner, open 24 hours.
Even complete with slices of pie. Here’s the ice box key lime pie, which was actually great.
CLOVER GRILL
900 Bourbon St
New Orleans, LA 70116
This’ll be a quick bang out review, since three of us split an oyster po-boy here just to make sure we got some of the local cuisine into our guts.
Here it is!
Unfortunately they forgot to add the sauce and the tomatoes/fixin’s (French style). I was bummed about that, but a little hot sauce went a long way to remedy that.
We also tried the gator sausage.
A bit underwhelming, possibly cut with pork, and it left me with some awful smelling burps until I ate something else. I’m sure you wanted to read that.
JOHNNY’S PO-BOYS
511 St Louis St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Cochon Restaurant and its sister joint “Butcher” are well known in New Orleans for serving some great meaty grub.
My friends and I went in a big group, so we got to try a lot of items. Here’s the full menu (minus the daily specials).
We started with some fried gator.
These bites were excellent. Gator meat, if you haven’t had it before, is like a cross between catfish and chicken in texture: tender but springy. These were spicy and saucy but still fried up nice and crisp on the outside.
Next up, probably one of the best dishes of the meal, braised pork cheeks.
Incredibly tender, and again with a bit of spice. Awesome way to begin the meal. I could eat this over and over.
Next up, a gorgeous charcuterie board.
The standout here was the pork rillette (in the tin cup). So smooth and tasty. But everything else was really nice as well (head cheese, coppa, prosciutto, homemade bologna, and even the pickled veggies).
Liver and onions, also well executed and delicious, is what my wife ordered to start. This had a great pepper jelly that really popped. It went nicely with the fresh mint.
Fried boudin (sausage) and rice balls. These were so soft inside and crispy outside.
For my entree I ordered a rib eye (of course) that was on the list of daily specials. It was essentially the center eye part of the rib eye only – no cap at all.
While this was very small, it was priced accordingly ($28). They misfired my first cut and went over, but they were smart enough not to bring it out to me. The second one, however, was slightly under from medium rare, and it felt rushed.
No matter, though. I’d rather eat a rare steak than a well done steak. The issue for me was that it just wasn’t very good. The sauce didn’t quite do it for me, and it was described as being roasted. I was sort of expecting prime rib given the description. 5/10.
My wife ordered the winning dish here. Ham hock.
It had a delicious dry spice rub on it that was a cross between sweet and spicy, and it was cooked perfectly throughout. The veggies, yogurt and quinoa underneath was a nice touch to make the fully composed dish well rounded and complete.
Their famous dish here, the cochon, was tasty but way too salty for my liking. One or two bites was all I could do. It also wasn’t that pretty so I didn’t bother trying to get a great shot of it.
Their oyster and bacon sandwich was massive.
It was loaded with tons of fried gulf oysters and smoky bacon. And it went nicely with some of their spicy vinegar and hot sauce.
Overall this was a pretty great meal with the exception of the steak. I would definitely go here again.
COCHON RESTAURANT
930 Tchoupitoulas St
Suite A
New Orleans, LA 70130
What can really be said about Commander’s Palace that hasn’t already been said? The sprawling seven dining room Garden District mansion is an American institution of culinary tradition, a birthing place of great chefs, and a damn good place to eat in New Orleans, if not one of the best.
Despite what you might think, however, I do actually have a few negative things to say, but I’ll save those for the end. For now, let’s get down to the meal.
The waiters brought out a sample of the shrimp and tasso henican appetizer. That’s wild Louisiana white shrimp, tasso ham, pickled okra, sweet onions, five pepper jelly and Crystal hot sauce beurre blanc. Certainly one of the best bites of the meal.
I started with a red fish cake. This was essentially a crab cake made with local fish rather than crab meat. It had a nice exterior crust, a good spicy sauce, and a soft, tender inside.
For my main course I had the pecan crusted gulf fish, which is one of the house specialties. This was executed perfectly. The fish tasted like a cross between halibut and catfish.
My wife ordered what I considered to be the star of the meal: dry aged duck breast. This thing packed great flavor, and the fat beneath the crispy skin rendered out perfectly, allowing for a really juicy cut of duck tit.
Now for one of the negatives: the lamb shank was dry as fuck. It did look gorgeous though, and despite the dryness, it still tasted good.
We tried a vast array of desserts, like pecan pie, a massive sundae and a strawberries and cream shortcake.
All were good, but the best of the desserts was their special bread pudding souffle, which one must order with their apps and entrees so that it can be made in time.
While it might look like the pull-out scene of an adult cream pie video on YouPorn, I promise you it tasted better. Wait… I have no experience there, so I can’t really make a fair comparison. In any case it was damn delicious, and the amount of work that goes into this dish (as well as many other dishes) is staggering. It’s no wonder chefs not only learn technique here but are made to excel at them.
This place is awesome. They even sent out a round of shots for us. I forget what was in them, but it was a milky substance that had booze in it.
And speaking of alcohol, you should check out their bar if you get the chance. You will walk through the immaculate kitchen and the chef’s table to get to it, and you can have some of their awesome signature cocktails beside the patio garden.
But here comes the other bad thing: my buddy noticed a small roach on the bar while we were waiting for our other party members to arrive. I’m not sure how that’s possible given the insanely clean kitchen and dining spaces. My only guess is that it came in from outside in the patio area to escape the ungodly cold weather that NOLA was experiencing that weekend. We told the bartender and she was mortified.
Don’t let the two negatives I mentioned stop you from going here though. Every cook has a bad day (dry lamb) and there’s only so much you can do to prevent a bug from getting into an establishment.
UPDATE 2025:
I went back for brunch and had an excellent meal. Starter was a perfectly fried rabbit over a poached egg. Amazing.
The main course was a stew of pork cheeks (a bit salty) with another poached egg. So tasty.
And finally, a huge and smooth banana pudding.
COMMANDER’S PALACE
1403 Washington Ave
New Orleans, LA 70130
This is Nina Compton’s joint, from the New Orleans season of Top Chef. My wife got us a reservation here and we were all pretty excited to try it.
The cocktails here are awesome, and I’m now firmly of the belief that New Orleans is one of the best places for cocktails in the world. Their take on a mule is served in a brass rabbit, and they can only serve 14 at a time, since that’s how many brass rabbit vessels they have.
I had a Louisville Slugger, which was basically a vanilla smoked old fashioned. Delicious.
Now onto the food. First was this board of amazing biscuits with two kinds of butter (sweet and maple bacon).
We started with a nice round of small plates and apps.
Crispy Pig’s Ears
These were awesome. Great Caribbean spice flavor (Nina hails from St. Lucia), crispy outside, and a little chew inside. Just right.
Conch Croquettes
Another nod to Nina’s background, these Caribbean conch fritters were soft inside and perfectly crisp outside.
Tuna Tartare
This was so good. The spice level was nice, but the flavor and quality of the tuna was exceptional. Not to mention that it’s beautiful to look at. My favorite of the apps, and that’s a big win considering what came next.
Steak Tartare
The meat was nicely minced and served with a skim-coat of smoked beef fat. Amazing! My buddy, who is a big steak tartare aficionado, loved this. This shit was way better than the garbage we had at Dickie Brennan’s.
Now onto the main courses.
Jamaican Jerk Drum
Drum is a fish that’s local to the area. It’s white and flakey, kinda like a halibut. This had a nice crisped coating of jerk spices on the exterior, and a super tender and flakey interior. I loved it. What made this dish really pop, though, were the drops of citrus custard that dotted the plate. When you got that pungent hit of lemon curd in with a bite of all the rest, it really came together.
Seafood Scialatielli
This homemade spaetzl-like pasta was perfectly cooked and served with some high quality shrimp and clams. We really liked it.
Curry Goat
I didn’t get a photo of this, but I did get a bite of my friends dish. It was so tender and flavorful. Nina really nailed it.
Dessert: Soursop Semifreddo
Very rare to see the exotic soursop fruit on a menu stateside, so my wife and I jumped at this. It was served in a log shaped semifreddo form, with shaved celery, meringue and shaved cucumber. Really well balanced.
This was easily one of the best meals we had in New Orleans. I highly recommend this joint.
COMPERE LAPIN
The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery
535 Tchoupitoulas St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Of the seven cuts of steak I tried in New Orleans, the rib eye from Galatoire’s was the best.
It may not look like much from that shot, but it had a massive rib cap on it, and it was cooked perfectly from end to end with a great crust.
There was a little bit of bleed out, but it still remained extremely juicy. 9/10
On a second visit, we had to send back the veal because it was borderline rancid. Perhaps over-aged. Way too weird.
Okay now that I got that out of the way, let’s talk about the rest of this kickass meal.
Excellent cocktails here, some signature, and many classic ones that are famous for the Big Easy.
This crab appetizer didn’t look like much either, and from the menu description it sounded like it would have been more than dressed lump crab on top of iceberg lettuce and garnished with tomato. Nonetheless it was delicious.
I tried a few versions of gumbo on my trip to New Orleans, but this one was the best. It was rich and thick, not overly salty, and had perfectly cooked duck and andouille within.
The Oysters Rockefeller were amazing. So much of that delicious “creamless” style creamed spinach. Pro-tip: if you’re going here to mimic a steakhouse meal experience, order this and skip out on getting the oysters app and creamed spinach side separately. This baby fulfills both very well.
The creamed spinach was kind of redundant at that point, but still really fucking tasty:
The Potatoes Au Gratin were excellent as well:
As were these Brabant Potatoes – very crisp:
The broccoli, on the other hand, completely phoned in. Lame. Simply steamed and flavored with some salt or butter.
But let me tell you, this Shrimp Étouffée was outstanding:
The shrimp were perfectly cooked. The sauce was incredible: smooth, perfectly velvety and nicely seasoned.
My wife ordered that, and I think the ultimate meal here would be to get the gumbo to start, the steak and etouffe to share as entrees with a side of Oysters Rockefeller, and you can finish up with this bread pudding for dessert:
That’s the perfect Louisiana meal.
GALATOIRE’S
209 Bourbon St
New Orleans, LA 70130
My wife and I popped in here before seeing “Darkest Hour” at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (great flick, and too bad that the theater is closing down in a month due to high rent). The place was jam-packed at 5:45pm, but luckily my wife had a reservation locked in.
Our movie was at 6:35, so we wanted to eat quick. We ordered our drinks and pastas at the same time, and they came out within three minutes.
I had the spaghetti carbonara, which was made the right way with no cream and a runny egg.
Enjoy the yolk porn:
It was made with guanciale (pork jowl) bacon, which added nice salt content to the dish without actually using salt.
My wife had the fettuccine pesto, which had a really nice, fresh flavor to it. Delicious, though a bit garlicky.
Everything was great, but the prices were a bit steep. All in, with tax and tip, for just two drinks and two pasta dishes, we were at $95 and change. That’s pretty steep! The interesting tidbit: This was one of the fastest meals we ever had in NYC. We were in and out within 20 minutes, like a horny teenager at a whore house.
UPDATE! This veal parm a la vodka was incredible. Easily in my top dishes of 2019.
CAFE FIORELLO
1900 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Mannino’s is a local Italian joint near my parents’ house on Long Island. It’s gotten a lot of buzz in the last few years, and the food is pretty great. I’ve been there several times, but this time I decided to document the meal.
We started with octopus salad:
Stuffed and fried zucchini blossoms:
And an order of fried calamari:
The fried calamari was a bit on the small side in terms of portion size, but if you’re taking it down all by yourself, then it’s probably just the right amount. The squid was fried to a nice crisp, but still tender on the inside.
The zucchini blossoms were stuffed with ricotta and were a little more dense than I expected, but still tasty nonetheless. I wished there was four in the order, since we had a table of four. We made it work, however.
The octopus salad was good. The squid was tender, and the acid from the citrus cut nicely across the dish.
For my entree, I had pork parmesan. I’ve been dying to dig into some of the incredible looking bone-in chicken parm dishes I’ve been seeing lately in NYC, so this pork version was the perfect way to get my fix.
The meat was incredibly tender, pounded flat and fried up to a crisp. Good cheese coverage and melt, and the sauce was delicious. Great dish.
My wife had the beef braciola. This is beef that’s pounded flat and rolled up with cheeses, pine nuts, cured meats and raisins. Really nicely executed.
Get over to Mannino’s if you live in the area and haven’t been there yet. And keep an eye out for their tomahawk steak for two; they have it on special some nights.
MANNINO’S
1575 New York 27A (Montauk Highway)
Oakdale, NY 11769
