Eat Like Ushi

I've tagged this under New Orleans knowing full well that this place is an hour outside. But the reason we were here was in between visiting the Oak Valley and Laura plantations, which is a trip most likely done to or from New Orleans.

The initial intent was to hit both plantations in the morning then go for lunch enroute to Houston. But a later start, a longer time in Oak Valley and hunger got in the way. A quick Google search found this nearby well rated local seafood and Cajun place - both alluring adjectives for our last Louisiana meal, particularly as we hadn't really had any Cajun food.

The restaurant has you enter via their shop which sells snacks, some takeaway and souvenirs from gator amongst other things. We didn't buy anything but it was an interesting browse. The restaurant side was a simple place adorned with monetary bills from all over the world. Gator, catfish and gumbo dominates the menu. And for a location close to tourist venues, the prices were decent too.

- Cajun Breaux Gator Burger (wild gator served with B&C seasoning on home-baked bun) USD9.99 - I remember vaguely that crocodile is similar to chicken, but gator was more like mince pork to me. It was heavily salty but very tasty;
- Louisiana Seafood Gumbo (fresh gulf shrimp, crab meat, okra over rice) bowl with potato salad USD12.95 - this murky mud water looking gumbo was delicious with tiny seafood bits of fish and prawns. I think I asked for salad rather than potato salad just to be a bit lighter. It was in an overly sweet dressing but fine for contrast.

A delicious local Louisiana meal and a fine farewell to the state. I could've tried so many things there like fried frog legs, soft shell crab, the elusive oyster po-boy and more. I doubt I'll back in this area in this lifetime though...

A little upmarket foodhall in New Orleans that houses gourmet coffee (and beans), an ATM in the corner, a Malaysian laksa place (that tempted me so) and oysters. It was the oysters that we went for, particularly for their Mon-Fri happy hour 4-7pm which did gulf oysters at USD6 for 6 raw or 3 broiled.

The raw oysters were fine - decent sized one that filled the shells. They were a creamy texture and quite mild, in contrast to my preferred bit of firm bite and a strong salinity. The broiled had some melted cheese on top which were also ok but I always prefer the unadulterated raw versions.

Nonetheless for that price I can't complain at all.

I can't remember if the laksa place was closed, or if it was just that we wanted to eat somewhere along Marigny Street in between some jazz. That ended up being a bit of a mistake because there wasn't much there we wanted to eat.

After the fusion pho at MOPHO, the next afternoon after walking and being attacked (by biting insects) at Jean Lafitte NP, we stopped by another carpark restaurant this time for more traditional pho, BBH and avocado smoothie.

Standard and nice.

New Orleans is known for po' boys (aka sandwiches) and I did really want an oyster one. Even though we didn't get around to actually trying one (even with 4 nights), there also seems to be a banh mi movement going on here (aka Vietnamese sandwich I suppose). The best rated one in town actually isn't in town. It's a solid drive looking like  a highway pit stop with loads of parking. It is close to the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge (which is a nice little walk, but it really is little and there isn't a whole lot to see).

The takeaway counter is next to a restaurant - I'm not entirely sure what the restaurant serves, but probably Vietnamese cuisine.

It's certainly an excellent price for banh mi USD5.50 inc. tax. Compare that to NYC getting into USD12+. Even the local prices in town are around USD8-10. 

Cold cuts was very generous with lots of meat layers and also quality vegetables, pickles. Nem nuong was also very generous and deliciously seasoned, and I would get that one next time. Unfortunately though the bread was too soft with the outside having no crunch/crackle to it. Maybe it was a bad batch, too old or that's just the way it's done here. Or maybe it has something to do with the humidity? Not sure.

They also sell pate chaud $2.50 (aka "meat pie") which uses a wet char siu type filling rather than the dense pork patty usually. It was alright. There is also a variety of che which I didn't try. They also ran out of bread/banh mi by about 1pm this day.

Nice to have something Vietnamese although I don't think people here know how good banh mi can get if this is their mark. It got better in Houston though...

On the 4th of July, we headed into the French Quarter to explore the street festival atmosphere (although I'm sure quieter than usual due to Covid and the lack of tourism) and fireworks. It was an easy walk from Marigny and lots of people were out and about. All of the more well known restaurants in the area had queues outside (such as the Original French Market restaurant with people wanting their crawfish). A simpler and less busy place along the way was Coop's. For whatever reason the staff were keen to keep the tables empty and the central bar area full, and so there we sat.

Creole is the local cuisine of New Orleans, a mix of the flavours from the settlers of many regions in Europe, Africa and the West Indies. Coop's was one of the few I found online that was well rated, well priced and served jambalaya (thanks Seinfeld for introducing this word into my vocabulary).

Coop's Taste Plate had it all (cup of seafood gumbo, cajun fried chicken, shrimp Creole, red beans & rice, rabbit & sausage jambalaya) USD15.95.

Seafood gumbo (Creole stew served with rice, prepared using dark brown roux, French Market vegetables, ground sassafrass leaves, drum fillet, shrimp, oysters, crab claws) was tomato based with little crab and meat parts. Decent Southern fried chicken (not Nashville level though). Shrimp Creole was a disappointing tomato and prawns on watery unflavoured rice. Smoky beans were good though. Finally the dish I wanted most had arrived. I expected jambalaya to be a soup (from Seinfeld's Soup Nazi episode) but it was an actual rice dish (like paella). It had a smoky flavoured rice with pieces of sausage and was pretty good overall.

The food was fine without being anything mindblowing. Nonetheless good to try authentic Creole food at its origin.

New Orleans was absolutely steaming. Temperatures in the 30s, humidity in the 90s - wow. Going outside the air conditioned room was little being hit in the face was a wet blanket. The old house turned hotel we were staying in was beautiful though, even if it had some musty humid air and rainforest insects would come in at any opportunity. Marigny was a pretty and colourful area to stay, seemed relatively safe, nearby jazz clubs and a short walk to the French Quarter for chaos and 4th of July celebrations (thanks Will Smith for funding these fireworks).

Our first meal there was brunch - Ruby Slipper was packed, with several waiting outside. There was no way we were getting a table, except that we were one of the few willing to sit outside (well we weren't prepared to wait for inside or try somewhere else). In the end it was fine, sitting under the shade of an umbrella and not moving too much to avoid sweating.

After seeing but not trying "biscuits" in Nashville, it was nice to see the opportunity to try a traditional Southern biscuit elsewhere.

- Southern Breakfast (2 eggs poached, stoneground grits, applewood smoked bacon, fried green tomato with a buttermilk biscuit) USD11.5;
- BBQ Shrimp & Grits (gulf shrimp sauteed with pork tasso, bell pepper, red onion, beer & rosemary-butter reduction, over creamy stoneground grits served with a buttermilk biscuit) USD 15.5.

Biscuit are like a scone-cake mix with lots of butter flavour (not surprising given it's buttermilk...). Mine in the shrimp & grits came with cane syrup butter, and strawberry and grape jam. Grits were thick and similar to polenta (not surprising since I discovered both are made from corn, just white corn vs. yellow corn). Nice prawns in tomato sauce too.

Good way to start the day and load calories just to sweat them out.