First Time to New Orleans Trip Report - Thanks to all for the great suggestions!
 

Hey y’all, Easygoer here. We had a blast! New Orleans is the most bizarre city we have ever been to. I actually survived 12 nights in New Orleans!

FRIDAY - First day we arrived at the Lowes hotel at 11:30 AM and they had a room ready. What a bonus. I can’t say enough about the Lowe’s. WE upgraded to a deluxe king that had twice as much room, with a sitting area and two TVs. We saw the line at Mothers, 401 Poydras St, from our room on the 19th floor. It’s to the left and across the street from the Lowe’s hotel. By the time we unpacked it wasn’t too bad. It was good there was a line, because it gave us time to figure out what to eat. We share a large Oyster Po’Boy. It was just right with two beers. We wanted to save room and eat more later. We wandered around the French Quarter. I bought a Voodoo Doll that scares the bejeezes off my hubbie. Stopped at Acme Oyster, 724 Iberville St, and had a dozen raw and a dozen char-broiled (amazing) oysters with garlic, butter and cheese at the bar. Personally anything with garlic, butter and cheese is great. Fun place, good service and very friendly. We ended up coming back here. I know it’s touristy but the reason why is it’s great, especially if you can sit at the oyster bar and meet the guys.

Dinner was a Cochon, 930 Tchoupitoulas St (don’t pronounce the T). This was a great treat. We waited for 20 minutes or so before being seated. Our waiter, Thomas was extremely helpful and added a nice touch to the evening. We had a large boucherie plate and pork cheeks with cornbread bean cake & mustard cream. For dinner we had Louisiana cochon with turnips, cabbage & cracklins, rabbit & dumplings. We had a little room left for dessert, a pineapple upside-down cake - cornmeal cake with coconut-lime sorbet & dulce de leche. Unbelievable. People from my Food Show had mixed reviews about the service there. It can get quite crazy. We had a great experience. Many reservations were either at 6:30 or 9:30. I would recommend either. It seemed the middle seating is the one where people have to wait. I noticed this in many restaurants.

SATURDAY – We haven’t even been here a full 24 hours and we feel like we’ve been here a month! I mean that in a good way. New Orleans and the wonderful people have a way of drawing you into their lives. We slept in until 11:00, heaven. Today we took the Charles Street Trolley. I read in the paper today that they have completed the final mile into the city. Make sure you bring change. It was $1.25 or $1.50 pp one way. If you only have bills it keeps the change. What a lovely ride through the garden district. Most everyone go off at the end and got right back on. That’s what we did. The mansions we beautiful. There was so much greenery that it surprised us. On the way back we noticed all of the Mardi Gras beads stuck in the big stately trees along the side of the road. Apparently, the parade has expanded out of the city and actually stages up on Napoleon Street. The ride back and forth takes about 45 minutes. I wanted to go to the zoo, but we hadn’t eaten anything.

So we walked the French Quarter to Central Grocery, 923 Decatur St. The line took was out the door but moved very quickly. We scored two seats in the back table (maybe enough room to fit 20 people or so). Others were talking their sandwiches up to the River Walk to eat, just a block from Central Grocery. Mike went next door and got us two 16 oz beers for $1.50 each. A bargain, since I was charge $2.89 for a 10 oz bottle of water on Canal street earlier. The Muffelatta was fabulous. We shared one and it was more than enough. I think they are $12.95 a piece. We also share a large stuffed artichoke. Ask them to heat it, it was ice cold. It was good, lots of bread crumbs. I make awesome artichoke, having an Italian husband makes it a requirement. We walked back on the River Walk along the great Mississippi River. I got some great pictures of the Steamboat Natchez, what a beauty! Full and sleepy we had to of course, stop at the casino. Hubbie played Black Jack for awhile, up, down, up , down you know how it goes. I needed a nap. One of the luxuries of vacation.

We had 7:00 pm reservations at Restaurant August, 301 Tchoupitoulas St. After an hour at the bar and $50.00+ bucks later, my husband checked on our table, which was still occupied. It was a small table in one of the back dark rooms. We decided to leave. The host was very apologetic and offered to make reservations for the next night at a lovely table in the front room (request the front room it’s lovely). Don’t get us wrong, we would have loved to enjoy Chef John Besh’s cuisine. We have no problem dropping $200.00+ for a dining experience. It just seemed that the streets of the French Quarter were calling to us. We wanted local and fun. We changed into shorts and ended up at Acme Oyster, 724 Iberville St, where the line was out the door at 9:00 PM. No problem, Mike went up to Bourbon Street and got us a couple of pops to enjoy while waiting. The wait wasn’t long and we met great people in line. They will not let you bring in beers or drinks to if you have one of those huge Hurricanes be prepared to slug it down. We lucked out with two seats at the oyster bar. What entertainment. Someone on line mentioned they shuck 30 – 40,000 oysters a day. I got them to admit it’s more like 10,000 per day. Can you imagine? Since we had only had oysters here we tried something different. Great seafood gumbo, a fried oyster and a fried shrimp platter. Oh and of course bread pudding. Yikes, we’re going to die from eating. Bourbon Street played up to what we expected, or should I say didn’t expect. How can you explain this place? It was hard to find great jazz. Many of the clubs had cover bands playing Aerosmith etc. They were good too. What a fun full day.

So happy you came back to post this trip report!

Again, thank you for helping me decide on the Loew's. That room was immense and such a refuge. I am still trying to find that coffemaker and not the big ones they sell commercially.

Never made it to the tranquil indoor pool or exercise room, but they looked like a wonderful retreat from the day.

Sadly, you had the same problem at August that we had at Herbsaint. We were only staying a few nights, so I was quite upset with a culinary evening lost. The chef/owner did return my email with an apology and an offer for a night on him, but really did not address my main complaints of host staff that were dismissive.

Great report so far! I look forward to reading more.

g

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35132974

Hi gyppielou, we probaly rode the elevator together at some point.


SUNDAY – Up at 7:00 AM for our Swamp tour. We booked the Honey Island Swamp with Cajun Encounters Tours. I highly recommend this tour company. Renee, a southern gentleman, was our driver for the 45 minute ride to the swamp. He pointed out many areas that still have not recovered from Katrina. It’s heartbreaking. Once there you pay $49.00 pp and have a choice of open aired boats or covered. We opted for the open air boat. It was a good choice since when you get into the swamp, you can look up at the Spanish moss and be enveloped in the entire surrounding. Sun screen and a HAT is a must. I forgot mine and bought a wonderful Swamp Tour hat for $9.99. They could have charged $20.00 for it. We had the boss Captain Gary, who took us in the swamp area first. We saw Janet the alligator and he fed her marshmallows. He headed into Brutus country. He is the main male in that area. Males do not like other males in their territory with their chicks. We learned so much and saw owls, turtles and more gators. We zoomed up the river. Captain Gary explained when Katrina hit, an 18 foot wall of water came up the river, taking all of the homes along side away. We saw one that was miles away from where it belonged. This was an informative and fun trip. I would highly recommend it if you have time.

Back in New Orleans we ended up at Pere Antoines, 741 Royal Street, for a late lunch. We had a chicken and sausage gumbo. It was good, but more of a thin style gumbo. We had two Po’Boys, a sausage and a split ½ catfish and ½ shrimp. Very good. Sitting in the old building looking out the large open doors/window on Royal St. was a nice quite retreat from this crazy city. Royal Street is lovely. After my husband left, and I was alone before my business partners came into town, I wandered around just taking pictures of balconies. Make sure you look up in Nola. It’s it beautiful. Nap time.

We had an adult beverage in our room, compliments of the liquor store next to Central Grocery. Even though the vodka was $28.00/liter, it was still cheaper than the places on Canal Street. And cheaper than the hotel a couple drinks at the hotel. Today was a Sunday. Many restaurants were closed. We opted for the Grand Isle at Fulton place, a new pedestrian plaza/street next to Harrah’s, one block from the Lowe’s. We sat at the bar with two other guys, one of them turned out to be the audio/video director at Harrah’s casino. The restaurant was very quiet, however, we had a blast. The bartender, Ryan, was filling in for the first time as bartender and oyster shucker. He was a Marine from overseas who had returned home to New Orleans. What a charming and interesting gentleman. He and our two new friends made it a wonderful night. Mike had the Turtle Stew with pulled turtle meat, ox tail, spinach, lemon, yum. I stuck with the Seafood Gumbo with shrimp, oysters, crab, and popcorn rice. I wanted to try it everywhere we ate. This one was a winner, thickened with okra. Mike had a Sautéed Pork Chop with potato hash, braised cabbage, mustard butter . The chef is German and the cabbage was amazing. I had the fish special, Puppy Drum also known as Croaker. It came with lemon beurre blanc on the side. The host brought me another side sauce of creole meuniere. I just kept dipping the moist pan-sear fish into the sauces. Great meal. I got the descriptions from their web-site. For dessert we shared a plate of Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce. I could die now and be happy.

MONDAY – Our last day together. We slept in again. This city is like Spain. We we’re eating dinner at 9:30 or later every night. So much to fit into a day. We had beignets at Café du Monde, 813 Decatur St. They were hot and good! We were blessed with great street entertainment. I haven’t mentioned the street entertainment. Most of it is very, very good. Some is downright spooky. Hey, that’s what makes this city so bizarre in a fun way. We walked to the Canal street Ferry Dock to go to Mardi Gras World. The Ferry across to Algiers Point has been running since the late 1800’s and is free. It takes about 10 – 15 minutes to get to the other side. The action on the river was very entertaining, cruise ships, cargo ships, tug boats (my favorite) and container ships. Once on the other side we waited about 10 minutes and a Mardis Gras World mini bus picked us up for the short, but not really walk able, ride to the museum. Algiers is the real deal with its shot gun houses. My boss came over one night and ended up missing the last ferry at midnight. He said he heard great jazz and Zydeco bands. Back to Mardis Gras World. What a treat. If you have kids this is a must. You start in a small auditorium where they have out a bunch of costumes, coats, hats feathers etc. and you get to play dress up. It was hysterical seeing all of these 40+er acting like children, my husband was the most excited. He claimed he liked to dress up. What! Then they show you a short but great film of the history of Mardis Gras. They gave us all a piece of the King’s Cake. If you get the little plastic baby you have to hold the next night’s party. We learned that the beads symbolize the following:
Gold is for Power
Purple is for Justice
Green is for Faith
The tour inside this large warehouse was very unusual. They had pieces and parts for previous characters from everywhere. You saw how they make the floats. They were not working that day since it was Memorial Day. You also saw some of the large floats in storage. It was so colorful, I thought I was in Oz. If you’re a photographer, this place is colorific. I admit I did have a nightmare a few days later about a two headed man. I knew where that came from.

Back in Nola, we headed to Dragos at the Hilton where the locals say they have the best char-grilled oysters. Boo Hoo, it was closed for the holiday. So we had the taste for oysters and headed to old faithful, the Acme Oyster Bar. We had grilled oysters and a pound of crawfish ($8.99/lb). We never made it into the indoor pool at the Lowe’s. After walking (and we did a lot of walking), eating, sightseeing in the heat we were too exhausted to jump in. Speaking of heat, it was the end of May and the hot humid weather was just starting to come in. The locals were complaining which we found interesting. We actually had lovely weather that was breezy and not too humid, but it is HOT!

Our last dinner was at NOLA’s, 534 Saint Louis St. Emeril’s more funky restaurant. Gregory and Nancy took great care of us. Good service can really make the meal. We shared an order of Miss Hay's stuffed chicken wings with homemade hoisin dipping sauce, a Pan Roasted Crab Cake with smokey eggplant puree, feta cheese, kalamata olives, crispy spinach and citrus butter and a raw tuna salad special. Mike had the Hickory-Roasted Duck with whiskey-caramel glaze, buttermilk cornbread pudding, haricot verts-fire roasted corn salad, natural jus and candied pecans for dinner and I had one of the house specials, "Shrimp & Grits" sautéed gulf shrimp, grilled green onions, smoked cheddar grits, apple smoked bacon, crimini mushrooms, creole tomato glaze and red chili-abita butter sauce. Again, these descriptions are from their web-site. For dessert we had the White Chocolate-Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with Foster Sauce and Fudge Drizzle (available a la mode with Drunken Monkey Ice Cream). The ice cream was amazing. The whole dessert was the cherry on top of our fabulous adventure in New Orleans.

TUESDAY – I sent my husband off in a taxi to fly home alone while I stayed another 8 nights in New Orleans on business. We had a wonderful time in Nola. Some of the business people didn’t see Nola the way we did. It’s dirty they would say. Or it’s too hot. They missed out on a great experience. Go with an open mind. Enjoy the southern hospitality that we don’t have in cold old New England. Talk to the locals and listen to their stories, many are very hard to hear. Feel the life that New Orleans history has imbedded into every nook and cranny. Grab a cold local beer, Abita and a dozen oysters. Believe in Power, Justice and Faith. We will return.

Thanks to all of the Fodorites who made our trip so special.

Business Meals

You can tell we like to eat. I write down our meals so we can remember them years from now. After my husband left I ate at the following:

Tuesday - Mothers for Take Out, 401 Poydras St – Seafood Gumbo so-so (I’ve been spoiled), Ham & Turkey Ferdi with debris on the side, a little weird for me and a stick to your ribs bread pudding.

Wednesday – Breakfast Mothers, 401 Poydras St, for ham and cheese omelet with grits and biscuits – went twice, make sure you sit in the front room where all the action is. Fun.

Dinner Dragos at the Hilton – I had to try the char-grilled oysters. I ate at the bar. They were very good, smaller than the big boys at Acme. I prefer the atmosphere at Acme. I also had a bowl of seafood gumbo, great, and a shrimp and crab cake with an excellent sauce that my doctor would have a fit over. Last a very good bread pudding to go.

Thursday – the business crew has arrived.
NOLA’s again, 534 Saint Louis St. (dinner for 6). I had Duck Confit and Fried Egg Pizza with Parmesan Cheese, Truffle Oil and Baby Arugula to start and then the Garlic Crusted Texas Redfish Cooked in the Wood Burning Oven with Brabant Potatoes, Wild Mushrooms, Bacon and Sauce Beurre Rouge. Yikes what a great meal.


Friday – Lunch. Took a taxi from the convention center where we were setting up and picked up 4 Muffelattas at Central Grocery. They must have weight 20 lbs. I also brought back 2 six packs of 16 oz beers. Everyone was please when I showed up.

Dinner – Gordon Biersch Brewery, 200 Poydras Street, (dinner for 2) for a great burger and Hefenweizen beer. I sat outside with a friend. It was breezy and delightful.

Saturday - Lunch at Café Café Adelaide at the Lowe’s Hotel. I had shared some sort of fried shrimp Po’Boy with a sticky jam. It didn’t work. The $0.25 Cosmopolitans helped.

Dinner – Grand Isle, 575 Convention Center Blvd (dinner for 2). for a light dinner of gumbo (of course), cold peel and eat shrimp and cold marinated blue crab claws.

Sunday – Dick Brennan’s Palace Café, 605 Canal Street (dinner for 10). I had a turtle soup (with no turtle in it according to our waitress). For dinner I had the Andouille Crusted Fish pan-seared with buerre-blanc and crawfish tails. This was awarded the best dish at our end of the table. Great service.

Monday – BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP – Bayona, 430 Rue Dauphine (dinner for 3). Chef Susan Spicer was in the kitchen. She even came upstairs to the tiny attic wine room where we ate after the meal to greet us. Appetizers were grilled veal sweetbreads with lemon caper butter. We shared a quail appetizer special, I can’t remember how it was cooked. For dinner I had sautéed Pacific salmon with choucroute and Gewürztraminer sauce. Unreal! My companions had an Italian sausage stuffed rabbit loin and the other a grilled duck breast that was also incredible. For dessert we started with a great sorbet and then a cheese platter with Porto. Wow!

Tuesday – Worst Meal of the trip – Petunias, 817 Saint Louis St (dinner for 6). Just not great. My red fish was mushy and fishy. One of us ordered fried chicken that tasted like fish. There were other complaints from the table. I don’t like to give a bad review, but our last dinner was a bust. Oh well!

I am loving you report and happy to hear that your NOLA Restaurant experiences were sooooo much better than ours. Good news indeed!
I regret not taking the 10 pm reservation at Bayona in favour of an ignored reservation for 8:30/ by 9:30 when we left we could have casually strolled to magnificance!

Bottom line = loved the city, loved the hotel....love your report!

easygoer, as a local I can truly say you got around!

It's very interesting to read what tourists/travelers think of our city. Glad to read you had a great time!

Nice also to hear good reviews about Loew's - it's nice to hear about good hotels I can recommend when friends/acquaintances come to town.

Really nice report and liked the detailed info on restaurants. I've been going to NO since I was a kid (more years ago than I like to count) and we tend to eat our way through the city on every trip. Always go into extreme diet plans upon return home. I still think, on a per capita basis, NO has some of the best eating in the country.

easygoer,

I had been awaiting your trip report, and I'm so glad you had a fabulous time.

You and your husband seem to truly appreciate and enjoy food, and I like that. New Orleans is definitely the place for "foodies". Next time, you need to try Commander's Palace and K-Paul's, two of my favorites. Also, sometimes Emeril is at his flagship restaurant in the Warehouse District. When he is there, the food is unbeatable.

Also, you picked a good swamp tour - Honey Island is one of the best. Glad you got to see all of the Louisiana "critters" - it's amazing that all that wildlife is so close to the city, huh?

I didn't get to see whether you participated in the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience. Did you get to go to that?

Did you get to experience Frenchman St. in the Faubourg Marigny? That is another part of town that is interesting, with great restaurants and night clubs.

Also, next time, you can plan a trip to the plantations. They are a must see.

As far as the other people there on business complaining... Some people just don't know how to enjoy life. But you certainly do.

Hi bkluvsnola, we did not experience the Food and Wine Festival. With only four nights togther, we decided to dine out rather than go to the Superdome for the event on Friday or Saturday. So much to do and so little time. Next time I want to rent a car and do some exploring out-side the city on our own. Thanks again for your help.

easygoer--I have enjoyed your trip report.
I was glad to see you enjoyed Mardi Gras World since I suggested it on your other thread. Our kids loved it when we visited and it sounds as though your husband was almost excited as they were about all the costumes.
As you have noted, the ferry trip across the harbor is an added bonus.

What a great report! I used to live right outside of NO and went there all the time - you made me miss it! I can picture every place you went.
You got my stomach growling.

Topping for Katie

Great report - we love New Orleans too, although we have talked to quite a few people who apparently just don't get it. Yeah - it is dirty and sometimes a little smelly, but honestly it never bothered me. Too much else of interest to worry about it, I guess.

Glad your experience at Cochon was better than ours. All of our food came out cold. Would never go back. Best meal we had was at Jacques-Imo's. You need a car or a taxi but fabulous food, very casual place, huge portions, good service and prices, safe neighborhood, no reservations. Wanted to go back again but, alas, they are closed on Sun.

We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites and loved it, esp for the price.

beer and N.O muffaletas for a business lunch!

I want your job!

Great report easygoer--- I haven't been back since the flood but it's definitely on my list.

Just wanted to encourage you to post a review of the Loews hotel (or your experiences at any of the many great restaurants you visited). I really enjoyed all the details--especially for your meals.

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...ew-158008.html