Thursday, after a day of rapid cleaning in preparation for my mother-in-law's arrival, my in-laws arrived in New Orleans. They brought us some more things we left at my mom's. And Shelby. Because we were doing our own Thanksgiving the next day with lots of our NOLA EMS friends at the house, we decided to take Dustin's mom and her boyfriend for a drive down St. Charles and for something to eat. While New Orleans has a plethora of places to choose from when hunger strikes, many of them weren't open. Or were bars, and since we had our 4-year-old in tow, that was out, too. So we drove down to the Quarter, where something good is always cookin'. After driving down Decatur, we decided upon Tujague's (Too-jack's, so we're told).
We'd never been before, and I was excited. We hurriedly walked through the bar (want to feel awkward? Lead your small child through a crowded, smokey bar at about 8 o'clock at night...) and to the dinning areas. After a few minutes they seated us in the Begue room downstairs. It was a nice intimate room with only about two or three other tables. Being Thanksgiving, they told us of their special Prix Fixe menu for the evening. It sounded terribly good. They brought us some bread (three whole loaves of French bread) and butter, and filled our water glasses. Our first course was shrimp remoulade. Spicy, but very nice. Boiled shrimp topped with a remoulade and some leafy greens. The salad could have been drained a bit more, though. This was followed by sweet potato-crab bisque which was soooo creamy and wonderful. Since it was insanely cold outside, it hit the spot. Then they took our bowls away and brought us a small piece of brisket with Creole horseradish sauce. Pi-zow! The sauce was fab, but I guess on the third bite I got too much of it and it shot up my sinuses like a grease fire. I'm just glad I didn't start choking at the table. Flames not-withstanding, it was great. We thought we were about done, since we were starting to get full. Maybe another small plate like the ones before, then dessert. Oh no. They brought out small individual platters filled with roasted turkey breast, sweet yams, dressing, gravy, home made cranberry sauce and what I guess was a marinated/ pickled cinnamon apple slice. Do I need to even go into the details of how all that tasted? Lets just say, it didn't suck. At all. By then we were begging, Please, no more! But then it was time for dessert: a tiny scoop of banana bread pudding with caramel sauce and coffee, a perfect ending to our beautiful meal. We were completely stuffed. It's a good thing Dustin and I didn't have time to eat during the day.
I'm glad we enjoyed it so much, because I for one was a bit shocked at the bill. I suppose I shouldn't have been- it was an upscale, iconic, 150 year-old restaurant with a fixed special menu, on a holiday no less. For the four of us adults to eat, it was $162 and some change. We split the bill down the middle and froze on our way to the car, totally stuffed, a little surprised, and very ready to go to bed.
Us going there made me keep thinking about the scene in A Christmas Story when the family goes out to an empty Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner and the servers sing to them. Even if there was no singing, it wasn't a Chinese restaurant and it was the holiday immediately preceding Christmas.
The only complaint I really have is that they didn't offer Shelby anything. They never acknowledged her (as far as food or drink) or asked if we wanted something for her, nor did they ask if we'd be sharing our food with her, which we did, of course (she really never eats much when we're out anyway, unless it's boneless BBQ chicken wings). There were other children a bit older than her in the other rooms, and a baby crying somewhere, so I know that kids were permitted. Oh well, other than running out of water near the dessert course and the carafes not being refilled, and it taking forever to get our bill, I have nothing negative to say. A lovely time was had by all.
We'd never been before, and I was excited. We hurriedly walked through the bar (want to feel awkward? Lead your small child through a crowded, smokey bar at about 8 o'clock at night...) and to the dinning areas. After a few minutes they seated us in the Begue room downstairs. It was a nice intimate room with only about two or three other tables. Being Thanksgiving, they told us of their special Prix Fixe menu for the evening. It sounded terribly good. They brought us some bread (three whole loaves of French bread) and butter, and filled our water glasses. Our first course was shrimp remoulade. Spicy, but very nice. Boiled shrimp topped with a remoulade and some leafy greens. The salad could have been drained a bit more, though. This was followed by sweet potato-crab bisque which was soooo creamy and wonderful. Since it was insanely cold outside, it hit the spot. Then they took our bowls away and brought us a small piece of brisket with Creole horseradish sauce. Pi-zow! The sauce was fab, but I guess on the third bite I got too much of it and it shot up my sinuses like a grease fire. I'm just glad I didn't start choking at the table. Flames not-withstanding, it was great. We thought we were about done, since we were starting to get full. Maybe another small plate like the ones before, then dessert. Oh no. They brought out small individual platters filled with roasted turkey breast, sweet yams, dressing, gravy, home made cranberry sauce and what I guess was a marinated/ pickled cinnamon apple slice. Do I need to even go into the details of how all that tasted? Lets just say, it didn't suck. At all. By then we were begging, Please, no more! But then it was time for dessert: a tiny scoop of banana bread pudding with caramel sauce and coffee, a perfect ending to our beautiful meal. We were completely stuffed. It's a good thing Dustin and I didn't have time to eat during the day.
I'm glad we enjoyed it so much, because I for one was a bit shocked at the bill. I suppose I shouldn't have been- it was an upscale, iconic, 150 year-old restaurant with a fixed special menu, on a holiday no less. For the four of us adults to eat, it was $162 and some change. We split the bill down the middle and froze on our way to the car, totally stuffed, a little surprised, and very ready to go to bed.
Us going there made me keep thinking about the scene in A Christmas Story when the family goes out to an empty Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner and the servers sing to them. Even if there was no singing, it wasn't a Chinese restaurant and it was the holiday immediately preceding Christmas.
The only complaint I really have is that they didn't offer Shelby anything. They never acknowledged her (as far as food or drink) or asked if we wanted something for her, nor did they ask if we'd be sharing our food with her, which we did, of course (she really never eats much when we're out anyway, unless it's boneless BBQ chicken wings). There were other children a bit older than her in the other rooms, and a baby crying somewhere, so I know that kids were permitted. Oh well, other than running out of water near the dessert course and the carafes not being refilled, and it taking forever to get our bill, I have nothing negative to say. A lovely time was had by all.
No comments:
Post a Comment