FEASTING in the FRENCH QUARTERNew Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Globetrotting with my mum is one of my favourite pass-times, and we were well overdue for a trip! We listed our top requirements: culture, photo ops, great food - and anything warmer than here. We google-mapped our way straight south as far as we could go and stopped at sub-tropical New Orleans - warm enough? Check!
A little more googling and we knew that New Orleans' French Quarter had culture covered too. Tourist pass-times are so unique to this 78 square block area cradled by the meandering Mississippi. Where else could you go for a voodoo reading, take in an all-nighter of jazz and jazz-vibe, or immerse yourself in the glitter and sequins of Mardi Gras? And the photo ops? Well, that explains why mum and I are perfect travel buddies. Neither one of us is capable of passing up a great shot - gardens, street scenes ... And yes, if you catch us at lunch, we'll both be photographing our food! Turns out the only way to truly experience that French Quarter vibe is total immersion. This means eating like a local too - and I highly recommend you take this part of your holiday seriously - the locals do! French Quarter restaurants specialize in the traditional food of a diverse ethnic and cultural population. French and Southern influence gave New Orleans hearty Cajan jambalaya and crawfish ètouffèe. And European and African cuisine evolved as Creole cooking and the famously saucy gumbo. With these options, if you still find yourself craving a burger and fries I recommend you order in. But if you plan to throw caution to the wind, then let the feasting begin! The Gumbo Shop Two ladies dining on plane food and lugging suitcases can work up quite an appetite. The smell of something delicious lured us down St Peter Street. And when you're hungry, St Peter Street leads you straight to The Gumbo Shop. 'Best of New Orleans' has voted it winner in its' Best Gumbo category every year since 1999. A good enough accolade for two hungry tourists! Having just arrived in the French Quarter, The Gumbo Shop was our introduction to the city - to the food, the culture, and to that famous Southern hospitality. We went Gumbo Shop all the way with Seafood Okra Gumbo for mum, and Chicken Andouille Gumbo for me. My choice was easy as Brandon, our waiter, assured me it was "awesome-awesome". He also assured me that 'Hurricane's' are not only a traditional New Orleans drink, but also "awesome-awesome" - one each for mum and I! The Gumbo Shop introduced us to one other French Quarter staple - hot sauce! Every table at every meal - including breakfast - had a selection of 'hot' for every taste. The Gumbo Shop offers in-house blends - creole seasoning, pepper blend and just plain hot. Daisy Duke's Daisy Duke's claims "we don't do fancy". But what they do really well is down-home Southern comfort - 'Mornin' Darlin' as we arrived, and good strong coffee to start. Breakfast was straight out of the bayou - 'Alligator' Ommlette, grits and biscuits. And the breakfast drinks menu was straight out of the French Quarter - Bottomless Bloody Marys - Cajan-style. This means hot sauce AND a large crawfish dangling by its tail from the rim. I knew I'd need a lesson on how to tackle a crawfish with all those legs and antennae, so I stuck with my bottomless coffee instead. Daisy Duke's is your typical diner, but done French Quarter - style - walls of old Louisiana brick, pics of Jazz musicians, country music. Our waitress served breakfast with 2-inch purple jeweled nails. This is New Orleans after all! Jody, much like most of the locals had been parading. This time it was Mardi Gras, but next week Jody will be serving breakfast with 2-inch green nails and parading for St. Patrick's Day. Turns out there's always a parade in New Orleans. Cafe du Monde and Cafe Beignet We knew we had to try beignets or it would be hard to claim that we'd toured the French Quarter. There are restaurants that specialize in the light, fluffy treat and eateries named for it. And if you're looking for a uniquely New Orleans experience, check out the 'beignet tossing' at Cafe du Monde - a huge vat splashes boiling oil as squared dough is tossed by the dozen, submerged, scooped, and smothered in powdered sugar. Beignet is the only food served at Cafe du Monde, and a line-up of over a hundred suggests they must be pretty good. Also famous for the sweet treat is Cafe Beignet. Breakfast with the rising sun got us in before the line-ups. Instead our breakfast companions were Cafe Beignet's little flock of sparrows. They fluttered in and out the wide open entrance and tweeted their demand for yummy crumbs. Try some other time of day though, and you'll have to brave the crowds - Steamboat Willie has been known to rock the house with his famous Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz. And the verdict on those famous beignets? OF COURSE they're delicious! Two orders turned out to be two orders of three each and us two hungry ladies were done being hungry for the day! Chartres House The French Quarter is supposed to be fun, and mum and I thought we had been living-it-up since we arrived. Turns out an afternoon hangin' with the partyers on Bourbon Street, was really rather low-key. We climbed creaking stairs to a great view of St Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. The crooked balcony tipped us toward the street just enough so we could enjoy a little sense of danger without actually sliding sideways. With a little danger in the air, our Bloody Mary's with zing-zang went down fast. I went New Orleans all the way with a crazy big and tasty Crawfish Po-Boy. Mum's Boudin looked pretty good, so I offered to help her out - fried ground beef, pork and seasoning with Creole mustard sauce looked too delish to miss! And then the real fun began - First, honking buggies, then a team of police, then tuxedo-ed marchers. We were smack dab in the middle of the New Orleans St. Joseph's Day parade! With whistles, and cars full-to-overflowing with mardi gras necklaces for tossing, this tops the list for most festive parade I've ever seen! Michael Yenni - mayor of a New Orleans suburb - paraded bedecked in beads, and a couple on the opposite balcony - both about 80 - tossed beads to revelers below. My attempt to snap photos was thwarted by mum with a paniced 'Move away from edge!!'. With our tipping balcony and rickety railing, my photo-obsession could have been my downfall - literally! Instead we headed to the street below, and joined the party. We arrived back at our hotel much later bedecked in beads, and in love with 'The Big Easy'. WHERE TO STAY Hotel Monteleone You'll enjoy plenty of luxury at Hotel Monteleone - a full service spa, fitness center and rooftop pool. Or try something really different, sip your Mint Julip at the revolving Carousel Bar - 25 seats turn on 2000 steel rollers. Hotel Monteleone was compelled to provide an experience that likely can't be matched anywhere! The Quarter House This historic building operates as a timeshare, but also offers vacation guests nightly accomodation right where all the action is. Our St Joseph's Day parade passed right by, and you're just minutes from famous Bourbon street, all-night parties, and awesome jazz. Another bonus, if 'Feasting in the French Quarter' sounds like your thing - you're just a short walk from a whole lot of feasting! |
TRAVEL DIY WHERE TO EAT THE GUMBO SHOP Email | Website | TripAdvisor 630 Saint Peter St, New Orleans, LA 70116-3294 1 504-525-1486 DAISY DUKE'S Email | Website | TripAdvisor 121 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130-2311 1 504-561-5171 CAFE du MONDE Email | Website | TripAdvisor 800 Decatur St, In Front of Jackson Square, New Orleans, LA 1 504-581-2914 CAFE BEIGNET Email | Website | TripAdvisor 311 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130-2212 1 504-522-6868 CHARTRES HOUSE Email | Website | TripAdvisor 601 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130-2111 1 504-586-8383 WHERE TO STAY HOTEL MONTELEONE Email | Website | TripAdvisor 214 Royal Street, French Quarter, New Orleans, LA 70130-22271 1 855-341-1666 THE QUARTER HOUSE Email | Website | TripAdvisor 129 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130-2311 1-800-736-5906 |
SIMILAR POSTS: