Red Fish Grill115 Bourbon Street • New Orleans, LA • 70130(504) 598-1200 http://www.redfishgrill.comOverall Ratings (H in orange, C in purple)Food: B / B+Ambiance: C / CService: C / A-Drinks: F (probably a bit harsh)Overall Experience: C / BC says, I know a lot of people who are very fond of Red Fish Grill, so we decided to try it out for restaurant week here in NOLA. The location is down on Bourbon, right off Canal, which is not my favorite place to try to go/park, but we got down there with few problems. You’ve got the lovely ambiance of Bourbon to start you off--it’s right behind the Hustler club--and it has a very tourist-y feel as you enter. It’s definitely one of the more casual Brennan’s restaurants. (It’s on the Ralph Brennan side of the family.)H says, when C says the lovely ambiance of Bourbon St., she means that it smelled worse than--well, I won’t say because it’s inappropriate, but it was awful I wanted to gag. When we first walked in the door, I knew this wasn’t the place for me. Too open, too loud, too bright, and just not what I want in a dinner place. If I was drunk or going out with friends to do some damage I might start the evening here, but most likely I wouldn’t. Personally I don’t plan on ever going again.
Overall thoughts from H:
I was really looking forward to going to the Red Fish Grill. I had heard a lot of great things about it from people at my office. Take a taxi to get here if you can, being located on Bourbon it is a pain to find a place to park. But in all honesty, take a cab, but just keep walking and go to GW Fins instead--but, I digress. Once you arrive, you have the option of waiting in the bar for your table, but from the looks of it you can just eat in the bar as well. The space is large and open, and the floor is concrete and the sound travels extensively. Even the back room where we were seated felt too exposed. Also the lighting was far too bright, I like a nice cozy feeling when I am going out to eat. I don’t like feeling like I am on display. [C says, The lighting didn’t really bother me, and I was glad we were in a smaller room that was a little more secluded, but the atmosphere was definitely not one we prefer--like I said, it felt very touristy.]
I ordered a glass of their red wine and when it was brought out, it just didn’t taste right. I thought it might have been something to do with the food interacting badly so I just tried to sip it throughout the meal. This was my mistake. It was simply an awful glass of wine. I told them to take it away. I thought they might offer a discount or something on it but no, nada, nothing. Simply put that in my mind is unacceptable. If you bring me a glass of wine and it is just plain bad I shouldn’t have to pay for it. [C says, the mistake H made was that he didn’t complain until our meal was basically done and he had drunk at least half of the glass. He also made the complaint to the “lesser” of the two waiters who were serving our table. I think if he had complained right away and/or to the head waiter, the outcome may have been different.] As for the other parts of the meal, I ordered an appetizer of crab cakes, which were very good. I thought they were light, fluffy, and tasted great. Unfortunately, it went downhill from here. It took a VERY short amount of time for our food to come out; we had barely finished our appetizer when the main course came out. I enjoy good service but in this case it felt more like they were trying to rush us through the meal so they could get us in and out. My main meal was a sesame seed tuna with salad, which was good but the tuna was cold all the way through even though it had been cooked on the outside and the salad was massive. It was ok, but honestly felt more like a salad you would get at Outback. It was ok, but not worth the price I payed for it. Dessert was a chocolate bread pudding with both white and chocolate sauce poured out. It was quite good but the experience as a whole was so off-putting I would never go there again.
C says, I had the shrimp and corn bisque, which came out in an adorable miniature pot. It was good, but nothing spectacular. I think I could find something comparable in almost any restaurant in town. H’s crabcake was definitely better. For dinner, I had the Tagliatelle pasta with Louisiana blue crab, wild mushrooms, asparagus, and tasso. It was good, but seemed like there should have been more pasta, especially since H’s salad looked so abundant. However, the portion was satisfying, and I probably wouldn’t have had room for dessert if it was more generous. Again, it was good, but nothing special. As for H’s salad, I will say that the dressing was quite tasty and the fact that he ate any salad at all means it must’ve been pretty good. Both the appetizer and the entrees came out REALLY quickly, and H is right, it felt a little rushed. I had the blackberry cobbler with creole cream cheese ice cream for dessert, which was good, but not nearly as good as H’s chocolate bread pudding, which was insane. If you do go, I’d reccommend that dessert hands-down. Overall, the food was not bad at all, and some things were really good. It just doesn’t have the atmosphere or the location we prefer, and there are so many other good restaurants in town that we won’t rush back to this one.
Muriel’s801 Chartres Street New Orleans, LA 70116 (on the corner of Jackson Square)(504) 568-1885 http://www.muriels.com/Overall Ratings (H in orange, C in purple)Food: B+ / AAmbiance: A / AService: B+ / A-Drinks: B+Overall Experience: B+ / AH says, I really enjoyed Muriel’s. It has a classic New-Orleans-type feel. The location is perfect as well, situated on Jackson Square. I would recommend an early reservation as it is a popular establishment and I think the wait time on the food may be longer the later into the evening you get. If you are in New Orleans for more than a few days, you need to try this place out. Very New Orleans, and very delicious. C says, I was eager to try Muriel’s, since I had had their food at festivals but never in the restaurant itself. I thought the atmosphere was really lovely and the staff was attentive (we had an early reservation, which helped, because it is less crowded). We went last month, when the COOLinary specials were still going on (http://www.coolinaryneworleans.com/), and it was a great deal. I would definitely go back. Overall thoughts from H:We arrived a bit late due to the first Saints preseason game being the same night...don’t try getting a taxi on a game day. Just doesn’t happen. But after a long walk and a bit of bitching on my end about how freaking hot it is here in the summer, we arrived. [C says, At least it didn’t start raining on us! It did start raining right after we arrived.] Upon entering my mood improved dramatically; the lighting is dim but nice and the A/C was heavenly. We were seated by a window surrounded by older pictures. [C says, Our table was tucked in a corner and I thought it was very cozy. We could also look out at the people milling around Jackson Square.] We had 2 waiters: 1 for food and 1 for drinks. I had a glass of the house Cabernet Sauvignon and when I say house wine I mean they have their own version bottled for them with their own label by a winery. It is fantastic.
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| Goat Cheese Crepes |
For my appetizer, I had the pan-seared redfish cake; it was fantastic. Although C had her crepes, I was more than happy to keep my redfish cake for myself...though I did give her a bite. [C says, When you go to Muriel’s, you have to get the goat cheese crepes as an appetizer. They are served with a crawfish or shrimp sauce depending on the season, and Muriel’s is known for them. H’s app was very tasty, but he is forgetting how good my crepes were--he was coveting them a bit and I had to give him several bites!]
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| Double-cut Pork Chop |
The main course was a pork chop that was HUGE. I was not a big fan of the sauce and sides as I thought it was too much apple and didn’t let the smokiness or flavor of the meat come through. [C says, the chop was a monster. The glaze and sides (sweet potatoes and greens) had a very autumnal feel. I lhought H’s sides were quite good, but you have to like sweet potatoes and southern greens (not sure if they were collards or a combination). H got a couple of meals out of the chop even though he didn’t love the sides.] It was perfectly done, though, and I can’t blame them for my disliking it too much. Now onto the dessert: in one word--Fantastic. Bread pudding, of course! Although they didn’t serve it with vanilla ice cream (my favorite), it did in fact have caramelized nuts on top. There was a lot of it and a great taste, but if I had to choose I would still take GW Fin’s over it, but just barely. [C says, it was really tasty. The top tasted bruleed, and the candied pecans and rum sauce were awesome. It was a very generous portion, too. I also give GW the edge on their bread pudding, but only because I love chocolate!]
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| Bread Pudding |
I also decided to get a glass of the bananas foster drink that was on the dessert menu. I thought it would be well just a well-type drink or shot or something...what I ended up with was a whitish martini...not what I really wanted, but it was pretty good. I think next time I will stick with a nice glass of Amaretto, though.
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| Butterscotch Pudding |
C says, As mentioned above, I had the crepes first--phenomenal. For my entree, I had Pan Crusted Puppy Drum, served with oven-roasted pecan and jumbo lump crabmeat relish, with a lemon butter sauce. It was incredibly delicious. For dessert, I had the Black Bottom Butterscotch Pudding. It’s served in a little teacup--butterscotch pudding on top, and as you dig down, you get the chocolate syrup at the bottom. On top is a tiny homemade oreo with praline filling. It was so delicious, and a good size--not too large, thankfully, as I was stuffed from the meal (and a few bites of H’s bread pudding!). H also made me get a drink because he thinks it is boring that I always order water, so they made me a virgin mojito, which was quite tasty. Overall, I thought it was a great experience. They also have wrapped butter mints as you leave--in Saints wrappers. Excellent touch. :)
H says, First off, I love ice cream. If I could, I would eat nothing but it. This is a short list of ice cream eateries that we tried while on vacation. I might be biased but trust me, the ratings are accurate. C says, I love ice cream, too--who doesn’t? But Henry is crazy for the stuff. He didn’t want to go a single day without it while we were on vacay.
Emack & Bolio's
http://www.emackandbolios.com/C and I arrived on Cape Cod late in the evening and I decided that I would introduce her to the amazing market up the street that had its own ice cream place. It used to be a Ben and Jerry’s but had changed to Emack and Bolio’s. One word for it: Horrendous. Absolutely the worst ice cream I have ever had. Not creamy, not tasty. It wasn’t even that sweet. I honestly don’t understand how they could make ice cream so bland and tasteless. I even tried a milkshake much later in the trip and even it was not very good. My dad went there a couple of nights ago and he asked for a sundae with hot fudge...at 8pm on a weekend on Cape Cod...they said they were out. Seriously!? How is that even possible? The next night he tried again and they were still out. Take my advice and avoid this ice cream chain like the plague, just awful. C says, I had seen an outlet of E&B’s in Boston, so I was interested to try it. It really wasn’t very good--not completely inedible, but not enjoyable. Don’t waste the calories.Katie's Ice Creamhttp://www.katiesicecreamcapecod.com/To be fair, this location is owned by my aunt, but it is by far the best ice cream you will ever have. It is made on site every day and is amazing. Smooth, creamy and delicious best describe the ice cream here. The Cape Cod Sand is their special recipe they don’t tell anyone what is in it. (C says, they won’t even describe it--they just offer you a taste if you ask about it.) I highly recommend it. My favorite is normally the cookie dough, but this year they had a cake batter ice cream that was to die for. Just the best, I had it in sundaes, milkshakes and as a quart I bought and brought home to eat. C says, Henry is definitely biased, but the ice cream is honestly superb. I tried at least 10 different flavors, and they were all good. I’d especially recommend the Cape Cod Mud, Cape Cod Sand, and Harminty.Smitty’s Homemade Ice Creamhttps://www.facebook.com/smittysicThere was another place on the Mashpee rotary that we tried, it was ok but nothing to write home about. My suggestion is if you are ever on Cape Cod drive out to Katies and have a scoop, or 5. You will not be disappointed. C says, I thought this place was pretty good. H didn’t like it as much because they didn’t have rainbow sprinkles. But I had a scoop of the coffee oreo flavor and it was creamy and delicious, and H had soft serve which was also good. So if you are stopping at the seafood shop next door to get some lobsters, you might as well grab some ice cream, too. Sea Swirlhttp://www.seaswirlofmystic.com/The good news was that back in Connecticut my favorite place for soft serve had not changed at all. Sea Swirl is located in Mystic, CT, right near the coast and a small stream. It is a lovely place to get some fried seafood and have soft serve. I got chocolate and vanilla with rainbow sprinkles in a large waffle cone--the perfect way to have soft serve. So if you are ever in or driving by Mystic stop over at Sea Swirl and give it a go. It is wonderful. C says, The soft serve at Sea Swirl was quite yummy. The corn fritters were ok, too, but much more fritter than corn.Just an FYI for people not from New England, all of these ice cream stores are closed in the off season.
