6078 Laurel Street New Orleans, LA
504.895.9441
Overall Ratings (H in orange, C in purple)
Food: A / A
Ambiance: A / A
Service: A / A
Drinks: B+
Overall Experience: A / A
H says, Overall, Patois is a fantastic place to eat. C and I just had small plates, a salad, and a dessert when we went, but each was very good. The only real issue with Patois is that it is located in the same city as Herbsaint. It is my opinion that each dish was just a bit below that which you would get at Herbsaint. That being said, it is still a fantastic place to eat.
C says, I had gone to Patois several years ago and really enjoyed it, so I decided H and I should go for Valentine’s Day. Patois is tucked away in a mostly residential neighborhood, and I think gets a lot of business from the neighbors. It’s a cute little place with really good food.
Overall thoughts:
H says, Patois is located uptown in a residential area. Parking was easy and the staff met as at the door and quickly seated us. They have a daily list of specials along with their specialty drinks. I enjoyed mine, but C said it tasted like cough syrup. [C says, Guess I don’t like Chartreuse!] For our dinner, we had Roasted Octopus, Gnocchi, Mussels & fries, and a Fried Oyster salad. The octopus was cooked perfectly, nice and tender with great flavor, the Gnocchi were very good but a bit heavier than those found at Herbsaint. Still very tasty though. The mussels were very unique. They had a smokey flavor and were topped by great fries. Lastly, the Fried Oyster salad was amazing. This was by far the best dish we tried. Really enjoyed it. For dessert we had their famous snickers bar, which was very good, but I felt that they skimped too much on the salted caramel. If they had included more it would have been fantastic. Overall I would recommend if you are here for a few weeks, otherwise just go to Herbsaint.
C says, I thought everything we had was good, and I was proud of H for being adventurous. He even ate the white bean hummus with the octopus, which he usually claims not to like. The gnocchi came with crab and small fava beans (I think) and was tasty, but H is right, the gnocchi at Herbsaint are just beyond compare. The mussels were in a smoked tomato broth, which was quite good, and the fries were crispy and delicious. The aioli served with them was not my favorite--I like a more garlicky one; this I think had a lot of paprika in it--but it wasn’t bad, and H liked it a lot. The oyster salad was the best thing we had. For dessert, we ordered the “Snickers bar,” which was my favorite dessert until I ate at Herbsaint. It has a layer of cake topped with mousse, a crisp layer of caramelized sugar, chocolate ice cream, salted caramel and peanuts. Still really delicious, but Herbsaint does win out. So, overall, Patois was very enjoyable for a night out, and nice for a change, though it doesn’t beat out Herbsaint.
