review of Besh's La Provence

during a recent visit to Louisiana, I decided to have dinner at La Provence. Was a couple of
weeks ago, but i kept forgetting to write up a quick review.

i had the quail gumbo to start. not a big fan of ordering gumbo in restaurants because it is usually a disappointment but i figured i'd give it a shot. the gumbo was good but not great. it was bassically a roasted quail with gumbo juice poured over it (they bring you a bowl with the quail in the bottom and pour the juice over it at the table). flavor of the gumbo broth and quail were both solid. my real complaint was that the quail should have been completely deboned (if they wanted to leave it whole for presentation) or should have just been the cut up meat because it was difficult to eat it in the bowl as a butterflied, bone-in bird. but that is a relatively minor complaint.

my mom had the blue crab bisque, which was excellent...nice, creamy texture, lots of crab and a great flavor.


as an entree, i had the softshell crab with jalapeño cheese grits and a roast crab jus. this
dish was overall excellent. crab had a light corn meal batter and was perfectly cooked. the
grits could have used a little more moisture but had a great flavor.

mom had the slow roasted ducking...this dish was excellent. duck had a great caramelized outside and the meat was tender and juicy. it came with a peach/potato puree and a
ratatouille.

for dessert, we had the bread pudding w/ butter pecan whiskey sauce...which was absolutely
delicious.

service was outstanding...knowledgeable, friendly and professional waiter; plus, other people
occationally checked in on us but were never annoying or intrusive.

bill was around 130$ before tip (that includes a couple of glasses of wine).

overall, it was a great experience. i would definiately go back or recommend it to people
looking for a nice dinner in that area.