Had dinner at Meson Friday night, wanted to share my experience...

I will preface this by saying a friend of mine from high school is the executive chef, so my taste buds may have been a little biased. I went with my fiancee and a married couple.

First of all, we started the evening off with a cocktail, a Julep Meson. It was very good, just the right amount of mint and sweetness from the simple syrup, and using Woodford Reserve is always helpful. My fiancee had a pomegranate blueberry mojito, she seemed to love it.

As I said, chef is a good friend, so he used us a guinea pigs for a few starters he had been working on.

First course of the meal was chef's take on a shrimp remoulade, and I found it to be very good. I'm not a huge fan of this type of dish, but the flavors worked well in this one.

Up next was what I thought was a boudin ball. Turns out chef put red beans, rice, and andouille in a ball and lightly fried it, and served it with a creole mustard. This dish was delicious, and I'd never seen anything like it before. Even though I'm not a mustard fan, I really enjoyed this.

Next was probably my favorite course of the night. It was a hand made meat pie that had tenderloin, cooked down tomatoes and mushrooms, with a red wine sauce inside. It was served atop a light horseraddish sauce. I can't even describe how good this was. The meat melted in my mouth, the sauce was amazing, and the pastry was crisp and flaky.

Next up was the appetizers we actually ordered. Fiancee and I ordered scallops maux choux. The scallops were served over what I'd describe almost a corn puree. I love scallops, and these were cooked very well. I wish I had a picture of this (and everything else really), because I really liked the presentation.

The other couple ordered the mussels. I'd never had mussels before, but I really enjoyed these as well. The broth they came in was tasted mainly of a sharp cheese of some sort. We ended up keeping the plate after we ate the mussels just so we could finish the rest of the broth with the french bread.

Before the entrees came out, chef sent us a summer salad. It consisted of arugula with pickled peaches and goat cheese. I'm not much of a salad eater, but the goat cheese and the pickled peaches were delicious. I was hesitant on the peaches, but they had a cinnamon and brown sugar taste to go along with the pickling (not sure if that's a word) that I thought really complimented the sour.

My fiancee ordered the drum for her entree. I honestly can't remember what else came with it, but the drum was lightly fried. It was decent, but my least favorite of the entrees at the table.

I ordered the seafood stuffed redfish. It was served with saffron rice and andouille crisps. The stuffing was fantastic, with crawfish and shrimp, and the serving was big enough that I easily could have split it (instead had it for lunch the next day). Andouille crisps were just thinly sliced andouille pan seared, so it was kind of like crumbled bacon. Such a simple idea, and I really liked it. I thoroughly enjoyed this, as did everyone at the table.

My friend ordered the BBQ shrimp, and it was served over a grit cake. Any restaurant in NOLA should do this dish well, and these were done very well. The grit cake was a nice compliment to the sauce, and the shrimp were very fresh and cooked perfectly.

His wife ordered the filet. It was served with chef's hunter's sauce, as well as yukon gold potato croquette and grilled asparagus. The sauce was a mushroom and red wine sauce, and complimented the steak very well. Somehow I did not get to try the croquette, but I was told it was very good (after it was all gone ). I love a good steak, so of course I liked this dish.

For dessert, my friends ordered chocolate creme brulee. It was served with raspberries that had been infused with brandy. This dish was good, and didn't have the burnt taste that I've come to expect from poorly executed creme brulees. I'd never had a chocolate one before, so it was definitely interesting. The berries were very good.

My fiancee and I ordered chocolate bread pudding. I can say that this is one of the best bread puddings I've ever had. It was served with a caramel sauce, and had raisins and I believe a few nuts in it. It was very moist in the middle, with a nice crisp crust on the outside. This was another dish that basically melted in your mouth. Fantastic.

Total bill for the table was very reasonable, with a generous tip our share was $120. I thought it was worth every penny. I'm not a foodie, so dining like this was a fairly new experience for me. I'd rank this as the best meal experience I've ever had, and I hope to have more like it. Feel free to take all this with a grain of salt, as I said chef is a friend. But I would have been honest had I not enjoyed something.

I also really liked the decor. Chef took us for a tour after dinner. We got to check out the upstairs area, which included a 16 seat private room, and a separate bar for upstairs. They also have a nice balcony overlooking S Peters, which II'm sure would be a lovely spot to have a meal when it's not 100 degrees outside.

I would recommend this place to anyone (shocker), so much so that I think this is where our rehearsal dinner will be.