Herbsaint Review

In town for a wedding and went today with my mom and sat outside. Thought I'd share a review since its an excellent place that doesn't get as much hype as it used to with the proliferation of new places the past few years, lest people forget that this is the creation of a Link-Spicer partnership and what really put Link on the map, even though Cochon gets all the publicity these days. We split 4 small plates instead of ordering entrees:

Louisiana shrimp and grits with tasso and okra
Gnocchi with pancetta and maitake mushrooms
Cornmeal fried Louisiana oysters with cole slaw and hot sauce
Housemade spaghetti with guanicale and fried-poached egg

Shrimp were great, always appreciate when people don't overcook them. Sauce was thick, almost gravy like, but so deep in flavor. The gnocchi were good, but I did find it to be a little too salty. The oysters were perfectly cooked, it almost tasted like they fried it then dropped the oysters inside, still so moist. The hot sauce was your standard butter/crystal mixture, but I appreciate them not trying to do anything more than that with it. The pasta was delicious and cooked to a perfect al dente, the fried-poached egg reminded me of fried ice cream, curious to know how they fry it without overcooking the egg. When you cut into that sucker and it runs into the pasta and its sauce its just decadently rich. They're labeled small plates but it was plenty of food.

We also had a glass of wine each. I'm not a big wine drinker, but I know enough to describe what kind of taste I feel like drinking and the waiter was able to recommend something based off of my tasting my mom's sauvignon blanc. I like stuff with a lot of body and prefer reds, but white felt like a better choice sitting outside and with the food types, so I got the chenin blanc the wait recommended. Good stuff and always appreciate knowledgeable waiters.

For dessert I had the chocolate cake with caramel, caramel salted popcorn, and cashew ice cream and ate most of my mom's dulce de leche ice cream. The chocolate cake was pretty good, but the dulce de leche ice cream was fricking AWESOME. So creamy, almost gelato-like. I'm a sucker for housemade ice cream, will get it every time.

In all, an excellent meal that, while rich, did not leave me feeling like a beached whale (eg if I wanted to walk around the Quarter or WD after it wouldn't have been a problem), attentive and informed service (even though it was a relatively late lunch) which is what I expect from a place like Herbsaint. They've been doing it so well for so long, its good to see they haven't slipped at all.