So this past weekend myself and my bride, 2 buddies and their brides descended on NOLA for the occasion of watching John Prine (did great) at the New Orleans Civic Area (nice acoustics, seating designed for 7 year old midget pigmies). Actually the women were oblivious to who John Prine was, they just went to drink wine and spend money. And boy can they drink wine and spend money. But I digress, on to the reviews..

(authors note: I have a shitty phone and am not overly comfortable taking pics of food in public. So if the pics look like I just threw my phone up and snapped a random, disorganized pic, well, that's exactly what happened.

Peche:

I've seen lots of hype about Peche on here and wanted to try it. I made reservations about 2 weeks in advance. At that time they had tables open 6:30 and earlier and 8:30 or after. I took 6:30. Table for 6. Had to give CC number and was charged I think $25 per head. Weird, but whatever. We head down Friday, check in the hotel, clean up and catch a cab to Peche. When one thinks of danger in NOLA, usually mugging, murder and mayhem come to mind. But another potential hazard is if you fall out of the cab getting out at Peche and into the pit of removed roadway and impale yourself on a piece of #8 rebar. Thankfully that didn't happen to any of us, but it could have. Anyway, we show at 6:20 and check in. They are slammed. We head to the bar to wait on our table to clear. This takes a bit longer that we had hoped, but the cocktails were good and we could tell that everybody was working their asses off. At 7:20 we get seated. After that it was kind of a blur. I told Otis2 that we were going to order the whole menu. We didn't, but we ordered a good size portion of it. Our waiter (can't remember his name) was mustache guy. Mustache guy was Johnny on the spot with drinks and water and the timing/spacing of the courses couldn't have been any better. Everything we tried was incredible. The oyster were the best I've ever had. As was the shrimp roll, the beets, the cauliflower, the smoked tuna dip and the hushpuppies. This place is insanely good and the prices are extremely reasonable. To be honest I didn't even look at prices when we ordered. When we were waiting on the check we guessed at the amount and the consensus was it would be in the mid 600's. It was 404, pre tip. Not including drinks waiting on the table. That's cheaper than several places in Monroe. If you haven't been I suggest going asap. If you live in NOLA and have the ability to eat at Peche on a whim, well, screw you.

Random bad pic:

Shrimp roll

Gumbo was very good. So was the bisque

Elizabeth's

I've been to Elizabeth's several times before. I have a good friend from highschool who works/lives in the Bywater and it has kind of became a tradition for us to meet up there for brunch when we are in town. Saturday morning about 10:30 we did just that. The food was solid as usual. The bloodies and draft Hopitoulas were on point. The only bitch was the hipster/wook music was a little too loud. But I always enjoying seeing the hipsters and wooks as we are deficient in that area around Rayvegas. I don't know how Elizabeth's stacks up to the other top notch brunch places around NO, but they do a great job imo. I think our check split 4 ways was $62 per couple. Not bad considering most in the party were biting the dog that bit us pretty hard. Somehow I forgot pics of the Praline bacon. But rest assured it was killer.

Hopitioulas and a Bloody

Fried boudin balls are money there

Stuffed Mirliton. Never had before. It was pretty good. Not great

Fried green tomatoes and poached eggs. Awesome

Shrimp and grits were good. Much better than the pic. 7.5/10 S&G imo.

Herbsaint

After our substantial brunch us fellas find some bar I have no idea the name of and watch the Tigers and drink the afternoon away until our show at 7. The women venture off to spend lots of money. We all meet back up in the hotel around 6 to find that they have devised a plan to go eat at Adolfo's. Not to be culinarily outdone we divise a plan to go eat somewhere with some firepower too, despite the fact that we were not that hungry. So one our way to the venue we ask the cabby for food recs nearby. Achmed mumbles a few unintelligible recs then says the only name I could decipher: Herbsaint. So we go there. No reservations? No problem sir we will be glad to seat you outside. Bam 5 minutes later we are enjoying a cocktails and awaiting our food on a nice, warm but breezy evening in NOLA. Since we were not all that hungry we just did apps and small plates. We did a gumbo (best resutrant gumbo I've ever had) apiece, the short ribs, the gnocchi, Ceviche, and the Shrimp cakes. Everything was superb. Didn't take many pics but:

Dat Gumbo

When you're living it, you might as well drink it

That was it. John Prine put on a great show despite the fact that I had to fold up like an accordion to fit into the seats. I have a vague memory of offering the bartender at a closing Dominica $50 if he could procure me a pizza when we finally returned to the hotel. He could not. So we ordered God knows what at the other restaurant deal there in the lobby before limping upstairs. That last sentence was relayed to me by my wife the next morning. All in all a great trip

This post was edited on 5/12/14 at 3:39 pm