A few friends and I celebrated a birthday at Commander's Palace. The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, and I thought I'd share. We're the kind of gals who don't mind sharing food, so I got at least a taste of each. Reliving it is half the fun! Some of my recollections are a bit hazy, thanks to three glasses of wine at dinner and two gin martinis at The Columns Hotel, where we had our post-dinner drinks, so if you catch that I misremembered specific ingredients, forgive me.

Apps:

Artisan Cheese Plate We got all three cheeses. A crumbly pungent blue cheese, a firm pecorino and a soft American goat cheese. Plate came drizzled with honey, blueberries, strawberries, and candied pecans. Both a plain french loaf and a fruit-filled melba toast we're provided to spread the cheese, if you're one of those people who doesn't eat it alone.

Soups 1-1-1 Tasters of each of the soups: the famed Turtle Soup (which isn't my favorite, but is undeniably tasty), a shrimp and okra gumbo which was thick and spicy, and a crabmeat and wild mushroom bisque.

Salads:

Two of us ordered the 3-Course Special, but our tastes are similar so we both went with the same The Pig 'n The Fig salad. Tart mixed greens with crispy bacon, sweet, cool figs, more blueberries and candied pecans, and a little crumbling of goat cheese. Phenomenal.

Entrees:
Fried Soft Shell Crab Crunchy outside, creamy and delicious inside. I think it came with some kind of cabbage salad topping, but I didn't get a taste of that.

Pork Tomahawk The title was fancier, but that's the part that stood out. A pound of center-cut pork, served with a sweet potato Boulanger. Tender, juicy pork accented with the sweet potatoes. Yum.

Fire Roasted Texas Quail Two of us got this. The quail skin wasn't as crispy as I'd have wanted it, but the meat was moist. Served with boudin and a mixture of veggies (maybe onions?) in a 5-pepper jelly sauce. The rest of the plate kind of flavored the quail, in my opinion.

Side:
Goat Cheese Stone Ground Grits I couldn't leave this a la carte side sitting on the menu. Rich, creamy, cheesy, and delicious. I saved my leftovers and had them for breakfast with some La. strawberries and whipped cream this morning.

Desserts:
Creole Bread Pudding Souffle I may be blasphemous, but I was not impressed by this. Bread pudding was less done and more creamy than a traditional one. It was pointed out to me by my friends that this was an intentional part of the "souffle," but even with the whiskey cream sauce, this just lacked real sweetness and flavor to me.

Dark Chocolate Mousse Described to us as so dense it was almost like a cake, this dish was smooth and dense mousse. Flavor was a little muted for dark chocolate. I'm not sure what the technical percentages are to be considered "dark" but it wasn't as bitter as some of the darker chocolates I've had.

Creole Cream Cheesecake I don't know the secret to Creole Cream Cheese, but whatever gives it that kick balances perfectly with the richness of a cheesecake. This one was perfect.

Creme Brûlée 'Nuff said. But in case you've never had it at Commander's, the plating in a shallow saucer allows for every bite to have the perfect ratio of soft vanilla custard to crunchy burnt brown sugar. I almost refused to share.