Red Fish Grill - New Orleans

When we arrived in New Orleans, we had no definite plans for dinner the second night. We had heard of Red Fish Grill but were not sure if we should go. Once we arrived, we saw ads all over the place and knew we had to go.  We had a pretty packed day and had already eaten a lot but oysters had not yet made it onto any of the many plates we had emptied.  Before Red Fish Grill, we stopped at Felix's for some excellent oysters. A great appetizer.

When we arrived at Red Fish we had a short wait which allowed us to explore and see the numerous articles on the wall as well as all the images of fish. The restaurant was a big open space with high ceilings and lots of tables packed in there. It definitely did not have the same classy feel as Muriel's, but hey what can you expect from a restaurant on Bourbon street. Thankfully the food was better than the decor. Ms. O skipped the salad and ordered the Tomato and Crab soup.

Oh what I wouldn't do to have another spoonful of that soup.  Spicy and sweet with chunks of crab.  The tomatoes were fresh and unlike some tomato soups I've had in the past, this didn't taste like marinara.  Ms. O also ordered the green onion shrimp toast with sweet soy sauce and chili garlic aioli.

Maybe it's because we were already satiated from eating the oysters, but the toast just didn't do it for me.  Thankfully my pan seared snapper arrived.

I was definitely loving the presentation.  The fish was surrounded by incredible spicy tomato sauce and duck fat new potatoes, topped with a dollop of lemon garlic aioli and sprinkled with crispy spinach.

Each bite was fantastic. The best part was definitely the spicy tomato sauce. It had a sweetness and spice that enhanced the flavor of the fish.

I was generally pleased with Red Fish Grill. The red snapper was the right choice. If I could just figure out a way to get an unlimited supply of the tomato and crab soup then all would be well.

Red Fish is worth your time, but I recommend going with an emptier stomach so you can fully enjoy the many items they have to offer.

Hungry yet?

Muriel's Jackson Square

After spending several months looking forward to my escape from NY, I was psyched when Ms. O and I finally made it to New Orleans. It is definitely one of my favorite cities in the US. As Tennessee Williams said, "There are three great cities in the US, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans...everywhere else is just Cleveland."

We started with a tour that helped us get acquainted with some of the sites we would return to later during our trip. For dinner our first night, we decided to dine at Muriel's Jackson Square. We were greeted by the hostess and immediately escorted to our table. We had two servers. One person for drinks and another for our food. They take their drinks very seriously in NoLa!

We immediately encountered a problem because the menu had too many great choices!! We decided to order as much as we thought was reasonable. Our first dish was the Creole Tomato and Crab.

The display was enough to make me melt a little bit. We were there during the height of the Creole Tomato festival. These were some special tomatoes. It was like heirloom infused with an extra level of sweetness and freshness. The jumbo crabmeat was mixed with avocado and tossed in a tarragon tartar sauce. The tartar sauce initially threw me off because it was creamy and reminded me of mayonnaise.  The dish was well balanced but definitely a little rich, which isn't surprising when you mix crab with avocado.  Of course Ms. O ordered a salad.

The romaine lettuce tossed with a roasted garlic and Parmesan dressing with shaved red onions and herb croutons was inoffensive. It looked good but I refuse to acknowledge salad as a part of my meal, especially when Escargot is an option.

The Escargots Orleans was phenomenal.  The tender escargot with fennel, leeks, and oyster mushrooms simmered in a roasted garlic butter were served in a flaky vol-au-vent shell. Definitely melt in your mouth goodness. The contrast of the buttery snail and the flaky crust made every bite perfect.  As though the appetizers were not rich enough, we went for the gold with our entrées.  Ms. O ordered the pan seared maple leaf duck breast. 

Any one who has read my duck related entries knows how weak my knees get when duck lands on the table. This dish was a double dose because it was served with duck confit dirty rice, leeks and baby carrots with a blackberry gastrique. Holy Moley!! 

The duck confit dirty rice was the most spectacular rice I have ever eaten. I fully intend on recreating this masterpiece.  I had a little bit of food envy but that was quickly dismissed when my Blackened Redfish arrived. 

The large filet of fish was a bit intimidating.  It was perfectly seasoned but I especially loved the peppery Louisiana Crab stuffing. The stuffing was moist but not watery. The best bite was the combination of the fish and stuffing swirled in the accompanying Blue Crab butter sauce.

Muriel's you wowed me in a way that I will never forget. I genuinely enjoyed every bite on every plate. My only regret was my inability to finish my entrée.  I will definitely be back next time I'm in New Orleans!!

Hungry yet?

Gazala's

It’s hard to break out of habits. I try to make sure I sample a new cuisine every now and then, but I don’t always do it.  Thankfully I was invited to dinner at Gazala, an Israeli Druze restaurant.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I kept an open mind.  The menu offered familiar items, but with interesting ingredient combinations.  We were told that a pie was a must have.  We ordered the Mankosha Pie.

It was a thin circle of pita dough topped with oregano, olive oil, and toasted sesame seeds.  It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw pie on the menu.  It was well seasoned but not a taste I expected. There was a dryness to the seasonings, but the olive oil prevented it from actually being dry.  When it came time to select an entrée, I attempted to order the Sautéed Shrimp.  Our waitress told me it wasn’t very good and was namely for tourists. It’s not an authentic dish.  I was taken aback by her commentary, but decided to heed her warning.  We both ordered the Whole Fish Platter.  He ordered the Branzino.

What a site to behold. Mine was about a 2 – 3 pound snapper topped with onions and parsley it had a tangy taste with higher levels of acidity than I’m used to. 

The rice was a great neutralizer.

The meal was also served with a side of salad. 

This is not your typical salad. It was a mix of corn and lettuce. It tasted fine, but was not exactly a good compliment to the other items on the table.  I wasn’t particularly interested in dessert, but given the opportunity to try something new, I figured why not.  We ordered the Osh Al-Saria.

It is described as creamy yogurt pudding prepared with oranges and rosewater.  It tasted like sweet custard.  It was good, but tasted extremely rich and sweet.  The balance was best achieved when each bite included a bit of the crumbled pistachio.

Gazala’s was a great experience. It’s always nice to try something new. The fish was well seasoned and delicious and I really enjoyed the rice.  I’m not sure what else I would order from the menu considering the waitress steered us clear of one of the items that looked good.  I encourage you to check it out yourself, after all how many Druze restaurants have you come across?

Hungry yet?

Limon Restaurant - San Francisco

I had a great time my first time in San Francisco last year. This year I decided to visit my PIC and GMTT.  I was a little nervous about having my worlds collide, but food is a universal unifier so I figured it would be a great time.  GMTT gave me a few options and ultimately we decided on Limon.  It was quite the festive restaurant. Very bright and a little loud, but overall a great scene.  The menu is expansive and we had more options than we needed, but that didn’t stop us from over indulging.  The Truffle mac-n-cheese came out first.

Whoa. They were too rich for me. I took one bite and my eyes immediately rolled in the back of my head.  PIC and GMTT made sure to take care of the rest. The Sweet Potato Fries were more my speed.

They were the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I loved it! Since Limon is a Peruvian restaurant, it’s only right that we ordered Ceviche.

This Red Snapper Ceviche was delightful! It was slightly tart with a tangy finish.  GMTT and PIC also ordered the Lomo Saltado.

They really enjoyed the stir-fry of sirloin strips.  I ate a couple of the fries – couldn’t help myself. We also ordered the Chicharron de Pollo.

At this point, I was stuffed beyond belief but still managed a few bites of these crispy pieces of chicken.  The best part was as crispy as the chicken was the inside was moist and well seasoned.  My favorite dish was the Pescado Limon.

It was beautifully presented, but also tasted incredible. The crispy fried snapper was layered over crispy potatoes and spinach.  The sauce was excellent. I couldn’t quite finish the dish, but thankfully the next morning I was able to reheat it and enjoy it a lot! As stuffed as I was, I certainly couldn’t turn down dessert.  PIC and GMTT went with the Profiteroles.

Those sugar-dusted cream puffs were a big hit. I wasn’t interested though. I was a big fan of the Bandido.

The Warm Chocolate Cake was amaaaaazing. The caramelized apples and dulce de leche ice cream went perfectly with the warm chocolate cake.  I couldn’t help myself I finished every last bite. The worlds collide dinner was fantastic! I really enjoyed Limon and of course any opportunity to hang with GMTT and PIC. 

Hungry yet?

craftbar

Apologies for my limited posting this past week. The hard part about having a day job like mine is that sometimes they want it to be a night job too :(  Thankfully, my guest blogger is willing to step up and help me out so expect some entries from her.

While GMTT was here, Mr. M planned several dining experiences.  Although he made my day by telling me we were going to Red Rooster, he changed it up and instead we ended up at Craftbar (yes, I know, my life is so hard one celebrity chef restaurant for another).  While I enjoyed eating at Colicchio & Sons last year, since I started watching Top Chef, I’ve decided I’m not a fan of Mr. Colicchio’s attitude.  Regardless, his food was good last year so I suppose this would be tasty too.  Meh.  I was late to dinner because I had camera issues.  The photos in this post were thanks to GMTT’s camera which has a slightly more active flash than mine. Apologies.

We were joined at dinner with Z&Z. It was so great to see them after so long.  I wanted to order dessert as my appetizer but the most appealing item on the menu, the Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Ice Cream was no longer available.  I pouted while the rest of the group ordered appetizer.  

Z (female) ordered the Baby beet goat cheese salad with pistachio and candied citrus.  She found it to be “beety” I had a taste and it was fine but truthfully didn’t compare to the salad from Motorino.  Z (male) ordered the Wagyū Beef Tongue served with Horseradish Aïoli.

He found it to be really good and the horseradish aioli was not really spicy but the flavor enhanced the beefy taste.  GMTT and Mr. M ordered the Spanish Octopus small plate.

It was served with chorizo, cranberry bean and lemon greek yogurt.  Within an instant, all I saw were empty plates so this must have been delicious.  Soon after, our entrees began to arrive.  Mr. M ordered the Berkshire Pork Belly with Fried Egg, collard greens and anson mills polenta.

It looked interesting and he definitely enjoyed it.  Z (male) ordered the Duck Confit which was served with a white bean cassoulet and a duck egg.

The egg looked spectacular because it was breaded outside, however I came to find out it was runny inside so I’m glad I didn’t order that.  The skin was crispy and the cast iron presentation was a bonus.  The rest of us ordered the Red Snapper with Sofrito Braised Salsify and Habanero Lime Vinaigrette.

I was slightly underwhelmed by this dish.  The snapper was fine.  That’s right, I said it, just fine.  I must admit that the salsify was really tasty and possibly the most delicious part of the meal.  Expanding my range of acceptable vegetables is probably the best decision I’ve made.  I was pretty glad when the main course was over because it was time to focus on dessert.  Since my desire for Apple Crisp was so overwhelming, I strongly encouraged the group to order three desserts.  I wasn’t really in a chocolate mood so the Chocolate Custard Tart with Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream didn’t really appeal to me.

However, it was so delicious that I kept going back.  The Butterscotch Pot de Crème was PHENOMENAL. 

No, seriously, it was like crème brulee amplified.  However, my absolute favorite that almost led me to forget all about the Apple Crisp was the incredible Brown Sugar Cake served with a Poached Seckel Pear and Ice Cream that is invisible thanks to the flash on the camera. ugh.

I did a little dance in my chair each time I took a bite.  It was very sweet and definitely a sugar cake, but that was exactly what I needed.  The desserts were key because they made sure the dining experience ended on a high note. 

While I understand the inherent awesomeness of Colicchio, I just wasn’t that blown away by craftbar.  I’m sure part of that is based on the lack of diversity on the menu (really, Tom? Do you have to put pork in everything?!) It probably satisfies some people but I don’t recommend this restaurant for someone with dietary restrictions.  The freshness of the ingredients is highlighted by their every changing menu.  I certainly respect that.  The music was also pretty awesome – any restaurant that plays Stevie twice during the meal gets some ambiance points.  I’m not sure that I would go back to craftbar without giving the menu a once over to see if there’s something that calls out to me.  There are far too many restaurants in New York for me to compromise.

Hungry yet?

Aguaviva

I've been delaying writing about Aguaviva because it was such an amazing dining experience and because it was the last meal I had in Puerto Rico.  Aguaviva is an OOF! Restaurant and quite awesome.  Bestie and I were super excited to dine there.  We started with a tasting of ceviches.

The red snapper with avocado was simply divine! It tasted so good I wasn't sure what to do with myself, other than try the mahi mango limon ceviche.

Woweeee! It was by far the BEST ceviche I have EVER had.  No, seriously.  There was something over the top good about it.  In fact, as I write this all I can think about is how to get my hands on it again.  The tostones were obviously a perfect accompaniment.

After a short while our entrees arrived.  I wish I could adequately capture exactly how awesome everything looked.

Bestie ordered Jumbo Shrimp with yucca gnocchi.

shrimp with yucca gnocchi (aerial view)

Yucca gnocchi is brand new to my taste buds but I would definitely like to incorporate it again!  I ordered the chillo with lobster mofongo. Having had such incredible whole red snapper a few nights earlier, I decided to go with the fillet.

I'm pretty sure lobster mofongo should be outlawed because it is dangerously good.  It was incredibly rich and had big chunks of lobster.  It was likely mashed up with garlic butter because it had an additional richness that was not due to the lobster.  As I write this (weeks after the fact) my mouth is watering.  I may have to attempt to make mofongo one day...we'll see.  Bestie and I obviously stuffed ourselves silly, but made sure to leave enough room for dessert.

Definitely a shareable portion of creme brulee.  It was soooo good! Maybe it's the richness of the mofongo carrying over or the generally good time I had eating in PR or perhaps the fact that this was my last meal, but this creme brulee definitely put me over the top.  I was once again singing and dancing as I ate.

While I ate at a lot of incredible places while I was in PR, I think Aguaviva wins out as the best overall dining experience.  The waitress was subpar but the manager made up for it.  Every morsel of food was incredibly tasty and it is obvious that a lot of energy goes into every plate.  I know because we had a view of the open kitchen! If you're in Old San Juan either for a long trip to PR or just stopping in on your cruise, you must add Aguaviva to your list of places to eat.  You will not regret it!

Hungry yet?

Lima Peruvian Restaurant

The highlight of my trip (food wise of course) was the incredible dish I ate at Lima.  It pretty much set the bar, although I must say my final dinner was also extremely impressive, but you’ll have to wait to read about that.  Lima is tucked away in Miramar on a fairly major street but with little fanfare.

I walked in to the industrial looking space and loved the communal tables in the middle as well as the simple décor.  The menu was entirely in Spanish.  I was pretty impressed with my understanding – food is a universal language :-) I was craving red snapper so when I saw chillo entero on the menu, I knew exactly what I was planning to order.  It looked so good I must show you a couple of pictures to try to capture the awesomeness.

That is Chillo Entero (whole red snapper).  This two pound beauty was the best looking thing I ate the entire week.

I mean seriously, it’s a beaut.  It was served with montado en vegetales mixtos y yuquitas.  My rough translation is mixed vegetables and yucca.  The veggies were a nice crunch.  The yucca was also really delicious.  The server brought out a side of the house made spicy sauce.  As for the fish, every last morsel was incredible.  I quickly dropped the fork and knife and went for it with my hands.

Yup – that’s right went to town.  If only I could eat this again.  I can’t wait to go back to Lima and had to stop myself from going back during the week.  Bestie’s ceviche de pescado was also awesome.

The ceviche had a slightly tart flavor and the corn was crispy which added a great contrast.  It was served with a side of tostones and I was quite happy to get in there and help her out with them.

Even though we cleaned up our dinner, there was no way we weren’t having dessert.

That is suspiro de limeña.  Caramelized milk and meringue aromatized with port wine.  Simply divine! I was singing and dancing while enjoying that crazy good treat.  Dining at Lima was an INCREDIBLE experience.  The chillo entero is a must have, but you should also find a way to have some ceviche. 

Hungry yet?