A trip to New Orleans this past September left me wanting even more after our visit, the main purpose of which was a tour of Tulane. Recall, that we all flew for free using JetBlue points and stayed for free at the JW Marriott New Orleans.
We did a lot of research deciding on what to do, where to stay and most importantly where to eat. This last part was the hardest as there are soooo many amazing restaurants in the city and we had so many recommendations. We were there for 3 days and 3 nights and we packed in a lot during our time in the Big Easy!
Before I get to the highlights, the food!, we did some pretty cool activities in they city in between meals. We visited the National World War II Museum and given that I have 2/3 curious teenagers who enjoy history, this was a great interactive spot to kill a couple of hours. There is a cool movie at the museum too.
We did a 2 hour Segway tour of the city…..Rob don’t fall! This was a great way to see much of the area but things definitely got dicey when we tooled around through the French Quarter and Bourbon Street as the paths were lined with people dancing, singing, drinking, throwing beads (no one pulled their top up) and having a great time. You cannot visit New Orleans without a stop here, especially if you are young!
And Jazz! Know that it is hard to find a jazz club that will let underage kids in so we were limited to where we could go. But we stood on line with many others to gain entry to one of the many evening hourly shows at Preservation Hall (we actually made the dads go get on line an hour early). Here we were treated to an intimate, acoustic New Orleans Jazz concert. It was about 40 minutes long and a perfect introduction and taste of jazz for our skeptical teens. They really enjoyed it!
Ok now the food, and let me start with the sweets!
How can anyone go to New Orleans without hitting Cafe Du Monde? This 24 hour cafe is quite popular and normally very crowded-expect to wait a bit to get a table. In addition to coffee, there is just one thing on the menu-beignets! These tasty delights are square pieces of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three. We got six orders for our party of 9. And oh were they good! Tip-Don’t wear black pants, you will leave completely speckled with powder.
And our dinners! Our first night, we left the main part of the city and passed on standard Cajun food in favor of Mediterranean at the highly touted Shaya on trendy Magazine Street. There we shared amazing wood-fired pita, hummus topped with blue crab, small vegetable plates like roasted eggplant with tomatoes, and lots of grilled meats and fish. It was an unbelievable feast at this bustling and popular dining venue. Saba is the more casual sister restaurant.
We brought it back to N’awlins style the next night as we headed to Cochon, a boisterous spot in a renovated warehouse with an open kitchen. There we enjoyed true Cajun dishes including fried alligator! Those of us who were meat eaters made sure to try something obviously with pork as that is the restaurant’s specialty. (Cochon means pig in French). We had fun “pigging out”. Ha!
We continued with our traditional Cajun theme the next night (when in Rome) at the well established, family-owned Bon Ton Cafe. There is mainly seafood on the menu like crawfish, catfish, trout and soft-shell crabs, but for those non fish lovers, there is also chicken fried steak which some in our party ordered too. Oh, and try the turtle soup here as well! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal dining on the checkered table cloths in this intimate spot bringing us back to the laid-back days of old New Orleans.
We also had very strict instructions regarding where to eat lunch and we listened to all of the many folks who kept coming in with Mother’s Restaurant and Camellia Grill. Mother’s Restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in the NOLA (1938). Know that you will definitely need to wait on line which may stretch all the way down the street. And if you send someone ahead, like we did, and happen to make it to the front of the line without your entire party, don’t even think about getting in till everyone arrives! Once inside, the line continues till you finally make it up to the counter to order the N’awlins classics like po’ boy sandwiches and jambalaya. A few of us had the famous Ferdi Special which is a po’ boy with baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy. What is debris you ask? Debris is the shredded roast beef that’s been mixed with pan drippings. The result is tender, falling-apart meat with lots of flavor. I hear that breakfast is amazing here as well.
We had another wait at Camellia Grill, the restaurant that came in on top as a must when visiting New Orleans. It is an old-fashioned diner where everyone eats at the counter. The staff wears vintage uniforms as they serve up yummy Southern diner food thats prepared by the cooks at open grills. We had a combo of breakfast items like specialty omelets with grits and big stacks of pancakes and also some sandwiches like grilled cheeses and burgers. We ordered gumbo and jambalaya for a try and at the end their signature pecan pie. This place, also a hotspot for Tulane students, is definitely worth the wait for the atmosphere and food alike!
Overall, New Orleans seems like an amazing place to go to school and Tulane’s campus was gorgeous with its’ Southern feel. My gut is that I won’t have a kid that goes to school there. But for all of you that do, I’m jealous!