Trip Report - New Orleans LA (might be too long)

On Sunday November 12th I boarded the ‘City of New Orleans’ for my trip. It has been 6 or so years since I have been on Amtrak. I thought the service in general had declined. The food was only “OK”, although coming back I had a piece of blackened catfish that was good and a slice of Mississippi Mud pie that I really liked. But I confirmed with the dining staff that a lot of the food is pre-cooked and then reheated on board.

My last trip I thought the food was more freshly prepared. Also, due to this new style of preparation, choice is more limited than in the past. I had a sleeper both ways and that was really nice. Although going down my car was right behind the engine where they had to blow the whistle long and constantly at every crossing….every 10 minutes it seemed. That made sleeping tough. Coming back I was in the very last car, what a big difference.

Oh, travel time was about 19+ hours each way.

My first night in NOLA was Monday. I went to the Palace Café (605 Canal), which is not usually open on Monday’s, but has been lately. They had a price fix menu, which after discussion with some of the staff, looked too good to pass up. I had a very very good turtle soup, pecan crusted trout (rice & broccoli), and bread pudding. All for $25. I liked the trout, but thought it was slightly too salty for my tastes, but still good. And the bread pudding was terrific. Of course the 2 martinis I had didn’t help my cost, I really enjoyed the meal.

I was attending a business meeting and they provided a free continental breakfast each morning.

On Tuesday I went to Mother’s (401 Poydras). I had the oyster po’boy. I had read that it was the best place to have one. Oh, this was my first experience with the sandwich. I liked it. I was disappointed in that the sandwich was 2 halves (each a decent size) with only 1 pickle and a little lettuce on each half, but there seemed to be a lot of fried oysters. I am not sure what so special about this sandwich as I think I would prefer a plate of fried oysters with some lemon & hot sauce.

Tuesday night was a business dinner at the hotel Montelone, pretty good food for a hotel.

Wednesday for lunch I went to Zydeque (808 Iberville) for some Cajun BBQ. The A-V guy at the hotel recommended it. I had the 2 meat combo: pulled pork and smoked andouille sausage with mustard greens and baked beans. With my tea it was about $20 with tax & tip. I was with a friend from Virginia who had the same thing, except cole slaw and fries. We both thought it was pretty terrific, although we both thought that what they called pulled pork was different than what they call it in Chicago or Virginia. We both were used to pork that is string like. Here the pulled pork was pork chunks, still very tasty.

Wednesday night I went with a group to Pat O'Briens for some drinks, hurricanes. Then we went to the Gumbo Shop (our waiter at Pat’s recommended it). The shop is at 630 Saint Peter. I had Jambalaya which was very good.

Thursday for lunch I went to the Central Grocery 923 Decatur. I had their “Original Muffuletta" sandwich. I liked it although from descriptions I have read I was expecting a stronger taste of garlic & anchovies. I would have preferred a stronger tasting sandwich.

Thursday night I went to Bayona (430 Dauphine) for dinner. I wasn’t very hungry and I was not too excited about the entrees, so I had just soup, salad & dessert.

I had cream of garlic soup which I have never seen before. It was excellent. Then I had smoked quail on a bed of greens with a bourbon molasses vinaigrette dressing. Wow, the smoke quail really pared well with the sweetness of the dressing. I really like this. For dessert I had a passion fruit Roulade with 5 spice chocolate sauce. Didn’t care for this. I attribute this to not liking the taste of the passion fruit, I assumed I would have preferred raspberry.

Friday I went to Brennan’s (417 Royal) for a late breakfast before going to the train station. Wow, I hit a personal mile stone for the most expensive breakfast ever. I had 2 bloody mary’s (nothing special), a truly excellent cup of Creole onion soup, and oysters benedict. For the price I thought the oysters benedict were unremarkable and not what I expected. Basically the serving consisted of 4 slices of Canadian bacon piled high with fried oysters, with Hollandaise sauce served on the side. The whole cost me (with T&T) $70 and no Bananas Foster. There was a price fix menu that I should have utilized, but I didn’t think I was that hungry and I was so relaxed I just didn’t do the math.

Oh, service in all cases at the dinner restaurants was absolutely excellent. All the staffs were very efficient and friendly.

Wow, sounds like a long train ride...At least it sounds like you managed to hit some pretty good places when you were there. When I was there several years ago, I really, really enjoyed Bayona. I also had the garlic soup, and mentioned to the waiter how much I had enjoyed it. The waiter (who, up to that point, had seemed kind of stuffy) actually returned with a copy of the recipe. I think I still have it in our kitchen drawer, but never have gotten around to making it. At any rate, I thought it was a nice touch. Though much more casual, Gumbo Shop is a great little spot in the Quarter/Jackson Square area for a relatively inexpensive casual meal.