New Orleans Weekend Wrap Up and Midtown Links

 

I’m never going to eat again.  There are four reasons for this.

    1. Two full days of eating at Jazzfest.  You can see the live photo-blogged pictures of the Crabmeat Po’boy, Daquiri & Gospel, Crawfish Monica, Patton’s Catering Combo, Cafe Au Lait, & Crawfish Bread.  And that was just from Friday.  On Saturday, there was the beignets from Cafe du Monde (seen above), Soft Shelled Crawfish Po-Boy, a fried shrimp po-boy, shrimp bread, and two mango freezes.
    2. An out of this world dinner at Cochon, the new’ish restaurant from Donald Link, of Herbsaint fame.  This place is the real deal, and should win the James Beard award for Best New Restaurant (even though I love NYC Nominees A Voce & Momofuku Ssam Bar).  I only wish the lighting had been better so I could have taken pictures of the food.  Highlights include: spicy pork ribs with watermelon pickle, wood fired oysters, fried gator with chili garlic aioli, smoked ham hocks with grits and brown gravy, and of course, the signature Louisiana Cochon (roast pork).
    3. Two dozen raw oysters (half at Felix’s in the French Quarter on Friday night, and half at Acme Oyster House in the airport right before I boarded my plane home).
    4. And finally, lunch at Panda Express in the Houston Airport during my layover. It’s been awhile since I enjoyed their orange chicken and delcious noodles, so I was pretty excited.  Have I mentioned we need a Panda Express in Midtown? 

Needless to say it was an amazing weekend… oh, and I saw a little music too.  It also means, I didn’t post any Midtown Links at the end of last week.  So, while I recover- here’s some Midtown stuff for you to enjoy from last week:

MIDTOWN LINKS

8 Comments

  • panda express?!?!?! wtf is so good about that chain chinese restaurant? :p

     

    Quality varies from location to location… but if you get a good one (like most of the stand alone locations on the west coast) it’s the apex of cheap chinese food.  And the lo mein is as good as it gets for crappy chinese food noodles.  -zach

  • felix’s is my favorite for oysters but when we were down for jazz fest last year they were still closed. glad to hear they’re back open!

  • No oyster artichoke soup, soft shell crab po-boy, or anything from the Prejean’s booth? Too bad… You’ll have to go back this weekend.

  • Crawfish bread and meat pies are still great. Crawfish Monica is OK but why only one size? Trying to make us part with $8 for what used to be a $6 large portion? And $12 for the combo plate of Crawfish Sack, Oyster Patties, Crawfish Beignets, which was $8? At what point do the locals get priced out?

     

    I’m pretty sure the crawfish monica was only $5.  As far as the food being expensive, I didn’t mind spending the extra money, because it’s all going into a community that really needs it… I’ve also heard it’s been a tough couple seasons for crawfish and oysters- making food more expensive across the board.  -zach

  • YEAH YOU RITE! What a nice surprise for me to find a Jazz Fest Gastric Review when I surfed over to your site today.

    Until Katrina, I haven’t missed a fest since the late 1980s, and sure could use a softshell crawfish pobody right about now.

    Until then it’s lunch in Midtown… Can ya spare a bottle of Crystal Hot Sauce?

    WHERE YAT! PET DE KAT
    http://www.petdekat.com/

  • wow…raw oysters at the airport location of acme before boarding a flight?!? you really are brave!

    sounds like you had a great time. i need to get back to the fest soon!!

  • Zach
    The CM was $4. This is one of the best crawfish seasons in recent memory as someone who used to boil between 500-1000 lbs every year remembers. (Since moving to NY, only did 80lbs this year). I had 5 pounds for $1.99/pound Friday night at a joint on Belle Chasse Highway. No potatos or corn, just crawfish.
    Oysters are also going strong due to the hurricane, although that seems counterintuitive.

     

    The Crawfish Monica is actually $5 this year.  I just dug up one of my pics from this past weekend to confirm.  That’s interesting about the Crawfish.  $1.99/lb is pre-Katrina prices!  We didn’t rent a car, so we couldn’t hit up our favorite places in the suburbs.  My comment was just going by what I was told at the festival- but you’re right, after a little research, it turns out this season is a big one, and prices are pretty low.  I guess Jazzfest was just good old fashioned price gouging!  -zach

  • So if it was $5, then it is even worse. The portion was the old $4 portion and they did not sell a large portion. Regardless, Friday was pretty good – Geno Delafose

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