Written by Shawn Krajewski
Recently, I went down to New Orleans for the week of Christmas. While there, my family and I went to several restaurants ranging from hidden gems to overpriced garbage. The good news is I will only be talking about the standout restaurants we visited in this town of Voodoo and delicious delights.
Commander’s Palace
The first and most popular restaurant we visited was Commander's Palace. I had heard stories of chefs coming from all around to this location and becoming some of the best in the world, achieving a title worthy of saying “yes, chef” to. That's why going into it, my expectations were high. So, did it live up to the hype? Yes, yes it did.
Commander's Palace single-handedly made me like crab, and that's not an easy task considering I don't like seafood, especially shellfish. So, it's extremely impressive that Commander's Palace made me enjoy crab, even when it wasn't a full dish.
Overall, the eating experience at Commander's Palace was a true delight—and that's because of the service. Every table has a team of staff that attends to all of their needs and desires. They'll refill your water and bring new dishes when the old ones are no longer needed. It's nice to be treated like this. However, it does come at a huge cost. Commander's Palace is expensive, and you must have a reservation to attend. To top it off, there is a dress code. Meaning, not only do you need fancy clothing and a reservation, but you still need hundreds left over to pay for the meal. So, while the food is good, I understand Commander's Palace isn't feasible for everyone, and you should only go if you have the money to do so.
Cafe du Monde
Cafe Du Monde specializes in one thing: beignets (pronounced ben-yay). Beignets are a French pastry, typically deep-fried and topped with powdered sugar. Beignets are also the only thing Cafe Du Monde sells—apart from coffee and tea—and it shows. What do I mean by this? Well, if a restaurant has minimal things on its menu, the food's quality will be better and the service will be quicker. This is because the chefs don't have to master a long list of recipes, and they don't have to juggle several different orders.
With that being said, you're probably wondering how the food is at Cafe Du Monde. It is fantastic. Their beignets were so good we tried to get them every day. (We only missed once due to Cafe du Monde being closed for Christmas.) The texture was like biting into a pillow; every part of the deep-fried delight caresses your tongue and demands that you eat more. The actual taste only improved the experience, being a perfect synergy of sweetness and savoriness. They weren't too sweet that they hurt your teeth and not too savory that the sugar is killed off.
Adolfo’s
Adolfo's is a restaurant located in an old apartment, and trust me on this, but their food rivals that of Commander's Palace. I am not kidding. The food was genuinely fantastic—especially for it to be created in someone's apartment.
Their menu consists of pastas, sauces, and numerous forms of seafood, including a special seafood-based sauce that was so good I wish I could have brought a container home so I could dunk bread into it. They also serve various desserts like tiramisu. But nothing can compare to the crab-meat cannelloni. It was served with Adolfo's special seafood sauce, and it was delicious. It was the perfect-sized dish, and the tiny bite that hit my taste buds was incredible. Overall, there is something special about eating this dish in a beautiful yet small room that has a clear view of the kitchen. It was a truly unique experience.
Turkey and the Wolf
This is probably the most “Hidden Gem” restaurant on the list. The other locations are decently popular, but this one felt like a local secret. It is out of the way, and from an outside perspective, it doesn't have any notable stories or qualities.
Despite this, I'm putting Turkey and the Wolf on the list for one simple reason: they have a fantastic burger! Sure, they also have a charming atmosphere—like an old McDonald's combined with a BBQ bar—quick service, and a diverse menu. But what stood out to me is that they have a great burger. It was perfectly good, appropriately sized, and had a great texture.
Shaya
What does it mean to be "good?" Happy? Grandiose? A slight feeling in the chest that makes you laugh? All of these are technically correct; however, what does "good" mean in terms of an eating experience? For me, a good eating experience resembles a scene from the popular movie Ratatouille. It's a movie, consisting of the simple phrase “anyone can cook,” and the scene features Anton Ego, a food critic. In it, he takes a bite of a meal prepared for him and is left speechless after remembering his past and his mother's cooking. This scene speaks volumes about the impact quality cooking can have on a person, and it's this exact scene I experienced at Shaya.
Out of all the locations on this list, Shaya is the best one without a doubt. All the restaurants listed above were fantastic, but only Shaya left me speechless from the first bite.
Shaya sells a variety of modern Israeli food, with their standout dish being their pita. Most of their dishes revolve around pita bread, and it is typically used as a vessel for delivering the food—such as hummuses and spreads—into your mouth. Now my mother is a very talented chef, and when I was young, she used to make me pita, which I loved. And I cannot say this enough: the closest thing I have had to my mom's pita is the pita at Shaya. So I highly encourage you to go to Shaya, enjoy the delicious spreads, and especially eat their pita. Shaya is one of the best restaurants I have ever visited, and simple compliments aren’t enough for this establishment.
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