Special Out of Town Edition: Red Fish Grill

We were in NOLA over Memorial Day weekend for a friend's bachelorette party. The girls in the group went to Red Fish Grill for dinner on Saturday night. We got there a little early, so the hostess suggested we wait in the bar. And wait we did ...

Unfortunately, I've noticed that some servers don't take me seriously, particularly in nicer restaurants. It might be because I look young, or because I'm a female. Perhaps they think I don't have enough money to buy nice things or that I don't know proper tipping etiquette. Whatever the reason, the bartender at Red Fish Grill (like so many others before him) chose to ignore me. I made eye contact, and eventually, he did ask me what I wanted -- only to cut me off in the middle of my request (for a bottle of champagne; not exactly a difficult cocktail to mix), tell me he'd get with me in a moment, and then ask the people next to me if they wanted a refill on their drinks. That's right -- he chose to ask other customers for their order rather than take mine! Other customers who had already been served and weren't actively trying to flag him down to order something else. Strange, rude behavior, but luckily he was the last of it. We got our champagne and moved to our table, where we were greeted by a much friendlier server.

We started with a plate of their barbecued oysters. We ordered a half dozen, but were treated to a full dozen soft, succulent oysters bathed in a spicy barbecue sauce. It was a like a chicken wing with an oyster in the middle; for me that's a treat-within-a-treat, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

For my entree I ordered the crayfish and cream cheese ravioli. I was treated to this playful presentation:

I took a bite into the first little pasta puff and HOLY SODIUM BATMAN. I was blinded by salt. I took a swig of champagne and braved another and ... boom, problem solved. The rest of the dish was creamy, soothing and blessedly not over-seasoned. This was a good stick-to-your-ribs dish, suitable as a base for a night full of drinking.

Like I mentioned before, our waiter was extremely sweet, not batting an eye when we needed to split the bill. Clearly big parties are something they're used to dealing with at Red Fish. This is a nice, casual, accessible place right on Bourbon. Is it the best food I've had in NOLA? No. But that doesn't mean I won't recommend it. August is perfect for a nice date or a special family meal; Red Fish brings the party. And in NOLA there definitely is a time and place for both.

Ragin' Cajun

I ate at Ragin' Cajun several weeks ago. I didn't have my camera on me, so our friend snapped a pic with his iPhone, and he didn't send the picture until recently. I'll try to remember as much as I can.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and were a little surprised to find a healthy party crowd. It wasn't super-crowded or rowdy, but there were plenty of people drinking plenty of beer. Seemed like my kind of place.

I had the fried oysters. It was the very end of oyster season -- but I'm pretty sure that Ragin' Cajun serves oysters many ways year-round. My fried oysters were served with a spicy cocktail sauce, fries and hushpuppies. I can't really remember more about them, except that I liked them (as much as I generally like all fried oysters).

Here's what they looked like:



In hindsight, I probably should have ordered something a little more ethnically Cajun. I probably should have also blogged about this while I still had some semblance of a memory of the place. I apologize. I can say this: if you like to drink on a Sunday, Ragin' Cajun is the place for you. And that's enough for me.

Crescent City Beignets

I have to admit that I don't know much about authentic Cajun food. Etoufee, gumbo, beignets ... all of these things are really more of Ross's territory. But I know what I like. And I like the beignets at Crescent City Beignets.

Crescent City is located at 3260 Westheimer, in a strip mall in the River Oaks section of Houston. The set-up inside isn't really ideal. There is only one place at the counter where food is both ordered and picked up, which leads to back-ups in the line and forces customers to cut into the crowd when their order is up. The entire place has a crowded, rushed feel to it. I recommend either taking your order to go (like we did) or eating outside (although the small sidewalk only lends itself to two little tables).

My husband and I decided to just grab a box of beignets on our way out of town for New Years Eve. Unfortunately, neither one of us knew how big a beignet is. We knew how big the beignet strips served at Crescent City are, as some were displayed behind glass on the counter. Assuming that the beignets were smaller than the strips, because the strips are more expensive, we ordered 12 beignets. Big mistake. We ended up with enough food for four people.



What food though! The beignets are Crescent City are served piping-hot out of the deep frier, sprinkled with powdered sugar that quickly melts and then hardens into a delightful frosting/crust. They somehow were both soft and crispy, with an airy dough center. We immediately scarfed down three apiece, and wished we had room for more (or a means to heat them up for breakfast the next day).

Crescent City has a full menu of Creole and Cajun standards. All of the prices are reasonable, although I question what service is like in a place so small, crowded, and seemingly understaffed. I can't comment on any of that, though, since all we had were the beignets. And they were enough.