– (6) Oysters on Half Shell

– Crawfish Rangoon (sweet soy, citrus-cilantro glaze, cucumber salad)

– BBQ Blue Crab Claws (w/ cheddar-scallion drop biscuit)

– BBQ Oyster Po-Boy (flash fried oysters tossed in Crystal BBQ sauce, LTO, housemade blue cheese dressing, Creole potato salad) 

Dinner:
Vendy Awards – Food Trucks @ The French Market
OK, so this was a one night event, but these food trucks can be found around town all the time. Follow them on Facebook & Twitter to find their up to date locations. Such a fun event! For $39 the two of us sampled all the food trucks listed below and we had two beers each. Brooklyn Brewery supplied cans of their lager and summer varieties, so we tested both. La Cocinita won the 2014 Vendy Cup and Food Drunk won the People’s Choice (also my personal favorite).

Sidenote: I was too busy shoving my face to take any pictures, so I “borrowed” these wonderful images from the Vendy Awards Facebook page. Photo credits: Paige Pemberton.

* Crepes a la Cart (shrimp crepe)

* Empanada Intifada (hispanakopita – spinach w/ chevre, tomatillo salsa, honey ancho roasted pepitas)

* Food Drunk Food Truck (drunken pig cone – apple smoked pulled pork w/ Makers Mark & Pabst BBQ sauce topped w/ slaw in waffle cone AND crawfish mac n cheese)

* Foodie Call (braised short ribs in chocolate black stout demi)

* Frencheeze Food Truck (fried mac n cheese balls topped w/ pepper jelly)

* La Cocinita (crispy plantain chip topped w/ pulled pork, griddled cheese & spicy guava gastrique, garnished w/ citrus-pickled beets & carrots)

* The NOLA Truck (crawfish grilled cheese sandwich)

Breakfast:

Cafe Du Monde – 800 Decatur Street

Everyone says to come here and I will do the same.  Just do it. Delicious. Tip, you can place take-out orders around back. Thank goodness we discovered this because we were getting real sick of listening to the cluster of good ol’ boys behind us. They were loudly complaining about their hangovers in the super long, never ending, “waiting for a table” line. Teeth were almost knocked loose and then NO ONE would have enjoyed a beignet.

– (3) Beignets

– Iced Cafe Au LaitLunch:
SoBou – 310 Chartres Street
This place had a happy hour Monday-Friday from 11:30-3 that consisted of 25 cent martinis! Yes, that’s a thing. I had “pink elephants on parade” which is vodka, creme de cassis & sour mix. Limit of 3 martinis per person (3 it was) and you have to purchase an entree. The food was actually quite exceptional, the decor was very chic and cool and you should definitely check out their legitimate signature cocktail list.  Abigail knows her stuff and would prefer to make you something off her menu that costs more than a quarter.

– Escargots Orleans (fennel, leeks, oyster mushrooms & apple smoked bacon simmered in a roasted garlic butter, served in a flaky vol-au-vent shell)

– Pan Seared Maple Leaf Duck Breast (duck confit dirty rice, leeks & baby carrots, duck crackling w/ cherry reduction sauce) 

4/5/2014
Lunch:
Acme Oyster House – 724 Iberville Street
I had mentioned we had attempted here the first day. Fail. This day we were less intimidated by the line and more eager than ever for oysters. Our projected 30 minute wait ended up being 5 minutes at most. Now, try the chargrilled oysters. Seriously. If you only eat one thing in NOLA, it might have to be that. Also, I advocate sitting at the bar where they shuck everything because I found it mesmerizing. Just popping oysters all day, erryday. Finally, watch out if Melvin is on the fryer. Apparently he isn’t great and the appearance of your Po-Boy will be drastically delayed. Every kitchen has a Melvin. SMH.

– (6) Oysters on Half Shell

– (6) Chargrilled Oysters

– Half Fried Shrimp Po-Boy w/ cup Seafood Gumbo (shrimp & crab) 

Dinner:
August – 301 Tchoupitoulas Street
This was our “fancy” night. Look, the menu is incredible, but we were feeling a little too poverty prone to order several courses. Instead, we tried a couple appetizers at the bar. Simply stupendous. Next trip back, I will set set aside an August fund so a no holds barred dinner can be had. Oh, and this place is three floors of beautiful. Ramble around the restaurant “looking for a bathroom” to ensure you see all the charming detail.

– Foie Gras Prepared Three Ways (I wish I remembered all the ways and I couldn’t look it up because they change their prep every night! I know one had pheasant & apricot involved, one was somewhat traditional & one was strawberry infused)

– Handmade Potato Gnocchi (tossed w/ blue crab & black truffle) 

4/6/2014
Lunch:
Royal House Oyster Bar – 441 Royal Street
Frankly, this was probably my least favorite meal, but that’s not to say it was this restaurants fault. Splitting two small appetizers for dinner and proceeding to hit the bars will leave your brain in a compromised position the next day. On that note, I didn’t put much thought into my order, but I did see a myriad of glorious seafood dishes placed on the surrounding tables of patrons who know how to hang. Furthermore, we were running out of time to try gator, so we made that happen as well. I thought it tasted like a chicken/codfish hybrid. Wasn’t mad at it.

– Fried Alligator (marinated gator meat served w/ cocktail & tarter)

– Royal Garden Salad (Mandarin oranges, mint & red pepper flakes, medley of greens, fried oysters, peanut vinaigrette dressing) 

Dinner:
Deanie’s Seafood – 841 Iberville Street
We had done a VIP City Tour earlier in the day and our phenomenal tour guide Dino (you should all be so lucky to have him show you NOLA) threw out all kinds of places to grab a bite. Several of his suggestions were in the hood, but Deanie’s was around the corner from our hotel. This seemed more our speed. It was a comfortable and casual place for our last night. He warned portions were large, but I was still dumbfounded by the platter of food that was supposedly for one human. It was the only meal I could not finish. They also do family style meals that are “enough to feed six” and by six, I can only assume six NFL linebackers. They’re known for their crawfish, so I did the quartet and was far from disappointed.

– Crawfish Quartet (crawfish etouffee – tails smothered in a butter blend of onions, peppers, celery & garlic sauce served over rice, crawfish au gratin – crawfish baked in creamy 4-cheese blend & fresh seasonings, fried crawfish tails & crawfish dressing balls)

– Stuffed Shrimp (fried jumbo gulf shrimp, butterflied & stuffed w/ crab meat dressing) 

In conclusion, we couldn’t really find a bad meal and I love that they put hot sauce on everything in Lousiana. I came back with a few bottles  myself…