I like to grab a bite to eat before I attend a crawfish boil. I love crawfish, but unless it’s your boil, you have no idea what to expect. When the host says come around 12:30, that could be when the crawfish are coming out, or when they are going to start getting everything together. On this Saturday down in New Orleans, I was going for a bento box lunch at Haiku Sushi on Magazine, but they weren’t open yet when my Uber driver dropped me off, so I just walked down the street to Shaya and grabbed a seat at the bar.
The bartender agreed with me that the wood fired puffy pita bread was the star of the show at Shaya, but I also believe the co-star is their pressed green tea with lemon and mint. Delightful. I ordered the three plate salatim for lunch, a collection of cold small plates that pair perfectly with the warm pita and hot tea. I went with the ikra (whipped cream cheese with shallots and caviar), the bulgur wheat salad with tzatziki, and the fresh baba ganoush. I thought I was ordering light, anticipating crawfish and corn and potatoes and maybe sausage later, but I would have needed help to actually polish off all three dishes. They offer five cold dishes as salatim and you can choose all five or only three. Shaya is definitely one of the many New Orleans spots you feel you just have to visit when you’re there. I’m pretty sure I’d have to stay down there at least two weeks and eat out three times a day to visit most of those in one trip. I will have to make a vow to myself to try something new next time I hit the Big Easy.
