I’m starting to think that the reason I systematically check all these joints out is not so much a search for the best burger in town as much as it is my fascination with the myriad ways folks choose to push burgers, hot dogs, and fries to the public. These pictures paint plenty of words about franchise concepts and corporatization but no one that goes this route can even touch Arnold and Al’s from Happy Days without Richie and the Fonz. I really don’t know why they try. I’ve also never understood table service at a burger joint. Why bring a server and their tip into the mix unless it’s a drive in and they’re wearing roller skates to hasten service? Luckily the chocolate shake here was so thick I initially had to use the straw as a spoon, and the tots were tots, and the chili cheese dog with extra onions was a chili cheese dog with extra onions, and the server was funny and enthusiastic and I didn’t mind at all leaving her a couple of bucks on top of what the combo cost me.
Acme has done a good job of capturing the Bourbon Street/New Orleans vibe. The neon, the mirrors, all the wood, the black and white checks, the background Dixieland tunes. They’ve also done a good job putting together a very representative menu. They do emphasize the oysters, but they haven’t abandoned staples like the ham and cheese or hot sausage poboy either. I went with the New Orleans Medley Plate. Jambalaya, seafood or chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice with grilled sausage.
If they tossed in some boudin and crawfish étouffée, they could just call it the Louisiana Rice Platter. It is very good packaging though, and it brought me back to a burning question of mine. Why does no one offer a combo of jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filet gumbo? Really, how hard would that be to put together? I’ve got a feeling that once it gets cooler, I’ll be hitting up Acme for halfshell and grilled oysters. I do appreciate that feeling, however fleeting, that I could walk outside and see Felix’s across the street on Iberville and stroll down the way to the Jimani listening to a street band do a pretty good rendition of Blueberry Hill while a hustler ran up to bet me a dollar he could tell me where I got those shoes at. And that also reminds me of one Halloween on Bourbon when the ex and I planned to go with another couple as Dorothy (her), the Tin Man (me), the Scarecrow and the Lion. We put a lot into it and all looked real good. Especially Dorothy with her perfect blue and white checked dress, frilly white socks and real ruby red slippers plus a basket with a stuffed Toto. But Dorothy fell ill at the last minute with flu like symptoms and urged me to go ahead and have a good time. Knowing that either decision I made (stay or go) would be the wrong one, I went out with my friends and we hit Bourbon without Dorothy and everyone wanted to know where Dorothy was. We had a great time yelling back at the crowd We got sick of her shit! We offed her! to much laughter and applause. I knew I’d be in for it when I got home so I only stayed out a couple of hours and held back on getting too messed up hoping those would serve as mitigating circumstances. Of course not. But it is still a (mostly) pleasant memory and I definitely recommend stopping by Acme for a cold one and a chance to dredge up one or two old tales of your own. And, though they don’t offer a crawfish pie to go with your jambalaya and filet gumbo, they do have meat pies.
And oh yeah, as I discovered the next day, they’ve got a pretty good ham and cheese poboy as well.
I have had some really special meals here. The inside isn’t much to look at, but the staff has always been friendly and they definitely know how to cook.
This time I went with the won ton soup and the shrimp fried rice. The soup didn’t quite measure up to the incredible one I found in Huntsville a while back, but it’s the best I’ve tried so far in BR. And the jumbo shrimp and the mung beans seperate this fried rice from everyone else’s. You can find all the standard offerings here at Nine Dragon, but there are also some really off the wall dishes like the Shredded Pig Stomach Salad that you can go for if you are up for it. So far I’ve not been any braver than the Octopus Balls which were quite delicious, but I hope to have the courage to take a bigger leap next time I’m there. This time was all about the ongoing search for a magnificent won ton soup. I will keep looking.
Muffaletta and boudin for lunch from Cannatella’s on Government. The deli guy asked me if I wanted my muff pressed or traditional (room temp) and I went with pressed, but next time I think I’ll wait until I get back to the house and use my panini press instead. Wanted to check out their boudin because I’m planning on doing some boudin and pepperjack taco’s this weekend and I needed to see if theirs measured up. It does, and I’m pretty excited to see how the combo of this boudin, pepperjack cheese, corn tortillas, pico de gallo, and extra cilantro works out. I’ve got a chipotle aioli at the house I can throw on as well. This muff really made me miss the Library on Chimes Street which had the best muffaletta I’ve ever had anywhere. And this visit also made me think how rare it is in BR to find someone selling links of hot boudin, You’d think it would be more readily available, but Jerry Lee’s is the only other place I can think of where you can walk in and walk right back out with hot boudin.
Update: The boudin and pico combo was good. Makes sense. Boudin is pork and rice, not strange taco additions at all. Of course I had leftover tortillas and pico so that led to blackened catfish tacos the next day.
I’m pretty sure there was a time when everyone born in the South, regardless of what side of the tracks they were born on, had a memory of at least one Sunday spent in front of a plate like this. Fried chicken, field peas, fried okra, and a corn muffin slathered in butter. If ever there was a quintessential Southern dish, this one would certainly qualify. But alas, I’m also pretty sure that now, in the age of McDonald’s and Jack in the Box and cable television, that we don’t all share that experience any longer. Too bad. I truly believe food binds us in a way nothing else does. I trusted that Christina’s would be able to deliver on the fried chicken, and I was right. I got there right before the lunch hour started and had to wait a few minutes, but that just meant my chicken was right out of the fryer when the server set it down in front of me. She also identified a lot of the customers that came in after me by name, so I guess they have a lot of lunch time regulars there. Understandable. I saw an old guy going hard at a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, and I think that might be the direction I go next time I visit Christina’s.
This sandwich was everything I’d hoped it would be when I saw it advertised on Facebook as Jed’s August poboy of the month. Super fresh bread and incredibly sweet peppers to set off the shaved ribeye and provolone. Really good take on a classic and one I highly recommend.
El Tio is a state of the art taqueria located on Burbank out past Gardere. Comically stereotypical sign and window posters, immaculate dining space with big screen televisions tuned to Telemundo, and, most importantly, real deal street tacos with corn tortillas , onions, and cilantro paired with excellent asada, lengua, and camerones.
If you follow me at all, you know that tender, juicy lengua is my benchmark for taquerias. El Tio delivers and joins the ranks of Antojitos Franko’s and La Tienda as the best places to head for real Mexican tacos in BR. Rum House and Gov’t Taco have great tacos, and I still love Taco Bell, but these tacos remind me of all the good times I had down in Ensenada many, many years ago. I’d never heard of El Tio before running across a Geaux Rouge post directing me that way. Thanks Geaux Rouge. And I saw a couple of other intriguing joints out there I haven’t heard of that I need to check out soon. Oh the joys of exploration and discovery.
They didn’t skimp when they set up Rouj Creole. Lots of nice lavish touches that would be wasted if they couldn’t cook. They can cook. My main reason for checking the place out was a menued paella, rare in BR. I hope to do my own version for the first home game at my favorite tailgate, but more on the lines of a ham and shrimp Spanish jambalaya. The sliding scale between paella and jambalaya is broad. I suspect the divergence began many, many years ago because saffron is expensive and doesn’t grow well in Louisiana (otherwise we would definitely see it in our farmers market) and while saffron still isn’t cheap, it’s a lot more accessible now than it was then. Rouj Creole has dedicated their menu to “walking back” some dishes in our cuisine to be closer to their origins, but that definitely takes some imagination and a very loose sense of authenticity. For example, the Pescado + Paella I got would have represented a remarkable feat of fishing and gathering in Spanish Louisiana. How you would put together a dish with mahi and mussels, shrimp, crab, crawfish and chorizo without refrigeration is beyond me.
Now they aren’t giving this dish away, but there’s a reason for that. There is a whole lot of seafood in this dish. It is packed with shrimp and crawfish tails and I really couldn’t believe just how much backfin crabmeat was included. It was very good, and luckily for your budget concerns, very easy to share with one other if you spring for one of the many appetizers as well. Normally I wouldn’t have jumped to the World Fare portion of their menu without giving one of the basics like their crawfish étouffée a try first, but I definitely wanted to research a live paella to get ideas for my Spanish jambalaya project. With any luck, Solera will open soon and I’ll be able to check theirs out as well. I really liked this version, and it was done well enough that I will certainly be back to try some of their other reconstructed Louisiana fare. Now researching paella was only part of my plan for that day, and luckily when the barkeep asked what was up and I shared that I was on my way to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (no spoilers) we dove deep into Tarentino and the Cohen brothers along with Marvel, DC, the new Star Trek movies (which she hadn’t seen and I encouraged her to check out) and her dissertation on her perceived shortcomings of the current Star Wars cycle (she thought it mirrored the original arc too closely and wondered why they couldn’t bring themselves to kill off an already dead Leia) all in the short time it took my food to arrive. Very enjoyable. And it is way too early to say anything at all about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood without spewing spoilers so all I can say about the film is that it is very, very Tarentino and that the cinematography doesn’t demand a big screen, but you might want to get out of the house and check it out before others do spoil it for you. There’s only so far lalalalalalala will go for this one.
Rouj Creole has an abundance of nice small touches of decor that make it a very comfortable and uplifting bar and dining room. Mostly that is achieved by the myriad of different light fixtures, but also the french striped linens, some of the table and bar ware, and the Steely Dan playing over the sound system when I sat down to peruse the menu. Nice place, nice staff, and, most importantly, they can cook.
Here’s something you don’t see every day, a boudin and pepperjack hand pie with pepper jelly dressed out with an excellent biscuit, real grits, and two eggs. Elsie’s does not paint between the lines. They are always more than willing to take any dish in a new direction. Very refreshing.
