So, I love southern food. I love Texan food...and I love all the Louisiana food that always found its way across the border when I grew up in Texas. When I heard there was a Louisiana-style restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, I made it my mission to make it there as soon as I became able to move around better. On our first "date" out again, after our accident, you bet this is where I chose. Lady N'awlins, located at 2329 West Main Street, claims to have the best cajun food 1,004 miles north of the French Quarter. They have an adequate menu with the classic cajun fare, as well as daily specials. They are on Facebook and you can find them HERE. Their menu is also listed on their Facebook page and that is HERE. We visited Lady N'awlins on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Yes, I am a little slow at getting this up, but I asked everyone to bear with me as I deal with my injury right now. So, I do apologize. We were seated promptly and immediately I noticed the official Crystal hot sauce on the table. Woo hoo! Lookin' good. Atmosphere was quaint, as one would expect in the Fan District. Music was definitely present. I expected to walk in to a place filled with jazz, but they had a mix of music playing. The back room looked a little better suited for the dinner crowd, but we sat in a booth, across from the bar. For our early dinner, that was just fine with us. Our service was decent. Nothing overly ardent, but we were a couple, eating dinner, enjoying a beer and some wine. I wouldn't expect her to be.
Ok, to the good stuff. We decided on the Oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer.
The oysters really came out cooked perfectly. I do not appreciate shriveled up oysters at all, but these were still plump and burst in your mouth. For those of you who know me, oysters are my favorite food of all time. So, yes, I can be picky. I'll get to my one "pick" in a moment... Ok, I am pretty sure these had cream cheese on them, which added a nice texture and creaminess to the dish. The bacon was crunchy, but not overcooked. They really were good and easy to slurp on down. Ok, here's my pickiness...they spritzed the oysters with lemon juice before going out or maybe they were cooked in lemon juice. Either way, not a fan of the kitchen adding lemon juice to my oysters. In my personal opinion, lemon and bacon don't go well together. Oysters and bacon? Yes! Oysters and lemon? Absolutely! Oysters, cream cheese, bacon and lemon? Nope. Not for me. I tried to "drain" the excess liquid off of them, but the lemon was still pretty dominant. Overall, great, tasty dish. Wish they would have left the lemon up to the guests, but hey...I can't complain too much when the oysters really were spot on!
Ok, so my husband ordered the fried oysters entree. You can see that below. His sides were the house salad and the jalapeno hush puppies.
He really enjoyed everything. His salad was fresh and crisp. Now, I adore cocktail sauce, but a lot of restaurants just don't get it when it comes to preparing cocktail sauce. This was nicely done. Horseradish (and enough of it) is key, and they didn't disappoint!
Ok, People, these hushpuppies are AMAZING! Loved them! I ordered them, as well, with my meal and when slathered in their side of butter, oh yeah, baby! I could have devoured a plate of them alone! Creditably done, my friends!!! Now, for his oysters...like I said, he really enjoyed them. I tasted one and I could really taste something of the sort of...well water maybe? I am not sure if they soak them in water and I am just not used to the water down there or what it was. But it definitely had a non-fresh-water taste to them. For these, no, i don't think I could have eaten a full plate of them. They didn't taste like the sea or salty. They tasted like city water to me.
Lastly, I ordered the duck breast with a side of those killer hushpuppies and red beans and rice.
Y'all already know how I adore the hushpuppies and I will say I adored the red beans and rice just as much. It was a great ratio of rice to beans. It had a slight spiciness and the beans were tender! Great stuff here, I tell ya! When I ordered the duck, the server asked, "Is medium-rare okay?" I affirmed, "Absolutely," but as you can see from the picture, it was not medium rare. Duck really should be served medium rare, but this duck was really delish, despite the slight overdone temperature and was seasoned well. The aioli was creamy, smooth and complimented the duck adequately.
A definite recommend from me. I will definitely go back. They have Po Boys and gator bites that I want to give a whirl, too. Also, Sunday nights? 50 cent/shell Raw Oyster Night! Raw oysters are my favorite preparation for oysters and definitely am going to try them next time I go (My husband doesn't enjoy the raw variety of oysters, so I opted out of ordering them this time). $5 bowls of Gumbo on Tuesdays until 11 p.m. and $5 Po Boys (shrimp, oyster, crawfish tail, gator, cajun roast beef, smoked sausage or catfish!) on Mondays!!! I make a pretty good gumbo (check out my recipe HERE), but I am always wanting to try others' just to "see." ;)
So, geaux check 'em out, y'all! Good stuff, I say. Good stuff, here, in the RIC!
No comments:
Post a Comment