MIKE JEKNAVORIAN National Restaurants

CAFE BEIGNET

SHADE-O-METER RATING

3 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “NO SHADE, BUT SHE DIDN’T TURN IT OUT”

What’s Café Beignet?  It’s a chain of three cafes in New Orleans.  We went to the Royal St. location in the French Quarter, which is located in a converted 1800s carriage house.  Was there an age restriction?  No (and there were plenty of kids there).

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What time did we go?  About 1:00 p.m.  Was there a maître d’?  No.  You seat yourself.  What was the décor like?  It’s evocative of a typical French café or bistro.  What was the seating like?  There are some seats inside, but there are even more outside.

What was the atmosphere like?  Rather upscale, yet casual.  It’s crowded as well, since it’s small.  What was the crowd like?  A mix of tourist and locals, but heavier on the tourists I think.  It’s certainly not the McDonald’s crowd.  How was the cruising?  Bonne chance avec sa ici.

When’s happy hour?  There’s isn’t any.  What libations were ordered?  They only serve beer and wine.  We got one chardonnay for $15.00.  Were they served timely?  You place your order at the counter, and a server brings the food to you.  However, you carry the beverage to the table yourself.

How was the wine?  Fine, for “table” wine.  What was ordered?  We ordered two muffalettas at $9.99 each, two bowls of gumbo at $9.99 each, an andouille sausage omelet for $9.99, and a breakfast sandwich for $7.99.  Was the food served timely?  For the most part, the wait was consistent with the venue.  However, don’t go if you’re in a rush.

How was the food?  Pretty good.  The muffaletta bread was excellent, and the meat and spices in it were right-on.  But the gumbo was thin and lacked flavor.  The andouille sausage in the omelet tasted more like kielbasa sausage than like andouille, and I’m not sure if that was an unexpected surprise or a negative feature.  However, the beignets are great (but they better be if you’re going to name the restaurant after them).

How was the service?  Okay.  However, the timing of the orders was inconsistent.  The omelet was brought out way after the other items.  What stands out about the place?  The locale.  The outdoor seating-area is picturesque, and it’s right next to a historic building that’s used as a police station.

What could be improved?  The prices should be lowered a bit (they’re a little high for what you get; particularly, that wine), the service needs to be consistent, and the food quality should be improved for some of the dishes.  What was surprising?  The hung guy in a loincloth who was playing a saxophone right outside the restaurant.

Café Beignet is located at 334 Royal St., in New Orleans, Louisiana.  It’s open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

MIKE JEKNAVORIAN National Restaurants

BRENNAN’S

SHADE-O-METER RATING

2 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “NOT FEELING IT”

What’s Brennan’s?  It’s a creole restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  The restaurant is known for brunch and for the creation of the Bananas Foster desert.  It was founded by Owen Brennan in 1946, and then re-established in 2014.  The building dates to 1795.

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What time did we go?  1:00 p.m.  How was the maître d’?  The mortician/maître d, was, I believe, the rudest and most dyspeptic one that I’ve ever encountered.  We had reservations (of course), and when we went to the reservation area to be seated, the maître d instructed, “You need to wait right here.”  And we weren’t the only party that was subjected to such pleasantries.  Another party was told, “Stop.  You can’t go past this rope.  You have to wait here.”  I also held the velvet rope’s pole in place for the maître d as he silently fumbled to adjust it, and he didn’t even have the curtesy to thank me.  As if all this embalming-preparation wasn’t enough, there was also final shade given at the end of the meal.  As we left the restaurant, we walked right through an empty foyer and right past the maître d, and he didn’t say one word.

What was the décor like?  Fabulous and definitely a high point—it’s one of the few saving graces about the place.  The gouache murals in the main dining room, the Chanteclair Room, display beautiful vintage carnivale scenes of whimsy.

What was the seating like?  There are two indoor dining areas, and one outdoor one.  However, they weren’t seating anyone outdoors.  What was the atmosphere like?  Loud.  What was the crowd like?  Somewhat uppidity, and heavy on locals.  Granted, this was the Friday before Mardi Gras, so it’s possible that the crowd was skewed because of the holiday.

How was the cruising?  None.  The queens are incognito here.  What libations were ordered?  We ordered a Cajun Bloody Mary for $10, and a Brandy Milk Punch for $9.  Were they served timely?  Not really.  They came after the soup, and shortly before the entre.

How were they?  The server claimed that the bloody Mary was rated as one of the “top five” in the city.  It was pretty good, but it could have been a tad bit stronger.  However, the “Marys” weren’t served consistently.  One drink was served with pickled okra, but the other two were denied that tidbit—those two poor Marys.  As far as the Brandy Milk Punch went, it was really nothing more than a glorified White Russian.  But the situation gets better.  When this drink was about three-fourths done, we noticed a chip in the glass and pointed this out to the server.  He apologized for the glass and took it away, but supplied no replacement drink!

What was ordered?  A two-course lunch (seafood gumbo and a creole-spiced shrimp salad) for $29, eggs Benedict for $19, country-fried pork chops for $27, an appetizer seafood gumbo for $10, and pumpkin-seed-crusted redfish for $28.  Was the food served timely?  Yes.

How was it?  Overall, the food was excellent, but not superlative.  The gumbo had oysters in it (a nice touch), but the base lacked sufficient flavor and richness.  The Canadian bacon in the egg’s Benedict was cured with coffee, and it mixed with the egg’s red-wine reduction sauce in a pleasant manner.  The salad had complements of thyme, and the shrimp in it was very fresh.  The pork chop was tasty and high-quality, and the combination of pomegranate butter, pumpkin puree, and kale pumpkin seeds in the redfish was like a delectable and edible fall-foliage display.  But there were also some inconsistencies.  One gumbo had several whole oysters in it, but the other one had just a few measly chopped-up pieces in it.

How was the service?  Not so great.  The server wasn’t so friendly, and he also looked down at the bill to see what his tip was—18 percent, and then he made a face when he didn’t like what he saw—once he thought he was out of eyesight.  What stands out about the place?  Really, only the décor.  That, and I suppose its reputation.

What could be improved?  You name it.  But let’s start with the mortician, and then go from there.  What was surprising?  That the bread that was served at the beginning of the meal was really just a po-boy roll, and it was served on top of a cloth napkin.

Brennan’s is located at 417 Royal St., in New Orleans, Louisiana.  It’s open daily from breakfast to 10:00 p.m.  The restaurant closes for a few hours between brunch and dinner, but The Roost Bar remains open.