Jacques-Imo’s Cafe: Slow Roasted Duck Poboy

This was the first thing that caught my eye as we approached the park in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. There’s usually more food tents setup near Woldenburg Park for the rest of the festival, but it was a Sunday and the rain was just unrelenting. I love Jacques-Imo’s Duck Poboys. It’s messy. It’s sloppy. But oh so good! They also have another restaurant called Crabby Jack’s, which falls under he Jacques-Imo’s family, that offers the same poboy in a more casual setting and in an industrial part of town.

GW Fins: Ponchatoula Strawberry Shortcake.

GW Fins is one of my top 10 seafood restaurants in New Orleans. However, on this Sunday afternoon at the FQF, they only had dessert options. Their desserts are always very classic and exactly what you’re looking for. They’re never “deconstructing” anything or trying to revamp any old classic recipes, which I love and miss. Too many places are “trying something different/new”.

Haydel’s Bakery: White Chocolate Kingcake Bread Pudding.

Oh my, what can I say about this except phenomenal! It doesn’t look like much, but it’s so moist and flavorful. My cousin and I shared this small little bowl no larger than the size of my palm. We should have each gotten our own. Good job Haydel! I’ll definitely be back and order a whole tray of this!

Tujague’s Restaurant: Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya

I’ve never actually been to Tujague’s, but I’ve heard great things. Unfortunately, this jambalaya was just OK. There was just too much “flavor” but not enough depth. I could taste all the wonderful herbs thrown into the mix, but possibly not the right proportion. I’d give this jambalaya 2.5/5 spoons because it was almost there. It just needs some improvement…

Mrs. Wheat’s Louisiana Foods: Crawfish Pie & Meat Pie

This was probably one of my favorite items at the Food Fest. Anything empanada-like or meat pie like just attracts me and this one in particular has the perfect flaky crust. It’s not too greasy and the filling is so well-seasoned. Other meat pies that you usually find in small convenience stores or gas stations tend to be dry with subpar filling, but this was amazing. Another plus is that I decided to order some to-go and it reheats very well. Where can you actually find it’s brick and mortar? It’s located in the St. Roch area of New Orleans, but the website isn’t working and there aren’t any photos on Yelp and I couldn’t find info on Urbanspoon. I’m speculating the place is very new, but I’ll come back for more and keep you posted!

I discovered Katie’s through Oyster Festival (click here for Oyster Festival post)…and one of my favorite foods at the Oyster Festival was Katie’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding so I just HAD to check them out! 

It was a beautiful day outside..so we opted for streetside seating. 

Jay’s Chargrilled Oysters. Louisiana Chargrilled Oysters. Garlic Butter. Parmesan Cheese. 

Katie’s Homemade Crab Cakes. Two 4 oz Crab Cakes Overstuffed with Crabmeat and topped with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Remoulade Sauce.

These crab cakes were GINORMOUS and delicious…fried deliciousness balanced w/ the tartness of remoulade. My only complaint would be the lack of “Jumbo Lump Crabmeat” on top. It was there, just not as JUMBO as you would imagine. The overstuffed crab cake itself made up for that…

Scottie’s Cnn Blackberry & Jalapeno Ribs. Slow cooked baby back ribs marinated in tangy and spicy blackberry and jalapeno bbq sauce with choice of two sides: Mashed Potatoes and Veggie du Jour. 

Ribs were fall-off-the-bone and you wouldn’t expect good BBQ in NOLA, but it was delicious!

White Chocolate Bread Pudding. Just as delicious as I had remembered! 

Did Katie’s Restaurant live up to all the hype??? Definitely! In fact, I’ll be back to try their brunch and I’ll tell you all about it! =)

New Orleans foodies…

Acme’s Raw Oysters. 

Elizabeth’s Fried Oysters w/ Foie Gras and Truffle Aioli. 

Katie’s Restaurant: The Legend Poboy. BBQ Shrimp and Cochon de Lait. The Legend was definitely legendary. At first sight, I though this would be one of those poboys I’d eat and eventually get tired of because of it’s rich flavors, but boy was I surprised! The Legend was Legen….wait for it…wait for it..dary! *Quoting How I Met Your Mother, in case you didn’t know lol 

Andrea’s Crab Ravioli. I know we’re at Oyster Fest, but this ravioli was delicious. It’s such a casual event, yet Andrea’s pulled out their aprons and put out a great dish. Loved it!

Borgne’s Oyster Amandine. Borgne is a fairly new John Besh restaurant and I didn’t expect them to give me anything less than this…Beautiful presentation and wonderful flavors. Big props for such a hectic event…not to mention the scorching heat!

Superior Seafood Red Beans and Rice. Great flavor with a good kick. Only downside is the rice was under/overcooked, depending on how you look at it. I’d give them a second try, but when you’re cooking rice, you know when it’s bad so they shouldn’t have put out that rice. I’ll keep into consideration that this was an outdoors event so who knows what really went down out there.

Katie’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding. This was my favorite…great texture…creamy white chocolate flavor. Well done Katie’s! I’ll have to pay a visit really soon! =)

New Orleans Snowball

Believe it or not, “the chef” and I hit up the Oyster Fest in no longer than 1.5 hours. We were on a mission: to eat, eat, and eat! It was actually really great, because there were restaurants I’ve heard of but never had the chance to try, but now that I know what they offer, I’m definitely putting some of these restaurants on top of my “To Eat” list =)

UPCOMING ENTRIES

• Honeydeux
• Coquette