Bottomless Mini Ciabatta Bread. 

Seasonal Salad. 

Crab Cakes. Comes with choice of sauce and sides. I ordered the Spicy Remoulade.

The building itself looks pretty fancy, but once inside, it’s more casual to dressy casual. Very fine service to go with the decor and quality of the food. The pictures don’t show it, but the bread was little mini ciabattas.  Cute and buttery…mMmmm! It doesn’t look like much that we ordered, but the whole trip was just one restaurant after another. We at at maybe 3-4 restaurants per day so all I could fit were the crabcakes, but they were so worth it! Purely crab with minimal breading and hardy enough to finish the day off as dinner. One order of crab cakes costs $35 with choice of sauce and side. It’s a little on the pricier side, but well worth the bottomless basket and quality crab cakes. I’d definitely visit again for great service and good food!

Rating: 4/5 spoons

 

1.5 hours later…

 Limited Seating, but cool decor!

Fried Chicken Steamed Buns. Japanese Mayo. Sweet Chili Sauce. Seasonal Pickles. Herbs.

Special: Chicken Wings in a Vietnamese Fish Sauce Glaze. 

Kimchi Ramen. Kimchi Infusion. Pulled Pork. Greens. Sous vide egg. Kimchi. Pickled Ginger.

For appetizers we had the Fried Chicken Banh Baos and Special Vietnamese Chicken Wings. The sides were great and made great bar food, but the ramen definitely was the highlight of it all…

I really enjoyed the depth and richness of the broth. There was more to this soup than a bowl of broth and noodles. I could taste the time and effort that was put in to create these multi-dimensional flavors. There were hints of ginger that I would occasionally taste with every other bite. Very refreshing. A unique feature was the sous vide egg. The egg is cracked perfectly poached into your bowl. If you request an extra egg, you can actually crack it into your bowl yourself. Instead of a normal hard-boiled egg, you get a soft-poached burst of yolky goodness into your ramen bowl!

Was it worth the wait? I’d say so! The wait can be definitely long, but I’ve had friends who have been seated immediately. I hear Tuesday through Thursdays are the slower days in case you don’t have 2 hours to wait.

Rating: 4.5/5 spoons

Cosi Club Squagel Breakfast Sandwich . Eggs. Ham. Tomato. Bacon.  Cosi Squagel. Jalapeno Cheddar Squagel.

A local friend told me that Cosi had an awesome breakfast item…the Squagel. A square bagel. I didn’t think much of it when I heard about it, but when my fiance brought one back to the hotel one morning, I couldn’t help but want my own. The bagel or “squagel” is the perfect thickness for a breakfast sandwich. It’s not too thick and easy to bite into. He ordered the Jalapeno Cheese bagel and it was perfect. Be careful, because I bit into the bagel at a wrong angle and for a whole half hour, my upper lip was burning from the jalapeno spice. Besides that, it’s delicious!

Some reviews mention this restaurant having poor service, however, my fiance and I noticed they were friendly on both occasions.

I didn’t have a chance to try the rest of the menu, but it looked very similar to Panera Bread, with the exception of their delicious bagel/squagels…

Rating: 3/5 spoons (I’d go back!)

Plato Marinera de la Casa. Seafood Stew of Clams. Mussels. Shrimp. Monkfish. Saffron Broth.

Calamares Fritos con Ali-Oli. Fried Calamari.

Croquetas de Pollo. Crispy, Golden Chicken Croquettes.

Gambas al Ajillo. Shrimp. Garlic. Piri Piri Peppers. Olive Oil.

Patatas Bravas. Potatoes. Spicy Ali-Oli.

Fritura de Cazon Adobado. Crispy Shark Nuggets. Smoked Paprika Ali-Oli.

Bacalao a la Bilbaina con Lentejas de Leon. Sauteed Cod Filet. Leon Lentils. Garlic. Parsley. Piri Piri Pepper Sauce.

Mejillones al Vapor. Steamed Mussels. White Wine. Saffron Broth.

Paella de Pollo y Chorizo. Chicken and Chorizo Paella.

Squid Ink Paella. 

I have to mention that on this Friday night, the service was a bit lacking. We didn’t get any recommendations and our waitress was just anxious to put our order in. Secondly, little things were constantly forgotten such as water refills and drink orders. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was having a bad night…

The menus were a bit extensive with a wide variety of tapas so some suggestions would have been helpful. In general, our tapas were just “okay”. We ordered the Mussels, Cod Filet, Crispy Shark Nuggets, Potatoes, Shrimp with Garlic and Olive Oil, Chicken Croquettes, and Calamari. Of those my favorites were the Calamari and Croquettes. Otherwise, everything else was just average.

Although some of the tapas were underwhelming, I have to say that the Paellas were amazing! My favorite and probably even the best paella I’ve had was the Squid Ink Paella. (I’ve seen some item posted on their online menu called the Sauteed Calamari over rice, but I believe this was under the Paella section when I dined in so be sure to clarify with your waitress.) From the pictures and description, it doesn’t seem very appetizing, but WOW it was so great that people were fighting to have more. The Chicken and Chorizo Paella was pretty good was well, but was overshadowed by the amazing Squid Ink Paella.

Bodega was definitely a good option for late night dining and decent tapas and the Squid Ink is a MUST have, but be careful of the sketchy service.

Rating: 4/5 (I would give a 3 for service, but the paella made gave it an extra spoon!)

 

Menu. 

Welcoming and friendly face at the counter!

Chips and Allagash White Beer. 

Lobster Roll. 

Lobster Mac & Cheese. Maine Lobster. Maine-made white bread. Melted Gruyere.

We were greeted with a fresh face at the counter and she was extremely helpful. We ordered the Lobster Roll and the Crab Bisque (normally Lobster Bisque). I don’t know why, but “The Chef” and I ordered one roll thinking we could share it. We had been munching on small things from other restaurants all day (Cosi breakfast, DC cupcakes, etc.). We didn’t realize how AH-mazing the little “roll” would be! Maybe my expectations were low, but one bite of that roll and I was amazed at how you can have such a simple little sandwich and it just explode with so much flavor and freshness all at once. The lobster was fresh and the mayo was light and complimented it so well. To complete it all was the lightly toasted bun. Yum. Some of our friends felt they liked a more mayo-ey dressed lobster roll that they’ve tried at other restaurants, but I actually enjoyed the freshness of Luke’s Lobster Roll. Afterwards “The Chef” and I had to order something else so we ordered another Lobster roll to go and the Lobster Mac & Cheese to finish off the meal. It was pretty delicious as well. I mean, Lobster and Cheese! They chose Gruyere and I felt that was the perfect pairing…the lobster bisque made a great dipping sauce for it! Haha…

One item worth mentioning (not pictured) is the Clam Chowder. Best I’ve ever had! Fresh, chunky clams in a smooth, creamy chowder.

If you’re looking for a great snack or meal, Luke’s Lobster. Honestly, there was not a single miss. That’s all I have to say! There’s different locations so be sure to look for on near you!

Rating: 5/5 spoons

Shake Stack. Cheeseburger with Shroom Burger all-in-one. Cheese fries.

ShakeMeister Dog. Shack cheddar and American Cheese Sauce. Crispy Shakemeister Ale Marinated Shallots.

I was initially confused when I bit into the Shake Stack and realized the first patty was a whole fried mushroom. It was juicy and lightly battered, but had such a great *crisp* in it’s bite. What makes a Shake Shack burger so delicious is their neat, yet hearty burger drenched in their Shake Shack cheddar and sauce. I ordered non-cheese fries thinking I wouldn’t miss out since cheese is just cheese…but boy was I wrong! I kept eating our friend’s cheese fries instead…

As for the hot dog, it was so good. I loved it’s smokiness and the marinated shallots on top. I debated on getting a Shakemeister burger instead, but my fiance and I decided to share a dog and burger instead to get a little variety. The shallots were so good…I could even eat those fried shallots if they offered it as a side.

Great service. Yummy burgers and hot dogs. Some of our friends did mention that the Shake Shack in NYC was more flavorful and juicy, but I believe it’s all subjective…Is it worth the hype? I’m not quite sure I’d travel far and wide for the burger, but I just might have to journey to NYC to try the original…

Rating: 4/5 spoons

Fresh Ramen noodles.

Pan Fried Dumpling with Pork and Cabbage filling. 

Shio Ramen. 

Spicy Miso Ramen. Added corn.

Soft Serve. Avocado Yuzu with Toasted Coconut. Calpico Yogurt with Crushed Wasabi Peas and Chocolate Balls.

Our server recommended that we try the Spicy Miso Ramen, “but once you try it, you won’t wanna try anything else!”. I opted for the original Shiso Ramen and “The Chef” ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen. To be honest, I was actually sad when I tried both bowls, because I really wanted the Spicy Miso Ramen to myself! She was right, but there is nothing wrong with the Shio. I’m a spicy kinda girl so the Spicy Miso would have been the perfect choice, but for those who want something more mild, I would go with the Shio or other ramens. The broth is very homey and simple compared to Toki Underground’s rich and intense broth. Don’t forget you can add toppings to your bowl: corn, extra ramen, Chashu, veggies, and more. The potstickers were good, but they came after we almost finished our ramen, which leads into our next topic: service.

When we originally sat down, the server expected us to order right away and considering it was our first time, the menu was confusing so we had to inquire about a breakdown of the menu and special recommendations. Afterwards, everything was okay, but I expected more since we were 1 of 2 tables in house.

Before leaving, something caught our eyes: soft serve! We ordered the Avocado Yuzu with Toasted Coconut and the Calpico Yogurt with Crushed Wasabi Peas + Chocolate Balls. I’m so glad we ordered it! They were so delicious. Now that I’m back in NOLA, I don’t know where else I can get this! My fav was the avocado since the texture of the soft serve was so smooth and airy, almost like whipped marshmallow?? So good! I highly recommend that you leave room for dessert and to get the Avocado Soft Serve if it’s available that day! Although service was a little iffy, the ramen and soft serve is delicious and is definitely worth a shot. How does it compare to other ramen shops in the city? Stay tuned!

Rating: 3.5/5 spoons