Crawdaddy Days

I'm back from New Orleans and since it's Friday, I figure I'll share my favorite meals from last week! Yes...I took pictures of the food... I'm that dork. But it was all so good! The group I traveled with is definitely...eclectic. We're not afraid to try new things and (Perez and I, at least) were more excited about the food than all the...er...beads.

Wherever I go, I am always looking for a hole-in-the-wall place to eat. I truly believe that is where you find the best and most surprising food in a city. Granted, we spent the majority of our time on the offshoots of Canal, Bourbon, and Decatur so my hole-in-the-wall theory gave way to the eat-what's-on-the-way-to-the-bar mentality, but I still enjoyed myself....even if I was surrounded by other tourists for most of my meals.

 The above pictures were taken at Salt and Pepper, the one good hole-in-the-wall place we found on our way to the bars. It's a Pakistani restaurant that doesn't look like much, but boy oh boy was it good and spicy! We passed it at first, with Mudi demanding we eat there for dinner (he's Pakistani), on our way to look at some art. Well, Mudi got to talking with the owner of the gallery and it turned out they were from the same area of Pakistan and that the gallery owner actually owned Salt and Pepper as well! Destiny! The food was surprisingly amazing; I had no idea what anything was on the menu, so I asked the manager to pick something for me. It was basic chicken and rice, but it was seasoned to perfection. The only annoyances at the restaurant were the customers; all wasted, one was passed out on the toilet, and 2 other racist douche-bags dumped their plates on the table before leaving. And yes, I did call them out at the restaurant. I realized the difference between and tourist and a traveler; tourists are observing the culture around them and are often rude or obnoxious, while travelers try to temporarily assimilate into the culture and are as respectful as possible. These bitches were rude tourists. And they were none too happy with what I had to say.

These, my lovelies, are the French version of a donut: beignets, fried dough covered with powdered sugar. In New Orleans, Cafe du Monde is the place to go. The menu is simple: beignets, coffee, hot chocolate, tea. You seat yourself, and the tables aren't always clean when you sit down, it's crowded, and the servers refuse to split a check. Yet there is a line down the block. Oh yeah. They're that good.

  

Perez is making sweet love to his beignet.

I paired my beignets with a hot chocolate and was not disappointed. The hot chocolate is thick and creamy, not watered down Swiss Miss. If you ever have a beignet, I recommend dipping it in hot chocolate. 

Creole Gumbo (I think? Please forgive me!) was great at French Market Restaurant and Bar, and the service was great. Walking by, you smell the sweet and salty scent of crawfish wafting out of a window and can't resist!

This was our first experience with craw fish so we were a little intimidated. They boil them fresh in the restaunt and season them with cajun spices. The way the waitress explained it is: rip off the head and suck the juices (or not, like me...bit too barbaric for my tastes), tear off the first rung of the shell, pinch the tail, and suck the meat out. You pinch the tail so that it holds the black stuff in the shell and all you get is the meat. Never eat the black stuff.