Let's talk about food.

[justagirl]

Where have you been eating lately?

Since the 'ethnic dining' thread Bam and I have been to Kyoto, City Diner, Meson 923 and have had some good home cooking.

Kyoto was decent. The lemonfish was the white fish and it was outstanding. I think the rolls at Sushi Brothers are way better but overall it was a decent dinner. Well, aside from the alcove table and the invisible things biting my legs all through dinner. But my date was nice.

City Diner for breakfast. I made Bam get up really early and put him through a rigorous workout. He needed breakfast and since he was bringing me to work I agreed to join him. Solid breakfast fare. I go here often and can say some days it's better than others but it's never bad.

Meson 923 was outstanding. Brent, the GM, knows how to work a room and make his guests feel like they are the only people important in the world. We had a B Side Cab and started with the Maine Lobster Putanesca and Maine scallop appetizer special of the night. For entrees Bam had the pork chop special and I had the red snapper off the menu. Both were fantastic. Dessert was a Pontchatoula strawberry cheesecake tart. Brent gave us a tour of the restaurant and introduced us to Chef Lynch. Great evening.

Last night Bam made us rib eyes with a wine reduction, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. I brought over an Amancaya (Malbec/Cab) from 2006 which was just perfect.

The other night I made white beans and brown rice, Bam brought over asparagus that I steamed and a roasted chicken. We had a Sagebrush Cab/Merlot blend that went well.

Let's talk about your dining experiences lately.

[jodyrah]

We are making a concerted effort to stay out of restaurants. Why? We're attending a wedding at the Jersey shore next month with lots of family we haven't seen in awhile and I'd prefer to stay in my "skinny" clothes. Vanity can be a powerful motivator. I have no will power in restaurants. Salad, no thanks. Dessert, yes, 2 please.

We generally stay low carb all week then "cheat" all weekend. We're trying to behave weekends now as well. You can only eat so many grilled ribeyes, chops, bleu cheese salads. This week, I've been cooking low carb Chinese. I substitute splenda and we only have a couple of tablespoons of rice (really). Thus far I've made:

eggplant with yu-xiang sauce...this rocks..I think I could eat it everyday. The sauce has ground pork, copious amounts of garlic, ginger, a tad of fermented black beans and hot chilis. Made it twice already.

Beef with broccoli

Hot and sour soup

Kung Pao chicken

lemon chicken w/ snow peas, onions, tri color peppers with some chilis thrown in to balance off the sweet sauce.

salt and pepper shrimp w citrus/cilantro dipping sauce

tonight it's spicy orange beef and dry fried string beans w/ pork.

dessert (hardly): berries w/ splenda

It's all been good to excellent. I plan to play this string out until we get bored.

[bam bam]

Let's talk about your dining experiences lately.

I can't. You did it for me.

[crrush]

I've had several meals at Green Goddess lately. I really like this place, despite its spotty service and breathe-on-your-neighbor tight quarters. The trick is to go at off times -- Thursday night for an early dinner, Tuesday-Thursday, late lunch. I've had unbelievable dishes (snails, tails, tasso, Cuban Luau, incredible cheese plates, awesome wine, a tasty introduction to Barolo Chinato) and some complete misses (a heavy, gloppy "meuniere" with hake on a bed of yucca and a gut-bomb fritatta).

Made a bad decision out of hunger-induced stupidity and stopped at Fellini's Cafe on Carrollton. Menu is basically the same five ingredients used in 30 dishes, which could be clever, but here? Not so much. Had the spinach artichoke sandwich (two of the five ingredients)--decent bread, but didn't blow my mind, and the overcooked pasta salad made me mad. Why do restaurants still serve this? Even when its done well...which is rare...it's not good.

Stopped at Sammy's Food Service and Deli and had a rich bowl-o-shrimp and grits, which I posted about (with pic) elsewhere.

I've also been out of town, exploring and visiting family. One trip put me in Lafayette, where I just missed having what looked like kick-ass barbecue at Johnson's Bucaniere. Anyone been here?

111 St. John St
Lafayette, LA
(337) 269-8878

We passed through Morganza on the way to the Cochon de Lait Festival in Mansura and stopped at Not Your Mama's Cafe. The portions are laughably huge. Got a "cup" of gumbo (nice, light roux, stuffed with shrimp and crab, no oysters) served in what most of us would call a "bowl". What they called a "bowl" is...a trough, really. Gorgeous boudin balls--perfectly crisp exterior--served with homemade pepper jelly glaze. The Dude got catfish topped with crawfish, and if I'd had more room, I would've eaten more than my fair share of it. Catfish was perfectly pan-fried, crispy on the outside, juicy, flaky on the inside.

367 N La 1
Morganza, LA 70759
(225) 694-2110

[peychaud]

We went to Green Goddess for the second time last month. The food and cocktails are good (the menu has an almost idiot savant quality at times), but this is a restaurant that's a victim of its own success. Even when they're not busy, the service is slow. When they're slammed like they are on most nights, that stress rubs off on diners. Late lunch/early dinner sounds like the best way to do it.

Has anyone been to Ralph's on the Park recently? I'd written it off after episodes of both poor service and uninspiring food, but we've been invited. I'm hoping things have improved under Chip Flanagan, although I've gotta admit his stuff looks more gimmicky than delicious.

[justagirl]

I've pretty much written off Ralph's. I still get the emails but nothing has made me want to go back. I wanted to love it and I did enjoy it for a while. I enjoy the bar area there, but the food I agree, is uninspiring.

[jodyrah]

My son and friend dined there this week. Said friend works at Rlaph's and they get a substantial dining discount. When I asked how dinner was, he replied, "I'd have been really pissed if we paid full price for the food we had". Their dinner for 2 was $260, (food/drinks/wine) prediscount. FWIW, his entree was a 6oz. piece of kobe ( $12 per oz). He said it was a terrific piece of steak but the portion left him hungry. He had the mushroom ravioli app which he said was not nearly as good as Emeril's smoked mushroom /angelhair app. Dessert was the bananas foster strudel which was "ok".

His opinion is that Ralph's is not any better than it's been.

[crrush]

Sit at the bar, drink, and snack -- that's the universal advice I've gotten (and given) about Ralph's on the Park. I can't speak for the real menu, but I'm always happy to sit at the bar, drink a few glasses of wine and snibble. I do remember the wine list being kinda pricey--$12 for an eh glass of white.

I know the Cajun Scotch egg sounds gimmicky, but I am a sucker when it comes to perfectly-cooked, runny eggs. Even more so when they're ensconced (yes, ensconced) in boudin and deep fried. Schmeared through the pepper jelly glaze on the plate...ultimate. Upscale stoner food? Maybe. Delicious? Absolutely.

[LauraMc]

Jodyrah, do you mind sharing your recipe for low-carb Kung Pao chicken?

I haven't been anywhere new lately. We did take friends in from Phoenix for Jazz Fest to Mandina's and it was wonderful as usual. Only problem was one of my friends is a strict vegan (no meat, chicken or fish) and she didn't feel like salad so she had a dinner of green beans and boiled potatoes. I did feel better that she ate bread pudding for dessert. She had eaten plenty at JazzFest the day before. She goes crazy with jama-jama and all that stuff. And she was won over by the vegetarian muffelatta this year. I couldn't imagine how they would do it but it looked pretty good. Instead of layers of meat, you get like 4 layers of cheese and the olive salad.

Been to Vincent's a few times and of course Copelands and Jaeger's. So glad to see Byblo's has opened on Citrus and can't wait to drag hubby there.

A co-worker said she tried Fat Hen Grill since they moved to the new location and it was much better. We had both sworn it off after a few bad breakfast and lunches there. I told hubby that she said she had a dish with 3 small tamales topped with 2 poached eggs and a tabasco hollandaise sauce so he's willing to give it another try.

[Suzy Wong]

Laura,
Sounds like your friend may be a vegetarian who eats dairy&eggs (lacto/ovo) but no meat or seafood (vegans don't even eat honey because it comes from a bee!)

At Mandina's (have always liked that place, consistent) Besides what she ordered she could have also had grilled cheese, french fry po-boy, fries, onion rings, eggplant sticks, garlic bread, pasta with bordelaise sauce or a non fried;) (meatless/no seafood) salad, they are pretty big without it.

I like a meatless muffaletta myself, don't miss the meat at all. It appears you all had a fun time overall.

To add to the topic, just went to Lebanon Cafe, excellent as usual.

And Nacho Mama's on Elysian Fields (chili relleno) There is a dearth of dining (casual or otherwise) in that area with the exception of Good Time Sushi and The Tea Garden, so it's a nice addition to that neighborhood (which has come along nicely, but slowly since the great hurricane of 05)