Trip Report Part I: Middendorf's - Coquette

[wish I never left]

Friday Lunch: Middendorf’s

On the way over from Houston, we took a slight detour to eat at Middendorf’s for the first time, despite having passed by it countless times when my travels used to take me north from the city. A sign at the front door advertised an Abita Strawberry beer that caught my wife’s attention. We were seated, she ordered the beer and I ordered a coke which eventually arrived in an eight ounce bottle. She liked her beer, while I thought $1.50 was little steep for an eight ounce bottle of coke…

For appetizers, we ordered the barbecued oysters and a small plate of onion rings. The oysters arrived plump and delicious if a bit overwhelmed by the sweet and sour barbecue sauce – I would still order this again. The onion rings were fried well and tasted good but weren’t otherwise remarkable. For our entrees, my wife had the stuffed crab and I had a large order of the thick cut catfish. My wife liked her stuffed crab OK and after stealing some of my tartar sauce to dress it up she liked it even better. My catfish was absolutely delicious and I would love to come back to sample some of the other items on the menu some other day.

Friday Dinner: Coquette

We were joined by our regular dining companion for our first visit here. He’d been several times before and highly recommended it. To begin, I had a ‘Coquette Collins’ and thought this was a delicious, if slightly too cucumbery variation on my usual gin and tonic. Of note, our friend brought an incredible wine for which we weren’t charged corkage – I don’t know if that was an oversight or not, but if it wasn’t that’s a nice touch.

To put it simply, every single bite of everything that was brought to our table was proclaimed delicious by all three of us. To begin, we had orders for the gulf shrimp, the short ribs, and the soft shell crab. In order, the shrimp was the standout. The first bite I took was literally a perfect bite of food. Nothing else we ate on the entire trip, no matter how excellent, quite approached that momentary delight. The soft shell crab was excellent, with a wonderful sauce underlying it. My plate of short ribs, which would have been a standout dish in any other company was also delicious even if it was outshone by the crustaceans.

For entrees, I was served a Wagyu Sirloin with ‘Summer’/black truffles that was creative and delicious. It is probably the only time I’ve not been underwhelmed by the promise of Kobe/Wagyu beef. The crabcake served to my wife was a sight to behold and a wonder to taste. It was risky business trying to sneak a fork over to snag a sample from her plate! The third entrée was a generous hunk of halibut that made the most of that fabulous flatfish. As I said earlier, everything was flawless.

Dessert consisted of chocolate beignets accompanied by a nice Tawny port, a chocalatey crème brulee service with some sort of chocolate flavored fortified wine, and blueberry and strawberry crumble. The beignets were delicious, light with a perfect taste from the fryer. The crème brulee was a nice change of pace for that dish, yielding a childlike joy in its simplicity and a nice complement to the wine. The only thing close to disappointing was the crumble and that was only because on previous visits, our friend had the same dish made exclusively with blueberries and he thought that was a superior preparation.

After dinner, the only question was how could we possibly go up from here?

[Yvette]

Friday Lunch: Middendorf’s

Friday Dinner: Coquette


To put it simply, every single bite of everything that was brought to our table was proclaimed delicious by all three of us.

As I said earlier, everything was flawless.


After dinner, the only question was how could we possibly go up from here?

Great report, now I am more determined than ever to make it there very soon.

[NoNoNanette]

Thanks for taking the time to post these reviews!

[EatinAintCheatin]

It sure looks like your trip here reaffirmed your screen name. That was an awesome eating experience over a few days.

Great reports...Thanks:toast:

[bam bam]

You are a true credit to Tulane Law School. Great report.

[chefairline]

RE: Middendorf's

On Friday, the wife and I decided to take a sunset ride in the 'vertible to Middendorf's. Other than the ride, we were not pleased.

We also started with the onion rings. I believe that they were the institutional type, not homemade, as I would expect, considering the owner. Of course, we had to try the thin cut catfish, which we got along with a sampling plate. The catfish seemed to be about 20% fish, 80% batter. Bad decision. Next time, if there is one, I'll try the thick variety.

On the platter, the stuffed crab was blah. Only the fried shrimp and oysters were acceptable.

The highlight of the evening was the chocolate snoballs (as good as Plum St.)from Casey's on W. Explanade.

[jodyrah]

Three of us dined there Fri. evening. I won't bother to post what we had since it probably won't be on the menu. Only one item (shrimp app) in OP review was available. There are only 6 or so apps, same for entrees from which to choose. Selection was ok. Had I seen the menu in advance, I probably would have chosen another night. That being said, everything we had was prepared to perfection. The plates were well composed with spot on flavors. A wonderful meal. And oh, the cocktails! We tried 6, the Sazerac being the only non original. Most were very good with creative combinations. Coquette is a gem. Only one complaint, service was painfully slow.