Dining report part II: Cochon, Clancy's, Stanley, Brigtsen's, Cooter Brown's

[wish I never left]

Appologies for the brevity on Brigtsen's but this was already taking too long to write!

Monday Lunch: Cochon: We’d been to Cochon once before and it seemed like a good transition for our move Uptown. To start, I had their version of a gin and tonic and thought that it was a nice variation on my usual cocktail. Appetizers were the fried rabbit livers for me and the oyster and meat pie for my wife. I very much enjoyed the livers, but I think I liked the chicken livers they used to have a little better. The oyster and meat pie was delicious; the sauce served on the side really made the dish. For entrees, I had the namesake cochon and my wife had the oyster and bacon sandwich. Her sandwich looked very good and the taste of bacon I had convinced me that it was probably a great sandwich overall. My cochon was delicious, but for me the best parts were the vegetables and the cracklings.

Monday Dinner: Clancy’s: We had expected a local friend we would be dining with to find someplace open on Monday, but this didn’t happen and we had to come up with somewhere on our own. About the ninth place that came to mind and was open and had reservations available at a decent hour was Clancy’s. The three of us had personal reasons having nothing to do with the food for why Clancy’s is so low on our list. As it happened, although we had to wait some time for our table, ultimately the food was superb and the service very good.

To begin, I had the scallop appetizer, my wife the sweetbreads and our friend a bowl of the gumbo. These were all excellent with the sweetbreads especially meriting their reputation. For entrees, my wife had the lamb, I had a special of the pompano, and our friend had the veal topped with crabmeat. Again, everything was excellent. Finally, desert was rum raisin bread pudding for my wife and the brownie pie for me – nothing to complain about with respect to either of these. All told, I’m glad I finally had a chance to dine here.

Tuesday Lunch: Stanley: We hit this place at just the right time as it was already crowded and a line started to form just after we were seated. Service was good spirited, but a little haphazard. My wife loved the environment and I thought it was fun as well. Eventually, we ordered the eggs benedict poboy, and the eggs Stanley, with a side of the potatoes (home fries?). After we ordered we ogled all of the good food passing by on its way to other tables. On a whim, my wife stopped our waiter and asked to add an order of the onion rings. This may have messed up our ticked as the rings came out right away, but we then waited quite some time for the rest to come. In any case, the food was worth the wait. I will very eagerly return to Stanley’s on a future trip.

Tuesday Dinner: Brigsten’s:

Everything was excellent. It always is here. If you haven’t been, go. If you have, then you already know what I’m talking about.

Wednesday Lunch: Cooter Brown’s: Unfortunately, work struck me and I had to sit in on an eight hour conference call this day. While I was doing this, my wife and a friend with whom we were now staying went to Cooter’s. While there, they had several dozen oysters which they reported to be very good. They brought me back a roast beef poboy that was pretty good. Thank goodness for the mute button….