A weekend of ups and downs

[justagirl]

We had a not-so-great dinner at Bouche Friday night. Too many things, none of which were particularly good, going on one plate. A disaster but they were so proud of themselves for this "upscale modern fusion" they were creating.
Followed that with drinks from Missy at the a Mano bar. More than made up for it. Fortunately we have fun no matter what so we didn't let the bad dinner get us down.

Saturday we tried the sushi at Sun Ray Grille in the warehouse district. I despise Nagin for making me feed a meter on a Saturday but that's another story. The margaritas were exceptional and the sushi was really good. We had striped marlin and blue fin sashimi and a few rolls. All very good. And after three margaritas each we were beyond 'happy.' So when BTG called, we met him at the Avenue Pub for the craft beer tasting. It was hot and crowded but since I had the two best dates in there I was sitting pretty.

Bam's lobster putanesca was wonderful. Unfortunately it didn't have his desired effect. Well, the food could have but he decided to talk during dinner and the counter-effect was just too much. But the flavor profile was perfect.

[bam bam]

Bouche = unmitigated disaster. JAG and I probably can't do that place what we did to Sweet Gals due to its douche factor. But it would be well deserved. There are Swanson's Hungry Man dinners that are more visually appealing than the food at Bouche.

The first course was this Crabmeat and spinach thing that literally looked like a failed dish on Top Chef. The crab was of good quality. Such a shame that is was floating in a pile of pureed (?) spinach. It was just gross.

Then I ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp. How one screws up bacon wrapped shrimp is beyond. One of the complaints I have been hearing is that the portion size sucks for a $16 entree. I would agree with on this but you actually get a decent amount of big shrimp on the plate. The problem is they are using thick cut bacon and can't get the bacon around the shrimp. Just terrible. Very hard to eat and then it is topped with some kind of brown sugar-hot pepper type of goo. So bad.

JAG ordered something eminently forgettable. Duck with some sort of cajun injected spice. All things considered this was a reasonably inexpensive mistake. And one we won't be making again.

Sun Ray Grill is a place that I have both loved and loathed over the years. The Warehouse District is by far the best location and despite some bad experiences the margaritas keep me coming back even when by all means the place should have been written off. Well, they now have a sushi bar. JAG and I have had some bad experiences ordering non-Sushi Bros sushi over the last two months (a mediocre order in Ocean Springs, MS and a real subpar effort by Kyoto). Well, this turned out to be terrific. The margaritas are as good as ever. The sushi is excellent. Flown in from Hawaii and the also picked from the Gulf, I could have sat there all day and eaten had BTG not tried to move in on my woman.

I loved my lobster puttanesca probably the best thing I cooked in a while.

[flyinbayou]

I'll have to give Sun Ray another try. I've eaten at the Old Metairie and the Warehouse District locations 3 or 4 times a few years back. Perhaps it was anticipation problem on my part but each meal was underwhelming. The Warehouse District location was definitely better than than the Old Metairie one.

I drive down Williams Blvd. often and noticed a sign for Sun Ray Grill and Oyster Bar in a nondescript strip mall next to a pool hall. I didn't know they were doing oysters but sure enough, clicking on their menu link verifies it. I was also surprised how varied each menu is from location to location.

BTW, their sushi menu by Aloha Sushi looks great. I will definitely be checking that out.

[peychaud]

How were the nitrogen martinis?

We walked by Bouche a few weeks ago after dinner at A Mano. From the hilariously pretentious verbiage on the sign outside to the pulsing downtempo playing on the sidewalk to the sweaty, uncomfortable looking patrons squeezed into trendy furniture on display in their windows, Bouche had fail written all over it. And naming it "Bouche" wasn't exactly a brilliant marketing decision, either.

[Suzy Wong]

Great sushi/sashimi and atmosphere to match (IMO) Little Tokyo on Carrollton. Thurday is when the shipment from Japan arrives and is offered later that evening:

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/20 ... tokyo.html

ps Mrs BTG must be very, very, understanding;)....

[BTG]

ps Mrs BTG must be very, very, understanding;)....

You would not believe how great she really is. I do tons of daddy duties and honey do items that my friends make fun of me for, but when I feel like running off to have fun, she is cool with it.
In addition to having a great time hanging with JAG and that guy she drags around with her, I went to a wedding Friday night by myself. My wife needed to go to her god son's graduation at East Jefferson and I just decided that seeing an old college friend get married was more important. Of course I left the reception after an hour to go take care of the kids.

Btw, reception food at the Rose Garden is not all that great.

[Isabella Maja]

Great sushi/sashimi and atmosphere to match (IMO) Little Tokyo on Carrollton. Thurday is when the shipment from Japan arrives and is offered later that evening:

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/20 ... tokyo.html

ps Mrs BTG must be very, very, understanding;)....

I do like that Little Tokyo location & don't go there often enough.
Thanks for the heads up on the delivery new. I am looking forward to trying the Willow Street location, too.