REVIEW

You are a tourist, staying in a French Quarter hotel. You don’t have a car (or maybe you’d just like to stroll the Quarter and duck into a restaurant for dinner). You’re not in the mood to dress up. You don’t want to spend a lot of money. You are not asking for the ultimate examples of the local specialties, but neither are you a LAF rube (did we hear someone say the Court of Two Sisters?) You just want some good things to eat, in pleasant surroundings, with a bit of that French Quarter glow.

The sauce is too sweet but the pudding itself is a good one.

Here’s our answer to the above situation: walk to the Gumbo Shop (owned by the same folks who own Camellia Grill and Mahony’s Po-Boys), in the heart of the French Quarter, get in the perpetual line with the other tourists (and even the occasional local), and ask for a table outside in the courtyard when your turn comes up (that line moves fairly fast). Order bowls of gumbo: both the seafood okra and chicken andouille are excellent, with as different flavor profiles as two gumbos can have. Maybe get a couple of vegetables, like greens or red beans, or perhaps a salad, on the side. Tear off occasional hunks of the light and crusty bread for dipping in your bowls.

Get the praline sundae for the bittersweet pecan sauce.

When you are finished, ask for a praline sundae (with a good bittersweet sauce over so-so ice cream), or good bread pudding served with a too-sweet whiskey sauce. Then take a leisurely stroll back to your hotel through the sultry night air along the historic streets of this sub-tropical city.

A filet of redfish is topped with shrimp Creole.

The grilling is unorthodox but you can get a taste of Cajun boudin if you wish, with some good mustard.

LAF TRAK: 

FOOD: 

BEST THING TO EAT: Chicken andouille gumbo

Turnip greens would help round out a meal where gumbo is the main event.

Pay attention to the name. Get the gumbo. It’s not the city’s best. But it’s a good one.