Mat & Naddie’s* (#166, 8/11/2011)
An outstanding stop that has climbed into my top 10. I highly recommend it. Pretty stupid of me not to have been to a place that’s about 1/4 mile from my house. The spicy tempura fried gulf shrimp tonkatsu was one of the beat dishes I have had in ages. An outstanding chenin blanc as well. Good service in a cool little building with solid character. Definite New Orleans style.
Velvet Cactus (#165, 8/4/2011)
The Velvet Cactus is probably my favorite Mexican place in town – that’s not saying much. Don’t come to NOLA looking for good Mexican. This is more up-scale than most of the Mexican restaurants here. The food was very good, fairly reasonably priced. Margaritas seemed watered down. We sat outside, despite the heat (they don’t take reservations), but plenty of fans kept it comfortable.
High Hat (#164, 8/4/2011)
I didn’t realize this was an Adolfo Garcia (Rio Mar, A Mano, La Boca) place. It was…ok. If you have a true lunch hour, it’s a risk as it took a long time to get our food. I went with a shrimp po-boy from the small menu and it was pretty good ($10), but nothing special and very small. The word on the street is that you need to have the fried catfish here, so if in the mood for catfish, check it out. Otherwise, there are much better places to go on a regular basis.
Dat Dog (#163, 7/26/2011)
An outstanding hot dog – great bread, good dog, good toppings. Had the cheese fries also – it’s a massive order of fries. Warning, no air conditioning and it’s cash only (since I visited this place, it has moved across the street to a much larger location, so it may be different).
Café Navarre (#162, 7/24/2011)
Tried a little brunch at Cafe Navarre in mid-city. Didn’t make it there until almost 3, but still serving breakfast. Had a southern omelette – some sort of bacon, cheese, peppers. It was solid, nothing exceptional, but an easy friendly breakfast stop.
Jung’s Golden Dragon* (#160, 7/17/2011)
Jung’s Golden Dragon 2 on Magazine St. Crab Rangoon and Szechuan Beef both pretty good. I’m thinking it has moved into the lead as far as Chinese food in New Orleans, which isn’t saying much. The giant dragon on the sign out front is an added bonus.
Maya’s (#159, 7/6/2011)
Maya’s on Magazine is some sort of Latin Fusion restaurant. I had wanted to go to Juan’s, but it was closed, so went across the street. I am sure it’s very good, but it was much more upscale than I expected. I wasn’t really sure what I was ordering, which is bad when you have queso and a burrito in mind. Need the proper mood for it, I think.