Chartres House Restaurant and Oyster Bar
Where? Chartres House Restaurant and Oyster Bar (French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America) Map Menu
When? Wednesday December 25, 2019
Who? Me
Food Style? Cajun and Creole
Right in the heart of the French Quarter, this 1830 building stands on the site of the Good Friday fire of 1788. A lot of the places on my list are super busy and I'm tired and hungry, so whatever, I'll give this place a go. What inspired me to even come to New Orleans? To put it simply, this viral video of two Swiss girls who copied an episode in the Simpsons, frame by frame, of Homer gorging himself in creole cuisine.
Mains
Taste of New Orleans: chicken and sausage jambalaya, chicken and andouille gumbo, crawfish étouffée
I've ordered a taster of gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish étouffée. I'm suddenly reminded of the Carpenter's song Jambalaya, where Karen Carpenter sings about jambalaya, crawfish pie and fillet gumbo. These three dishes are all extremely well-known Cajun and Creole classics. When it comes out, I absolutely have no idea which is which so I have to ask the waitress.
The red one, the crawfish étouffée, is my favourite. It's spicy and the seafood flavour comes through nicely. The garlic bread on the side is perfect with that sauce. It reminds me of a less creamy chowder.
The brown one with the yellow pepper is jambalaya. It's a fusion of Spanish, French and West African cuisines, and it resembles paella with sausage. This one is okay; rich and tasty, but not out of this world. I had a better one at this restaurant in Toronto called...New Orleans.
The saucy brown one is gumbo, a thick, hearty stew containing celery, capsicum and onions. This has a nice smokiness and pepperiness to it.
The food here is very comforting, really rich and soulful. It doesn't look like it's a large portion, but the sauces really fill you up, especially with that side of bread and all that rice.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:14pm on Friday January 3, 2020 :: 0 comments :: 