Having arrived in the Big Easy on Saturday at 2:30pm on Saturday with the game not scheduled to kick off until 7:20pm Sunday left Randy and I with some time to focus on non-football-related activities. What did we do? I’m glad you asked!
FIRST STOP: DRAGO’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
Randy and I have made it a tradition to hit Drago’s before going to see Cowboys-Saints, although this time we hit it the day before. It was our first indication of what this weekend will be like because the restaurant was PACKED even though it was in between typical eating times (4pm) and there were TONS of Cowboys fans milling about (good for me, not so much for Randy).
In the past, we would both get a plate of the deliciousness you see above, but this time we just split one of those while ordering a few other appetizers.
This time we got the alligator tacos and the BBQ shrimp (not pictured). A fantastic start to our food tour!
SECOND STOP: TRACEY’S ORIGINAL IRISH CHANNEL BAR
Next we headed to the Garden District and one of Randy’s old haunts, Tracey’s, a local sports bar on Magazine. (Note: if you read my previous blog post, this is where I spilled my Guinness while watching the Terps.) Living in NYC, I’m often astonished at how little things cost in other parts of the country. Randy ordered a double Jameson and bought my can of IPA. He handed the bartender $20, which didn’t seem like enough to me, but then got $5 change! Say what???
THIRD STOP: BOIL SEAFOOD HOUSE
One of the first times I was in New Orleans, Randy took me to a crawfish boil at a friend’s house. I may be simplifying things a bit, but basically they dumped the following ingredients into an enormous pot: crawfish, Andouille sausage, potatoes, corn, garlic, and a ridiculous amount of cajun spices (Hello cayenne!). They boiled it and when it was done, they drained the water and dumped the contents onto the picnic table. And whenever you decided you could touch any of the contents without burning your hands and/or mouth, you ate as much as you could.
While doing this in someone’s backyard (or better yet, on the bayou) is the most traditional way of doing a crawfish boil, Boil Seafood House has done its best to replicate the experience. There are various types of buckets you can order which include different items (shrimp or crab, for example). Randy and I went with the “basic” bucket, the “Cajun Classic,” which you can see below.
FOURTH STOP: COOTER BROWN’S
After making fun of me for drinking beer while he was pounding Jameson, Randy suggested we hit up another sports bar with something like 400 beers available (40 on tap). This one was uptown, past Tulane University, and was actually a bit crowded for the amateur football games that Randy and I have zero interest in. (I suppose that’s kinda funny since that’s where all the pro players we root for come from.)
I went with a local hazy IPA and Randy got some Belgian lambic thing. It seems that if I’m not wearing Cowboys colors, I’m subject to people assuming I like the Saints.
FIFTH STOP: COQUETTE
At this point, it was about 8:30, so we were ready for dinner. Back to the Garden District! I convinced Randy to try the blind tasting menu with wine pairing, which he had never tried. He was concerned that might not be enough food, so we did get a quick appetizer before the tasting started.
Then we jumped into the tasting menu. Aw yeah…
The fifth course didn’t make it into my camera roll, unfortunately, but it was zucchini bread topped with poppy seed ice cream and root beer pudding, paired with a sherry cocktail or something…
And as I finish writing this Sunday morning, I’m still full. But as you can see, we got plenty of fuel for the game tonight