Visiting New Orleans (Astor Crown Plaza Hotel)/Great Dining Suggestions (5/06)
The Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel
www.neworleansfinehotels.com/astorfrenchquarter, is located in a truly perfect location on the corner of Bourbon Street and Canal Street, 739 Canal Street, 800-684-1127, in the heart of the French Quarter. Following a long held superstition regarding unlucky “13”, the thirteenth floor does not exist in this 114 story building. However, absolutely no bad luck was encountered in this outstanding establishment! Its location is absolutely ideal, as it is right on one of the ends of the world famous Bourbon Street strip, which makes it a pleasant 15 minute walk from Frenchman Street, another of the The Big Easy’s famous areas. In addition, it is a short drive from both the Warehouse District and the neighborhood where the annual Jazz Festival is held. (Transportation by city bus was $3.00, cab fare $5.00)
Despite the hotel being in the often loud and action – filled French Quarter, the rooms were extremely quiet, in fact, practically sound proof. As a quest you can chose to stay up all night and sleep as late as you want and not be disturbed. The Concierge desk is reliable, pleasant, and helpful. The security guards are reliable and courteous. They make sure to ask for your room key upon first entering the lobby, giving guests great peace of mind with regard to their safety. If you wish to exercise, there is a great workout room, containing state-of-the-art equipment and roof-top pool that will be ready in the near future.
The maid service is another impeccable service and wake -up calls are made timely.
The spacious two bedroom suites contain two queen size beds, beautiful hand-crafted wood furniture, large bathrooms, ample closet space, and an ironing board and iron are available as a great convenience for those items of clothing that inevitably wrinkle no matter how well one packs.
In addition to all the fabulous amenities the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel has to offer, is an incredible restaurant, The Bourbon House and Oyster Bar”, for reservations: 504-522-0111. The restaurant is located inside the hotel and offers some of New Orleans best seafood. This fine restaurant has been open four years and was one the first to reopen after Hurricane Katrina. The elegant ambiance is lovely and would surely be an impressive setting for a dinner date, business meeting, or family gathering.
In regards to the menu, one of the best appetizers is the magnificent collection of baked oysters, especially the delicious Oysters Rockefeller, stuffed with spinach, and the equally tasty Oysters Bienville, stuffed with parmesan cheese an shrimp.
Be sure to enjoy a delicious bowl of Seafood Gumbo full of Louisiana oysters, shrimp, crabmeat, okra and Andouille sausage. If Soft Shell Crabs are in season definitely order them as an appetizer, quite a delicious delicacy!
For the main course, the fresh fish is a must! Recommended is the Gulf Fish Pecan made with Creole Meuniere sauce, spicy roasted pecans and spinach Rockefeller timbales. The Redfish on the half shell is grilled skin side down and served with new potatoes and lemon butter is especially fabulous with sautéed crawfish tails added to it for $6.00. The gulf fish is another delicious fish know as Cobia,and the red fish is a Drum fish,known as “the fillet of the sea” and amazingly delicious!
Last but not least, do not miss out on one of the special desserts called a “bourbon milkshake”, made from pasteurized not homogenized milk to give it an extra creamy taste. There are other tasty desserts to choose from is you still have room left at the end of your sumptuous meal.
They also provide a separate servers, one for drink orders and another one for food orders. The service at this fine restaurant was top notch!
Another recommendation for fine dining is ARNAUD’S, (www.arnaud’s.com) located at 813 Rue Bienville, call for reservations, 504-523-5722.
This restaurant is extremely elegant and classy. The decor, layout, and ambiance truly exude New Orleans. Located in the French Quarter, this is a gem of a place! There is bar/hangout room, a large dining room, and a separate more casual dining area where you can enjoy Live Jazz while you dine.
For appetizers, Shrimp Arnaud, their signature dish is a great choice and is full of gulf shrimp marinated in tangy Creole Remoulade Sauce.
The Smoked Pompano Bourgeois, which is house hickory-smoked fresh Gulf Pompano with sour cream, capers, and onions is another delicious appetizer.
A bowl of Seafood Gumbo is always a great choice, too.
For an entree the favorite was the Gulf Snapper Mitchell, a tasty grilled fillet with fresh tomatoes, basil, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and Calameta olives. I highly recommend the melt in your mouth Tasty Frog Legs which were battered and deep fried.
Three great wine choices Saint-Aubin Ier, Cou “Le Charmois”, and Michel Picard.
Arnaud’s also offers amazing desserts including Bread Pudding, ( a New Orleans staple), Pecan Pie and their signature dessert, Bananas Foster, flambéed at your table. Also, a delicious cafe brulot is prepared by excellent servers tableside with an orange..it is quite a show! The service was extraordinary!
La Cote Brasserie, 700 Tchoupitoulas Street, 504-613-2349, (www.lacotebrasserie.com) offers another fantastic dining experience in New Orleans. This restaurant has a modern-style decor, however, it compares favorably to the other fine restaurants mentioned. The executive chef, Chuck Subra and staff have created several great and unique creations. Locate in the Warehouse District, this restaurant offers a fantastic oyster appetizer, filled with spinach or parmesan are charbroiled! The French Onion Soup is amazing and quite unique as it contains a delicious and non-gooey cheese custard as well as grilled onions. The Tuna Poke, a fresh gulf tuna, seaweed salad and sesame soy vinaigrette will also please. For salad the Jumbo Lump Crabmeat salad is highly recommended. This is made with baby spinach, roasted walnuts and orange herb vinaigrette.
Your dinner must include their delicious version of Gumbo Soup which is filled with duck meat in lieu of seafood for a interesting change. Again if soft crab shells are in season, this restaurant sautéed them which allowed for more of their true taste to be enjoyed. The whole Redfish is fantastic and I suggest it grilled not fried, or try their Seared Ahi Tuna, cooked to your preference. I had it rare, and it was cooked perfectly served with tasty tomatillo salsa and black beans.
The wine selection for dinner was Chalk Hill Chardonnay which was exquisite.
The dessert selection was plentiful, the Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream was extraordinary, there was also passionfruit, papaya, and kiwi cheesecake, and the classic Crème Brule.
Impeccable service was experienced throughout the evening.
Last but not least, what New Orleans stay would be complete without a meal at Forrest Gump’s favorite Bubba Gump Shrimp located at 429 Decatur Street in the French Quarter, 504-522-5800, (www.bubbagump.com) This place is great not just for its obvious shrimp dishes, but for other delicious seafood like grilled Mahi Mahi and the wonderful cheese dip as an appetizer. I highly suggest the Shrimp New Orleans, the sauce is out of this world delicious! A huge drink menu and overall fun place to visit or dine. The servers here are particularly full of character and personality, and will be sure to quiz you on Forrest Gump trivia, the movie is playing on one of the televisions with easy to read subtitles so as not to disturb your conversation. All in all, this is a great place for low-key dining and maybe watching a sporting event.
New Orleans continues to be one of the best overall cities in America, even as it works hard to recover from Hurricane Katrina. It still is an awesome place to visit! Make a reservation at the Aster Crowne Plaza and dine at some of the recommendations and your trip will be extremely satisfying regardless what else you may do in New Orleans.