This morning I met a friend for coffee and beignets at Rue Cler before wandering over to the farmers' market. Love Rue Cler in general. I've not been for dinner in a few months, but I really like how they do the prix fixe menu. More places should offer a set menu. It's got to be a good business model besides being exciting for the customer.
But I digress. When my friend suggested coffee and beignets, I wistfully recalled my trip to the Big Easy a few weeks ago where I went to Cafe du Monde for the most famous and most delicious coffee and beignets in the world. Those beignets are the size of your hand. The coffee is rich and dark and uniquely flavored with chicory. Yes, I know the place is touristy, but so what? It is beloved by many people for two very good reasons: one being in a cup and the other being deep fried.
Knowing that I might approach Rue Cler biased by my recent experience in New Orleans, I decided to be intentionally open to the differences. To say "Well it's not like Cafe du Monde" would not be helpful or insightful or fun! I'm all about the fun.
The cafe au lait was dark and strong and milky the way I like it. It seems like they serve the coffee in paper cups regardless if you order it as take out or dine in (now if this is some thing they are doing to save water by doing less dish washing, don't everyone yell at me or call me names for not being au fait with restaurant regulations and political statements!). I'm OK w/ paper cups but I sure would love for Rue Cler to serve coffee in some huge, white French cafe au lait bowls when I am dining in.
The beignets were good. They taste like, well, fried dough. What's not to love about fried dough coated in powdered sugar? Crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I wondered how they would be with a good dose of cinnamon sprinkled on them or maybe a side of apple or strawberry compote.
Rue Cler offers other items for breakfast if you are looking for a non-deep-fried option. You could always have beignets as a starter ad order egg for a main!
Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Brunch at Watts Grocery
Marginally recovered from my cold, I headed to Watts Grocery for brunch today with a friend.
I have a few minor bones to pick before I get to the food:
1. They don't open for weekend brunch until 11am. ELEVEN AM?? They need to open earlier. Seriously that's too late to open for brunch.
2. When I order coffee, bring me a spoon. Ok, fine, for the sake of good manners, don't wrap a spoon up the cloth napkin with the knife and fork (a coffee or tea spoon should never be put on the table w/ a place setting, bring it with the cup and saucer...or mug), but bring me a spoon so I can properly give my coffee a swirl, pour in some cream and watch it magically spin into the coffee. A spoon, please. A lady never wants to use a fork to stir coffee!
3. Don't make me beg for more cream. Two cream drinkers are going to polish off that dinky little pitcher after a two cups.
4. Serve water without having to be asked.
Minor details, I admit. Now, regarding the food. I have to confess that my taste buds are not quite up to par at the moment because my nose and head are stuffy. This is a problem for someone who likes to TASTE food and who can usually taste individual ingredients in a dish. My remedy was to order spicy and hope I could taste it.
My friend and I had churros for a starter. These are fried strips of dough coated in sugar and cinnamon and served with a dark chocolate dipping sauce. The churros were light and crisp, almost like cookies, not like donuts as the menu may suggest. I could taste the cinnamon and that was about it. The chocolate sauce had a good texture but the taste was too subtle for my defective sense of smell/taste.
My main course was rather astonishing in its complexity: a grilled biscuit split in half and covered with a sauce of andouille sausage with tomato topped with a poached egg and a hollandaise w/ cajun spices and crawfish tails. It was good except for the crawfish which was too fishy, probably from being frozen. Crawfish should taste sweet and lobstery not strong and fishy. Like lobster, don't bother if it isn't fresh because frozen doesn't do it justice. I moved the crawfish to the side and at the rest. It was good, but next time I'll order something else like the shrimp and grits.
My friend had French toast. It looked amazing when the waitress brought it to the table. The slices were huge. It was served with delicious cooked fruit in a tasty caramel sauce with whipped cream on the side. I tend to like egg dishes for brunch but I will certainly order French toast at some point too!
Aside from the minor problems w/ the spoon and cream, the coffee was delicious. It was rich, dark, bold and served in large mugs. I'd say their coffee is nearly as good as Alivia's, which is the best coffee in town.
So, let me know when you head to Watts Grocery for brunch what you think of the other menu items. I might have to go back tomorrow to try the shrimp and grits!
I have a few minor bones to pick before I get to the food:
1. They don't open for weekend brunch until 11am. ELEVEN AM?? They need to open earlier. Seriously that's too late to open for brunch.
2. When I order coffee, bring me a spoon. Ok, fine, for the sake of good manners, don't wrap a spoon up the cloth napkin with the knife and fork (a coffee or tea spoon should never be put on the table w/ a place setting, bring it with the cup and saucer...or mug), but bring me a spoon so I can properly give my coffee a swirl, pour in some cream and watch it magically spin into the coffee. A spoon, please. A lady never wants to use a fork to stir coffee!
3. Don't make me beg for more cream. Two cream drinkers are going to polish off that dinky little pitcher after a two cups.
4. Serve water without having to be asked.
Minor details, I admit. Now, regarding the food. I have to confess that my taste buds are not quite up to par at the moment because my nose and head are stuffy. This is a problem for someone who likes to TASTE food and who can usually taste individual ingredients in a dish. My remedy was to order spicy and hope I could taste it.
My friend and I had churros for a starter. These are fried strips of dough coated in sugar and cinnamon and served with a dark chocolate dipping sauce. The churros were light and crisp, almost like cookies, not like donuts as the menu may suggest. I could taste the cinnamon and that was about it. The chocolate sauce had a good texture but the taste was too subtle for my defective sense of smell/taste.
My main course was rather astonishing in its complexity: a grilled biscuit split in half and covered with a sauce of andouille sausage with tomato topped with a poached egg and a hollandaise w/ cajun spices and crawfish tails. It was good except for the crawfish which was too fishy, probably from being frozen. Crawfish should taste sweet and lobstery not strong and fishy. Like lobster, don't bother if it isn't fresh because frozen doesn't do it justice. I moved the crawfish to the side and at the rest. It was good, but next time I'll order something else like the shrimp and grits.
My friend had French toast. It looked amazing when the waitress brought it to the table. The slices were huge. It was served with delicious cooked fruit in a tasty caramel sauce with whipped cream on the side. I tend to like egg dishes for brunch but I will certainly order French toast at some point too!
Aside from the minor problems w/ the spoon and cream, the coffee was delicious. It was rich, dark, bold and served in large mugs. I'd say their coffee is nearly as good as Alivia's, which is the best coffee in town.
So, let me know when you head to Watts Grocery for brunch what you think of the other menu items. I might have to go back tomorrow to try the shrimp and grits!
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