cookies and code

Before we caught a flight home, we had a few hours to spend in New Orleans to see the usual sites. We took our daughter to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, which was a lot of fun, and then headed down Decatur Street to find some lunch. My cousin works in the area at a local university and suggested we give Cafe Maspero a try. He said it was basically a simple sandwich and seafood joint that was a solid staple of eating in the French Quarter.

Cafe Mesparo is on the corner of Decatur Street and Toulouse Street with a small double door facing Decatur used to enter. Once you go inside the restaurant, there is a large space filled with tables and a bar running along the wall into the kitchen with a order-up counter in the back. They have a few domestic beers on tap including the local favorite blends of Abita. The menu is relatively straight forward with lots of sandwich choices as well as seafood plates and a couple salads (I believe). We ordered the catfish sandwich (~$9), the shrimp sandwich (~$9), and the roast beef and swiss sandwich (~$8). All of the sandwiches came with fries, but note that the restaurant does not allow substitutions for sides which seems to be a common practice for an establishment in a tourist district unfortunately. I also ordered an Abita Amber on draft (~$3) which was very thirst quenching and finally redeemed Abita a bit in my mind from all of the fruity concoctions they produce. When the sandwiches came out, they were much bigger than I expected. Each was served an a large French bread bun with cabbage and pickles on the side; keep in mind, these are really po-boys, but they are still delicious none the less. The catfish was lightly breaded and prepared in a such a way that it simply fell apart as I bit into it. The shrimp was fried to just the right temperature and not chewy at all. The most pleasant surprise was the the roast beef which was fresh sliced and served with the swiss cheese melted over it. The fries were common steak fries with nothing outstanding about them.

Be aware that Cafe Mesparo only takes cash and traveler’s checks, so make sure if you visit you come prepared. They’re good food, reasonable pricing, and generous portions are enough to warrant a trip to the ATM. Overall though, we left Cafe Maspero energized, ready to dive into the dessert portion of our day with beneigh’s at Cafe Dumonde and pralines at the Southern Candymakers. If you’re looking for an easy decision for lunch in the French Quarter, make Cafe Mesparo your pick for fresh, simple, and great tasting food.

Cafe Maspero is located at 601 Decatur Street, New Orleans, Louisiana.

While visiting family in Louisiana this past week, we happened to be in town for my aunt and uncle’s wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we decided to grab lunch at Nash’s Restaurant in Broussard. Nash’s follows in the well established practice of converting an old home to a restaurant. For some reason, this seems to always give me the comfortable feeling of being in someone’s home rather than lost in a busy or non-descript building. Nash’s decor reminds me of restaurants such as the Veranda in Fort Myers and, the now closed, Strawberry Mansion in Melbourne. Nash’s is an Italian and Cajun restaurant with an Acadian influence who’s head chef is very well known. My cousins couldn’t recommend this restaurant enough to us, so I was stoked to try out the menu.

Even though we had been on a non-stop seafood eating marathon for the entire trip, you just cannot travel to Louisiana and eat anything but seafood; at least a true Cajun should not. I started with a cup of the Seafood Gumbo (~$6) and, trying to stay in the theme of the cuisine, ordered the Shrimp Creole (~$13) with the Italian Olive Mix (+~$2) salad. Others at the table ordered cups of the Shrimp, Crab, and Corn Bisque (~$6) and Chicken and Sausage Gumbo (~$6) along with the Crab Cakes (~$13), Mini Seafood Platter (~$13), the Open-face Roast Beef Sandwich (~$10), and the Seafood Salad (~$13). The seafood gumbo didn’t miss a beat although I did have to season it a bit more than expected. It was a combination of lump crab meat, shrimp, and crawfish made with a traditional roux. It was also served with a large de-shelled crawfish claw which was the perfect garnish for the dish. I heard similar comments about the other soups at the table. The salad was made from a bed of Italian greens with tomatoes, many different type of pitted olives, a quarter of a boiled egg, and dressed with a muffaletta olive mixture that brought every bite together. I will say that for the entree I was a bit disappointed. When I typically think of Shrimp Creole, I picture a sort of rustic dish made with large Gulf shrimp and generously cut portions of pepper and onion in a tomato-based sauce that has a bit of a kick to it. This dish had relatively small pieces of pepper and onion, the shrimp were much smaller than I expected, and without a spicy kick in the sauce, the tomato flavor was a bit more than I expected. That being said, the overall flavor of the dish was still good. The other meals at the table were extremely delicious. The crab cakes were served on a fried eggplant and I believe were made with blue crab meat, so they were had that savory and sweet combination going for them. The “mini” seafood platter was much larger than we expected having fried oysters, shrimp, and catfish. The seafood salad was also a good portion coming with grilled shrimp, salmon, and another seafood item over a bed of what looked like romaine and other veggies. At the end of the meal, our waitress brought out fresh-baked French bread rolls which she had forgotten to bring earlier. We were all full, but the bread was so fresh and hot, we each had to sample a bit of it, just so it didn’t go to waste.

We skipped out on dessert, but I have to say although the lunch entree wasn’t everything I expected, the meal as a whole did not disappoint. If you like spicy food, make sure you request it when you order, but don’t let that discourage you from the great flavors on the menu. The Amberjack with Seafood Au Gratin sauce looked amazing, so I’ll have to make my way back one day. I’ve been told that every occupant of this building has done an amazing job with their food, and Nash’s Restaurant is no exception. Although, it’s a bit of a hike for those Lafayette folks, it’s definitely worth the visit. Don’t be coo-yôn; give Nash’s a try.

Nash’s Restaurant is located at 101 East 2nd Street Broussard, Louisiana.