Thursday, February 12, 2009

Brigsten's (New Orleans) 09







Situated in a “shotgun” cottage, so named because of its’ long passage from the front door to the back door through which a shotgun could be fired without doing any damage. Four interlinked rooms open off this passage. They were warm and, on this winter night, very cozy. The service was extremely friendly, quite homely, not elegant or stuffy, provided by staff who almost gave one the feeling that they lived there and were our hosts rather than our servers. We started with a butternut squash lobster bisque which was excellent. It had a pleasant consistency, pleasing taste and I would recommend it any time. A salad starter was a healthy serve


but had no particular distinction – just a lot of salad vegetables piled on a plate with a bit of cheese. The house recommendation – a seafood platter ($32)












would not get past the kitchen door at a quality restaurant. It consisted of two oysters Rockefeller covered in a thick paste which took away any character that the oyster may have had and added nothing of any delicacy or distinction. A piece of fried fish, sheep head, a local specialty, with two lightly fried prawns, was also distinctly unspecial – it could have been almost anything. There was a small, sweetish, heavy corn cake which I could have done without. A small breaded scallop was the best thing on the plate but hardly enough to save the dish and another prawn on a small bed of salad. A pork loin ordered by a colleague was notable more for the size of the dish than anything else. We tried a crème brulee













which was not very smooth and creamy. Big sweet and but not memorable. A second dessert looked great, but as so often the case, offered nothing special to the palate.






Having looked at Zagat and asked Chowhound readers for the best of New Orleans my eager anticipation was not rewarded. A good restaurant but not outstanding. 14/20

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Finally someone who agrees with our assessment of this restaurant. You never can find a bad and/or medicore review of this restaurant. We have been to NOLA 45times since October 2001 and would never return to this restaurant.

Elliot and Sandra said...

Hi Anon
I was very disappointed and on reflection it was over generous to give it a mark above 13. It's hard not to be influenced by all the rave reviews.