Restaurant Review - Tujagues in New Orleans, LA

 

Tujague's (pronounced two-jacks) Restaurant in the French Market of New Orleans is a bit of a “hidden gem” but well worth the visit. Outside, a simple neon sign is all that alerts you to its presence there on Decatur St.  I consider myself lucky to have stumbled upon it at the end of a long trek around the French Quarter looking for the “perfect place” to savour one last Creole meal (preferred by me over Cajun) on my holiday. Inside, the unassuming wooden walls blend seamlessly with simple (not to mention hard) wooden chairs, and are covered in pictures of some of the most famous people in the world, posing with the owner and staff, dating way back to when the restaurant was young. Tujague's opened in 1856 and is currently, the 2^nd oldest restaurant operating in New Orleans.

The five (5) course menu, as it was on the day they opened, is decided each day, when the chef visits the market and determines what he will serve based on freshness and inspiration. The choices are relayed to you by the waiter after you have been seated, so don’t spend any time looking around the front door, or even the table, for menus as they change several times each week. It was there that i finally checked off of my bucket list, an amazing meal of fried green tomatoes (all that was missing was the Whistle Stop Café), which was served along with four (4) other standard Tujuage’s courses consisting of beef brisket with horeradish, remoulade and shrimp, salad with "cap" bread - a Tujague’s original, and dessert. Oh and let’s not forget the bracingly delicious dark coffee in shot glasses of which, many were required to keep the food-trance at bay. I will always remember how it felt while positively waddling back to the hotel afterwards, as food-satisfied as I have even been in my entire life.

Not the cheapest meal, but certainly one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It was the 2^nd best meal to be exact. If you are asking yourself, “I wonder what meal rated ‘best ever’ at The Church of Travel?” then look for my review-blog called “Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, NV”. That man did things with corn, in the city of sin, that I will never forget ;-)