Galatoire’s is a large restaurant in the French Quarter that I like to visit at least once every year.  The food has an amazing consistency of goodness, the waitstaff are all adaptable to any request and it is just fun being in there.  We had a wonderful lunch of old favorites starting with a couple of New Orleans signature drinks, sazeracs.  The only reservations are for the upstairs dining rooms which have the same kitchen but somehow the vibe is not the same. This trip we found they were taking names inside to reserve a seat for the lunch seating as opposed to lining up out front.  

It was a struggle to find the person taking names but it worked and was much more civilized than the line system.  Fridays are worst but anytime near the holidays they are swamped with parties.  As soon as you sit down they bring the hot white bread and butter.  It has a wonderfully thin crisp crust and cottony center that just melts in your mouth and begs to be coated with the cold butter. They will keep bringing this throughout your meal as well if you just request a fresh, hot loaf.

 

Jason, our waiter, was willing to split all our items so we could have more of their options.  While we decided on our selections we snacked on some of their fried eggplant sticks that are coated with Italian breadcrumbs and served with béarnaise sauce and powdered sugar for dipping.  For an extra kick try mixing a little tabasco in with the powdered sugar.  They are crispy, hot and filled with lovely soft eggplant.  A delicious treat.

 

We followed with two classics, Crabmeat Maison (jumbo lump crabmeat, green onions, capers, lemon and creole mustard aioli) and Shrimp Remoulade (boiled Louisiana shrimp, horseradish and ketchup cocktail sauce and iceberg lettuce). These both come in the Galatoire Goute, which is available in a large or small. We had the small but the waiter put them on separate plates at our request.  Both are excellent, fresh and tasty.

 

The foie gras is Hudson Valley foie gras with pain perdu, cane syrup gastrique and apricot chutney.  It was a nice sized piece and the buttered toast just added to the richness of the dish.  The apricot was a nice addition to this wonderful dish.

 

The green salad with garlic is made from spring lettuces and topped with garlic puree and a creole mustard vinaigrette.  We added a bit of anchovy to our.  The lettuce is slightly wilted and is just perfect with the strong tastes of garlic. It is wonderfully intense.

 

The fish available varies some and we chose redfish to be fried and coated with Meuniére Amandine and topped with additional lump crabmeat.  It is amazing. The browned almonds go perfectly with the browned butter sauce and mix so well with the delicately fried fish.  It is a lick the plate kind of dish.

 

Our other main was the Crabmeat Sardou which is Louisiana jumbo lump crabmeat with creamed spinach, artichoke hearts and hollandaise sauce.  This is a yum x3 dish. The flavors and textures blend into a little bit of heaven on your plate.

 

After this heavy meal coffee was a must but dessert is usually a disappointment.  We’ve tried a number of their selections and this time tried the caramel custard. It was okay but just that. My advice is to stick with their seafood and leave on that butter rich high.