It’s been a couple years since we went to Herbsaint, but this visit we went for lunch. White tableclothes are covered with paper on the nicely spaced large tables. There is background music in this corner building location. The two walls of windows give lots of light in the daytime. We were in the front of the 2 rooms, which is my preference, and snagged a good table with a direct line of site into the busy kitchen. The first part of the restaurant that you come into is a large bar with lots of bar seating and additional counters. They also had a fairly large patio out front. It’s not a huge menu but everything we had was very good, packed with flavor, and nicely they seem to be open continuously so matter what time you hit town you can go, but reservations would be recommended for any prime time. We ordered a number of items with the intention of splitting them, so we could try as much as possible. Portions are well sized and service was very good.
The Cornmeal Fried Oysters were served with cole slaw and hot sauce. They cornmeal had a nice grit to coat the juicy oysters with a wonderful crisp. Cooked perfectly, they really were best with a little salt and a drop of lemon so you could savor the lovely taste of the oyster and corn meal. The sauce provided did have some fun horseradish in the mix. It was really good. The slaw was good too, not a plate filler. This was a dish you could easily consume yourself. Huge thumbs up.
The Gumbo was made with chicken and andouille. It was chocked full of stuff and totally tasty. The flavorful sausage was a good mix with the shredded chicken all surrounded by the velvety broth. Let me say again – full of flavor here. Another wonderful dish.
The Muscovy Duck Leg Confit was plated with dirty rice and citrus gastrique. The duck was really moist and flavorful. This is not a novel dish but it was a great and tasty version. The rice on the side was also wonderful A very savory dish where you want to eat every last bite. The citrus sauce was amazing and was equal to the duck and rice. Also on the plate were some well cooked collard greens mixed with baby mustard greens. A perfect accompaniment to this tasty dish.
The Rice Crusted Jumbo Shrimp was served with boiled peanut stew. It was another tasty dish and the peanut flavor was quite mild. If you haven’t been a boiled peanut fan this would have changed your mind. It was mixed with tomatoes, okra and other fun stuff. If I had to order the dishes in likeness this would have been my least favorite, though, but that’s no ding – they were all very good.
For dessert we tried the Fried Apple Pie with butter pecan ice cream. It was 2 pies with a nice ball of great ice cream. The little fried pies were nicely stuffed and topped with sugar to add extra crispness to contrast with the gooey apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar. A good sweet fix.
We also tried the Coconut Custard Pie served with Buttermilk Chantilly and Orange Caramel. Well just call this one amazing. A totally excellent dessert – don’t miss it. The crust was lovely and the top of the pie was a caramelized layer that worked great with the custardy interior. The Chantilly had a bit of cream cheese essence that went perfectly with this sticky incredible, sweet pie with tremendous flavor. Yum x2.
