GW Fins is a large place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. At the entrance there is a large bar area to the left and a several tiered dining space to the right, separated by a huge fish sculpture. Booths are set in arcs around the room and tables are in the middle. Wood pillars break up the huge space and art is on the walls, except for the one wall that is windows to the street. No music is in the background and the lights are lowered in the room but spots accent many of the tables. While there is noise in the room from the many diners, conversation at the table seemed easy and private. Double white clothes and folded napkins are set at the good sized tables. They have been in business for 17 years. They have an a la carte menu but also offer a fixed price meal where you chose from 3 options for 3 courses. Service was helpful, friendly and opinionated. Various personnel stoped by often to check on everything. It was nice, not intrusive.
We started with some martinis that were nicely made. The server brought some warm, fresh baked drop biscuits. They were crumbly and tasty. The server forgot to bring the butter I saw at other tables but you didn’t really need it.
The Barbecue Shrimp was deglazed with Abita Amber and served goat cheese grits and sliced French baguette. It was excellent. The buttery spicy sauce was wonderful with the tender shrimp. The grits were super creamy from an added bit of mascarpone. The bread was a great way to eat a bit more of this tasty dish. This sauce was bursting with flavor and made for a really wonderful dish.
Blue Crab Pot Stickers with country ham, chanterelles and pea shoot butter were a part of the fixed price options and not listed on the menu but they were willing to sell us a portion. They were wonderful tender filled pastas in a delicious yet subtle sauce. The edges were nicely crisped and held delicious sweet crab. You could taste the crab, in a good way. An amazing dish.
Local Drum was with a chicken cracklin’ crust, chanterelles on whipped butternut squash, green beans and pecans. The crisp chicken skin sat on top of the generous piece of moist local drum fish. It was delicious. The smooth and rich butternut squash was a perfect accompaniment. Some green beans rounded out the plate and pecans added a good bit of crunch. Wonderful.
Scalibut, a GW Fins original, was halibut, sea scallops, Royal red shrimp risotto, snow peas and pea shoot butter. The snow peas stayed crunchy instead of being tough or mushy. The scallops were melded together to form a topping for the halibut. It kept the fish moist and savory. The risotto underneath was perfect and a spot on accompaniment with good flavor on its own. This was a perfectly wonderful dish. I thought the combination sounded hokey but I was wrong – it worked perfectly. The scallops got a nice little crisp on their edges but didn’t dry out and kept the fish moist. A few pea shoots were a final garnish.
For dessert we had Salty Malty Ice Cream Pie which had a pretzel crust and caramel whipped cream. It was light ice cream drizzled with caramel and garnished with tons of whipped cream. It was topped with a caramelized pretzel. It was tasty, sweet and a perfect finish for a wonderful meal.
