Cochon Butcher

Cool interior for a hot meal. We finally got to eat at Cochon on our most recent visit to New Orleans, and on Valentine's Day no less! We came with a big party, but our reservation was on-time, and the service was great. We brought a cake with us (birthday), and our servers took it back to cut it and served it out - a great touch! Closing out at the end was a cinch.

The food was great. We were all passing food back and forth to taste this and try that. I didn't have anything that wasn't delicious (although my shellfish allergy does shrink the menu for me a little). I wouldn't recommend for vegetarians, but it is called "Cochon" after all.…

Rabbit-fied and Pig-olicious. When I really like a restaurant I ask the waitress if the chef has written a cookbook...I bought two. My family started the evening sharing the small plates of fried alligator with chili garlic aioli, grilled shrimp with chow-chow and fried pig ears with cane syrup mustard and two salads. We argued over our favorite because everything was so different and delicious (we don't feature alligator or pigsears where we come from). The entrees were show-stoppers. The louisiana couchon with turnips, cabbage & craklins was delicious, but fell to third place after tasting the catfish courtbouillon, and the rabbit & dumplings. Just when we thought that we couldn't squeeze in another bite, out comes a piece of German chocolate cake, and you can't put your fork down. This will be on my short list of must return to restaurants.…

Disappointing in every way. Awful experience when I went here on a Friday afternoon between lunch and dinner. You can say that off-hours a restaurant isn't going to wow you, but that's no excuse. A real chef never would have let something be so awful just because it was between lunch and dinner.

The place was nearly dead. Our waitress was inattentive, although she had no other tables to mind. It took her fifteen minutes just to bring us drinks, another 15 minutes to take our food order, another 15 minutes to realize we needed more drinks, and another 15 minutes to bring them. We almost walked out before the food came. The crawfish pie had about 4 crawfish in it. The gumbo was unlike any I've ever come across, very thick, bland, with little meat in it. The artichoke stuffed crab was full of shell bits and very dry. I've gotten better cajun food at Semolina's. All the food was incredibly over-salted. The portions are tiny, we left hungry and disappointed. The waitress was handsy, she kept touching everyone in my party when she spoke to them and practically getting on top of them when she picked things up from the table. She kept giving us dirty plates and dishes, not dried food on a plate, wet food she just spilled on it, and she didn't even bother to replace it. The service was so bad we saw a group of five people walk in, and when the hostess who was on the phone ignored the party for five or ten minutes, they just walked out. This place has gotten so much buzz that I guess they see no need to make good food or upscale service. Go to a mom-and-pop place on Magazine Street instead, they'll never disappoint you.…