Tujague's Restaurant

Still The Best Meal I Ever Had. I've been visiting Tujagues Place for over 10 years. They continue to excel at the fixed menu dining experience. It is a step back in time when you walk in here. A perfectly portioned, great attention to details five course meal for under 50 bux. Each portion is delicate and savory. Save room for the bread pudding and coffee. If you want an off the menu experience ask the water for the Chicken and Gahlic' served over house made potato chips and Pahsley. TRUST ME!…

Go somewhere else. My wife and I have eaten at a lot of places in and around New Orleans, many of which we would be happy to highly recommend with glowing reviews. This is not one of them. We thought a prix fixe meal would be a great idea - lots of mini courses, lots of flavor, moderate price. The only true thing was that there were many mini courses. The shrimp remoulade has a good sauce (if a bit spicy) but the shrimp was mealy (come on, this is New Orleans - I bought better shrimp at Rouses just yesterday), and the salad was frozen. Ok, perhaps the soup...

The soup was warm, but lacked flavor. Waiter suggested there was crab in there, but if there was ever crab in there it left a long time ago. Sauce was weak and not appealing. Ah well, perhaps the salad...

Pleasant surprise - best part of the meal. Small, sure, but the dressing tasted pretty good and seemed home made. Allright, hope springs eternal...

Fish was, simply put, awful. The measly amount of sauce (supposedly a burre blanc with pineapple) barely could change the bland and slightly unfresh taste of the redfish (and my guess was the pineapples came from a can). The crusted part was a little oily and added nothing to the fish. The potatoes were a step up from Shoney's.

To be fair, my wife really enjoyed her filet mignon (without butter) and thought the vegetables were satisfactory.

Bread pudding with bananas dessert was mediocre. This is New Orleans, and bread puddings can be a source of pride, not to mention a wonderfully sweet and pleasant end to a delicious meal. Not only would I not write home about this one, it seemed like the cooks phoned this one in.

I had two beers, my wife a champagne and glass of wine. Total bill $122. That's right, that's not a typo. And that doesn't include a tip. The waiter was accommodating and cordial enough, but only apologized about our comments concerning the food.

There are a 100 other restaurants in New Orleans where $122 ($140 with tip) can buy you a fantastic meal (and good times!), and I'd be happy to share these places with anyone. But I will never go back to Tujagues again. They can't blame Mardi Gras, can't blame a busy weekend, and can't blame some freak accidents - it was just bad (again, excepting my wife's filet mignon).

Just keep walking...…

brisket sandwich at the bar. I went for the brisket sandwich, which is served at the bar. I have no idea if the restaurant is good, probably? Maybe? Don't know. The brisket sandwich at the bar though: really really good. A sturdy french roll with plenty of tender, not too fatty brisket smothered in a tomato based, aggressively peppery horseradish sauce. Better than the sum of its parts.…