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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Awesome Brunch @ Patois

Last day in NOLA. We had a late brunch scheduled. I'm surprised we can still eat more! haha.

I picked this place after looking at their menu. It sounded really good and price was decent in New Orleans terms... haha. I was able to make a reservation through their website.

Patois
6078 Laurel Street
New Orleans, LA 70118
(504) 895-9441
http://www.patoisnola.com/
Price: $$ (for Brunch)

This was a cute little place. Seemed kind of like a restored home or something. The place was clean and bright. I thought it was perfect for a brunch setting.

We got there right at 1PM and was immediately seated. However, we waited a long time before anyone else came to greet us or give us water or menus... Not a really good start. They're lucky we're in no hurry so we didn't mind it as much. But not really a warm welcome
I'd say...

Finally our waitress showed up. At least she was nice. We made our order and she brought out their Muffin/Bread basket (assortment of muffins and bread with Strawberry jam). YUM! They were delicious. There were blueberry muffins, rolls, and some popovers. Everything was delicious. Warm, buttery, flaky, and the jam was fantastic. I think the food is redeeming the lack of service! haha.

A friend of mine ordered a Mimosa $11~ It was small and not that good. And he had no idea it was gonna be $11! Dang! Oh well...next time he should learn to ask the price...

I got the Duck Confit Salad (with arugula, spiced pecans & pear vinaigrette) $12.50~ I wanted something fairly small because I also wanted dessert. hehe. This was sooo good. The duck was SUPER tender and moist. I loved the pairing of the fresh salad with the fattiness of the duck. The salad was great, the vinaigrette wasn't too much or overpowering and the pears and pecans added just a bit of sweetness. One tiny complaint is there was a bit of grease under the duck which is understandable since it was a confit (cooked in fat). But all in all, it was fantastic!

One friend ordered the Rabbit, Andouille & Greens Gumbo $7~ to start. I tried a bite. I didn't seem the rabbit anywhere but I definitely got some of the sausage and greens. It was a little soupier than I would've liked my gumbo and needed more rice I thought. But the flavor was great...really bold with a kick at the end. :) I also thought the greens in there was a nice touch.

He also ordered the Pulled Pork & Biscuits (poached eggs, smoked tomato hollandaise and bacon braised greens) $15~ This was good as well. The eggs were perfectly poached...and I mean PERFECT! The hollandaise was creamy but not too heavy. And the pork was nice and tender. The braised greens were good as well. Pretty tasty!

My bf got the Egg, Crispy Pork Belly & Gried Green Tomato Sandwich (with cheddar cheese, a crystal hot sauce aioli on brioche, with side of fries) $11~ That was my other choice so I kinda pushed him to get it. haha. I did notice that it was not served on brioche but just regular wheat toast. Didn't really matter...it was awesome. The plate was pretty huge. The pork belly was nice and thick with a good crust on the outside. The egg and tart tomato was great with it. The toast had a nice slight char on the edges. And the fries were great as well. Nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside...perfect seasoning on top.

My other friend got the Classic Breakfast (eggs any style, sausage, hash browns, and toast) $10~ plus a Side of Apple Smoked Bacon $3~ He LOVED the bacon! And said the eggs were cooked perfectly and had sooo much flavor. I tried the sausage and it was interesting. It was like a homemade patty with a sage leaf pressed into it. I thought that was really cool. The hash browns (more like "home fries") were excellent. Crispy outside, fluffy inside.

Everything was going great. The food was fantastic. We were all pretty full but we HAD to get dessert, because they were most likely delicious as well.

We got the Chocolate-Orange Crepe (Orange confit, Grand Marnier anglaise, chocolate sauce, pistachio) $8.50~ I almost ordered this as my entree for brunch. haha. But I'm glad I got the duck. This was good. I liked the citrus with the chocolate... you could really taste both and it was balanced well. The sugar garnish on top was pretty cool looking but was kinda sharp! Be careful if you want to eat it. I didn't really get the pistachio though... I think the dessert was good, but I regretted not getting one of the other options.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gateau (bittersweet budino, Frangelico ice cream, Hazelnut brittle) $9~ The presentation was totally cute. The budino (which is basically French for pudding) was in a cute little jar. That was the best part of the trio. The pudding was rich, creamy, chocolately goodness. I wanted more of that. The gateau was kind of like a flourless chocolate cake. A little flakier than I would've liked...I wanted it more like a brownie consistency or something. But the flavor was good. I was excited about the Frangelico ice cream but it tasted just vanilla...didn't really get the liqueur part of it. And I loved the brittle underneath the ice cream.

It was a fantastic brunch. We all agreed that Patois was one of the best meals we had on the trip. I wish we were in NOLA a little longer so I can go back and try their dinner and more desserts... The service was a bit lacking but the food more than enough made up for it. If they step up the service then it would definitely be an A+ location.

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