Friday, January 21, 2011

First stop in NOLA!!

Weekend trip to New Orleans! My bf has been traveling there for work lately so we thought he could stay over the weekend sometime and a group of us go meet him for a weekend trip! :) The itinerary was super full...FULL OF FOODING that is! hahaha. That's what happens when they ask me to plan the trip. :P

We got in Friday night. First stop for dinner...

Drago's Seafood Restaurant
3232 N. Arnoult Road
Metairie, LA 70002
(504) 888-9254
Price: $$$-$$$$

I saw this place featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate". It was on the way to the hotel so we wanted to give it a try.

We went to the Metairie location (there's another one in downtown New Orleans). The parking was insane...totally packed and crammed spaces. Luckily the restaurant wasn't super full. We got a table right away. (They don't take reservations btw.) Walking in, you can see in the back where they are shucking and cooking the oysters over a giant fire grill. It was pretty cool.

Of course we had to try the featured item...
Drago's Original Charbroiled Oysters (half dozen) - $11.45~ "The Single Best Bite of Food In New Orleans." ...or so they claim... We only got half dozen because we wanted to pace ourselves for the rest of the trip. haha. Now I'm not a fan of oysters but these were pretty good. It was topped with cream and cheese then flame broiled so it had a nice char and crust. The oyster was nice and tender and didn't taste fishy. The bread was really good to sop up all the juices on the plate. My friend, who hates all seafood, tried one. And guess what?!? He liked it! WHOA!! He even had a 2nd piece!! It was quite tasty, but still expensive in my opinion.

We also got the Shrimp & Corn Bisque (cup) $7.45~ to share. I love any kind of corn chowder. This was really good. Wasn't too salty like some soups can be. The corn added a nice sweetness to it and the shrimp was cooked nicely. I liked it a lot. But for a tiny little cup, it was also too expensive...

My bf and I also shared a small Crabmeat Mediterranean Salad (Crisp romaine tossed with a light vinaigrette and Italian cheese-style dressing, topped with jumbo lump crabmeat) $7.45~ The salad was very generic but the lump crabmeat was good. It was super fresh and tender. Definitely made up for the meh salad.

My friend got the Blackened Chicken (Served with linguini and Alfredo sauce) $17.45~ Comes with a side salad. Again, the side salad was very generic and they put too much dressing on it...a little too sour. But he didn't like his entree at all. It was a little too salty and very heavy with the cream sauce. The chicken was ok but nothing special.

Overall the meal was good. The oysters were definitely tasty but I'm not so sure about being one of the best things I've ever had. The service was pretty good. But on the whole I just felt it was too pricey for what we were given. If you are only in NOLA for a short period of time, I would say skip this place...

Quality of Food:
Service:
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Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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