Flat Tuesday

Don't you hate it when you are looking forward to something in the worst way...and it turns out to be shit.

Had a so-so Fat Tuesday celebration last night. That makes me sad.

Gia and I went to one of our favorite restaurants fairly close to where we live. They were having a Mardi Gras celebration, so we figured it was as good a place to go as anywhere. Drink specials, New Orleans-stlye menu and a live band playing some jazz and the blues to get us in the mood.

Unfortunately, they underestimated the draw of folks going out on a Tuesday night in the middle of February for a night of booze, eats and music because they had only one waitress working and no bus-folks. So everything took a reaaaaallllllyyyyy lonnnnnnnng time.

Not faulting our server. She was great and did what she could. But the food seems like it was prepared in a rush and it wasn't up to their standards. The band was good, though. Gia even knew a couple of the guys from days gone by. Cool.

Here's what we had:

Some Abita Purple Haze beer while we waited for our table. Very yummy and it fit with the theme of the night, so okay...good start.

Once we sat, I ordered a Cyclone (which is a fruity New Orleans type of drink that I've never heard of) and G had a cajun martini, or her version of it at least. Then we ordered some appetizers. Oysters for the girl and a toasted barley and onion soup for yours truly. Too bad that we had to wait over half an hour to try them. Once they arrived, my soup was okay but Gia's oysters were a bit offish. So so sad.

Then we had a mini Craw Boil for an intermezzo. Whole crawfish, potatoes and andoulle sausage in a spicy broth. Except that the broth was kinda tasteless which kinda ruins the whole Craw Boil thing. Who ever heard of a bland crawfish boil?

Finally our dinners arrived. Catfish with creamed collared greens and sweet potato beignets for Gia, and a shrimp and mussel etouffe for myself. Mine was pretty yummy, although the mussels were a bit weird in an etouffe for my tastes. Gia's dish was pretty bland....so that sucked.

Anyway, we gave the dinner a C, C-minus on a whole. Actually the band helped bring it up by half a grade, so there was some saving grace.

Now we know to punch our weight with this place and stick to going there on regular nights. Special menu nights apparently throw them out of whack.

One highlight of the night was the owner of the joint who got up and sang a few songs with the band. She brought some game and could really belt out a Bonnie Raitt song.

It's just too bad she didn't think ahead to bring another server to work with her instead.