Tujague’s, New Orleans, LA Report #85

 

First and most important the name of this place is pronounced “Two-Jacks”.  Growing up in New Orleans I probably didn’t know that until I was 18 or so.  Just drove passed it numerous times with no idea how to pronounce it.  It’s been a restaurant since 1856, making it the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans, but the building served as other things before that.  It has an interesting history.  The bar pictured above was imported from France in 1856 and is the oldest stand up bar (no bar stools) in the United States.  Not an extensive menu but a nice variety and a very extensive wine list.

They start you off with a nice, hot crusty loaf of good French bread.  That always makes me happy.  I smiled.  I’ve been here once, maybe 20 years ago.  Back then you ordered an entrée and they automatically brought you a small shrimp cocktail and a serving of their boiled brisket with this ketchupy, horseradishy sauce.   Very good.  Now, you have to add that on as a 5 course meal option, which adds $31 to the price of the entrée.  I opted for that and the Louisiana Lump Crab & Wild Mushroom Gnocchi as my entrée.

The shrimp remoulade was good, but it only came with THREE shrimp!  Ridiculous.  If this was North Dakota and shrimp were $12/pound, I could see that.  But here in south Louisiana you can buy shrimp retail that size for $3/pound!  No excuse for this.

Next I had the option of turtle soup or seafood gumbo.  I opted for the turtle soup after I asked my standard question.  “Is it made with REAL turtle meat”?  The answer was yes, so I got it.  Turtle meat is expensive so a lot of places use veal or something else and call it turtle soup.  I made a great choice.  It was delicious.  However, our waitress didn’t bring out an extra serving of sherry to add to it, which is always done when you order turtle soup in good restaurants.  She asked me if I wanted some.  So I’m supposed to wait as my soup gets cold while you go back and get it?  Uh, no.  Bring it in the first place and if I don’t need it I won’t use it!

If I had picked the seafood gumbo instead of the turtle soup I still would have been happy.  My dining companion got it and it was excellent.

The brisket was served with no knife because it’s not needed.  It’s so tender it cuts easily with a fork, and is great.  My dining companion had it for her entrée and it was served with delicious Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  Excellent entrée choice.

When I first tasted the crabmeat gnocchi I thought, “Bad choice”.  Not seasoned enough”.  By the time I finished the dish I loved it.  If it had been seasoned more it would have overpowered the delicate flavor of the lump crabmeat.  And it wasn’t so rich that all you could taste was cream.  It wasn’t too light, not too rich, just right.  It was hard to see the crabmeat since there was so much white in the dish, but you could taste it was there.  Delicious.

The dessert was bread pudding.  One of the best I ever had.  I’m not sure if it’s traditional to serve bread pudding with raisins or other fruit in it, but growing up in New Orleans that’s the way it was normally served to me.  However, I don’t like that.  I’d return the raisins to the server.  This one didn’t have any fruit in it.  Not too dense, not too fluffy, and served with a Maker’s Mark caramel sauce that was excellent.

Besides only having three shrimp in the remoulade the only other thing I could complain about was our waitress.  Besides not bringing the sherry with the turtle soup, she was subpar to the other wait staff.  A few things I heard other waiters state or ask were, “Let me tell you about our menu”, “Do you have any questions about the menu”?, “Would you like some more bread?” and “I’d recommend…”.  None of those things came out her mouth.  Also, I knew there was history behind the bar in the place, and when I asked her I knew more about the bar than she did!  And I’m just a slob off the street!

Anyway, if you want to try one of the great, OLD, New Orleans restaurants, I highly recommend this one.

823 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA  70116  Ph: 504-525-8676

Blaine 4-6-2018

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:

Back at Tujague’s tonight. Three appetizers. Charbroiled oysters. Just OK. Could have been broiled longer. Duck and goat cheese crepes. Also just OK. Nothing special, although it sounded awesome. Crispy pork belly with grits and pepper jelly. BINGO!! DELICIOUS!

Also delicious were our entrees. Pork chop with oyster French bread dressing and ham hock gravy and shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits could have been a bigger portion, though.

823 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA  70116  Ph: 504-525-8676

Blaine 1-17-2019

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:

MAJOR NEWS!  Tujague’s is moving from the location it’s been at since 1914!

 

Here’s an article about it:

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_398f739c-eb78-11e9-9c89-3f7664acb637.html

The new address will be:

429 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA.  70116.  I’m not sure if the phone number will remain the same.

Blaine 10-11-2019