This is the Downtown location. Domenica is located on the ground floor of the Roosevelt hotel. There’s an entrance right on Baronne St., so you don’t have to go through the hotel, but you should! It’s a beautiful, old, New Orleans hotel. The famous and historic Sazerac bar, where New Orleans movers and shakers have met for generations, is also located on the first floor in the lobby, right across from where you check in (Pictures 3-5).
They start you off with some cold Focaccia bread. There’s olive oil on the table for dipping, but beware if you have an aversion to spicy food. The olive oil has chili peppers bathing in it. Slightly spicy (to me that is), but noticeable. The bread was very good dipped in it.
We started out with the meatballs with creamy polenta and the squid ink tagliolini with blue crab and herbs.
The meatballs were really meaty. My dining partners really liked them. I thought they were pretty good, but to me they had a flavor something like Spam. Yeah, the canned meat. The sauce and polenta were great.
The “herbs” in the pasta dish was mainly dill. This dish was really good. I’m not sure what kind of sauce was served with it but it was creamy, like an alfredo, but kind of light at the same time. Could have used a little more crab meat but I’d say that about ANY dish. There’s no such thing as too much crab meat.
One of my dining partners had the Pork Milanese Sandwich. It came with a choice of Kettle Chips or a Caesar Salad. She opted for the Caesar. She liked it and was nice enough to give me a little piece. Very thin piece of breaded, fried pork in it, so if you’re looking for a high protein sandwich this one isn’t for you. They give you a lot of salad, which she said was very good.
My other dining partner decided on the short ribs. She hit the gym this morning and was looking for a high protein lunch. We figured for $32, you’d probably get a 1/4 cow worth of ribs! Not quite. We thought the portion was rather small for that price. The dish itself however was delicious. The beef was melt in your mouth tender and seasoned really well.
Next we had what I came here for. The clam pizza. I had heard many good things about it. If you feel a pizza has to have tomato sauce and cheese, don’t get this one. It’s basically a buttery tasting, herbed crust with clams on it. Not many clams at that. Several slices had only one clam, and the most any slice had was two clams on it. It was ok. I wouldn’t order it again.
Finally, for dessert we had the Banana Cake Trifle. It was delicious! Cake, whipped cream, caramel and a good peanut brittle. Very yummy.
After requesting the check they gave us some complimentary Italian fudge to chomp on while waiting. It was very good too!
Pretty good place, but being in the CBD, right across the street from the French Quarter, be prepared for the touristy kind of prices.
123 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70112 Ph: 504-648-6020
Blaine 10-27-2018
BLAINE'S RESTAURANT REPORT 