To start the space is beautiful. Exposed wood beams, white walls, marble table tops, a white tiled soda counter blocking an exposed kitchen all make for a pleasant environment. Plus, it is right on Jackson Square which heightens the ability to people watch and gaze.
From left to right a Pomegranate, Blood Orange, and Blackberry Italian Sodas. They tasted like a melted snowball, which was passable for the citrusy blood orange and the tart pomegranate, but cloying for the blackberry. A little less syrup and a bit more of the soda could turn this into quite a refreshing drink, especially come summertime.
A kitchen sink gumbo with andouille, shrimp, and oysters. Believe it or not, you can make a roux too dark. And the oyster and shrimp both suffered the same fate as the roux. Gumbo served in such a beautiful location by this talented of a kitchen staff should not suffer from these errors. Addition by subtraction here: less time cooking the roux and ditch the seafood unless you can add the oysters mere seconds before the dish is served.
An Eggs Benedict Poboy. This dish tasted fine, it tasted great actually. And the concept sounds Einstein-esque in theory. But then you realize you can't eat a po-boy with a poached egg on top of slippery ham lubed up with hollandaise. So you are forced to eat it with a knife and fork. The top of the bread becomes useless and you are left wondering, "Why make it into a po-boy? This would be better served as Eggs Benedict on Rounds of French Bread rather than an English Muffin..."Which brings us to our next dish.
The Breaux Bridge Eggs Benedict. French bread rounds topped with boudin, a poached egg, and hollandaise. A very rich dish, but if I was hungover this would hit the spot. Good level of spice offset some of the heaviness of the (over) poached egg and the hollandaise. We liked this.
This is almost a travesty. A $17 Korean Bar B Q Beef Po Boy with Housemade Kimchi. The beef is just more scared by the flame than cooked by the heat. Also, there is more meat on a supermodel than on this sandwich. The kimchi is spicy and flavorful, but paying $17 for preserved cabbage on a piece of French bread seems well, silly.
Delicious. An old fashioned, perfectly made, thick as thieves strawberry milkshake. And I think this is where Stanley's market should be. As we ate we saw a few burgers and reubens pass by the table. They looked delicious and well made. We also ordered some fries-albeit frozen-and onion rings that were very good, if not addictive. A remark about the fries. Herbsaint, Luke, La Boca, Boucherie, etc... all make house cut fries. We, as diners, have been spoiled. Stanley should offer house cut fries.Service is not very fine tuned, but it is the first month. However, if you are going to have an ambitious menu the service needs to be better prepared to deal with customer questions. Also, it should not take fifteen minutes to get a credit card slip returned.
We really hope Stanley takes off. But there is no need to reinvent the American Diner. Serve those seemingly delicious burgers and fries, some patty melts, and cheese fries. Keep the egg dishes, but don't feel the need to add po-boy to the end of them to make them authentic New Orleans. If you want a beef po boy, than give my old friend Roast a call. Make this place seem like a French Quarter version of Camelia Grill. You do that and a customer base will never be a problem.
Let's face it, this spot is a perfect location for both locals and tourist alike. If you can offer a few solid classic New Orleans dishes for the ambitious traveler or devoted local and a good burger for the boring conventioneer from Beaumont and the picky kid, how do you lose?
Or just ignore everything we have said as at the end what the eff do we know?
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5 comments:
Well done. Great pictures too.
I guess it was a blessing in disguise that I have tried to go twice for lunch and have waited at the door to be acknowledged, but all the staff were too harried to help me and all the tables seemed to be full or dirty. I feel like the existence of a $17 dollar poboy should be entered in the $40 entree debate.
15 minutes to get your credit card slip? Oy. One of my absolute pet peeves is being held hostage by a restaurant after I've eaten waiting for the bill or the credit card slip.
By the way, someone at work who's been to Stanley said the Reuben kills.
Robert- Those photos were taken by Lindsay. The intrepid photographic eye of this blog. My photos come out looking more like impressionist depictions than photographic evidence.
SJG- The prices for the other offerings are not as absurd as the Korean Kimchi Po-boy. In fact given the locale, they are on the more affordable side.
Alex- Not just a time delay. The waitress decided since we had already eaten and had our table cleared her job was done. But once this was brought to someone attention it was remedied quickly. The reuben looked like it would be satisfying, again this is where the focus should be.
I would've died for the Eggs Stanley that someone else at my table ordered. I got a burger and agree with your conclusion. Good burgers, particularly since the restaurant is far enough away from Camellia Grill (and different enough, it sounds, from Luke) that it doesn't really suffer any competition. I think it's caught in an identity crisis. It doesn't need to be innovative or upscale in the way Stella is. It is a diner, for God's sake. I too hope they figure this out.
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