Photos in this review: Tujague’s Restaurant on a sunny Saturday, 23 December 2006.
Did Hugh ever hear about Tujague’s Restaurant, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans? No. Did I know about this restaurant? Yes. Well, I’d seen it before (located in the heart of the French Quarter, facing the historic French Market), but I didn’t know anything about it until I began to place reservations for our eating holiday. Two rules I had to follow: no suit or tie (so Brennan’s for dinner was out), and the restaurant, of course, had to be open on Christmas day. Tujague’s seemed to fit that bill, and its history and its 150-year-old traditional menu intrigued me, so I booked our reservations. Unfortunately, Tujague’s was the only real disappointment in our holiday binge.
As my daughter and I walked and shopped the French Quarter, we tossed out a few restaurant names to hear local reactions. Every time we uttered the word, “Tujague’s,” the locals would shake their heads in disapproval. The main reason behind this negativity was that the critics felt that the food wasn’t up to par. We had hoped to prove them wrong, because we were under the assumption that we were about to be treated to a six course, table d’hote menu built around such staples as savory Shrimp Remoulade and Tujague’s own traditional beef brisket with Creole sauce. We did savor the Shrimp Remoulade, and the beef brisket with horseradish-heavy Creole sauce was heavenly. But, past these two courses and some interesting side table antics, the meal went downhill rapidly.
You’ll read this on Tujague’s menu page at their Website: ” Our menu selections also include the daily offering of nearby market vendors in an effort to use only the freshest ingredients.” I wonder, then, where the heck they found all the turkeys that they served up for the main dish. Yes, we had Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, gravy, cranberries, and a slice of spiced apple. Two women who appeared to be locals sat next to us, and they shoved the meat around their plates and ate two bites. Another couple that was seated after us heard the menu (which was the same for everyone), sipped their water, and left the restaurant. Although we heard the menu from the waiter when we were seated, for some reason I heard “lamb,” instead of turkey and my daughter and Hugh didn’t hear anything (it was a bit noisy).
In other words, the meal was mundane. On the plus side, the Remoulade was nice, with a smokey taste. Otherwise, the shrimp looked worse than any cooked shrimp that you’d purchase in a grocery store. This was served on a bed of shredded lettuces. If we had soup (and we racked our brains trying to remember if we did or not), it was obviously forgettable. The brisket was divine, however. Simply superb - tender, tasty, and heady when dipped in that horseradish sauce. And, the sweet potatoes were heavenly as well. But, the dressing contained so much salt that I later drank a quart of water before I felt like I was out of the desert. The final dish, the bread pudding, looked and tasted like it used to be somebody’s sock.
So, we were warned, and we truly hoped that the locals were wrong. They weren’t. The price was the same as Commander’s Palace Brunch, so it’s not even a toss-up about which restaurant lost this battle. Tujague’s slid to the bottom of the holiday binge totem pole.
Oh yeah - the coffee! We did receive a cup of coffee, served in a glass, but we had to ask twice to receive it and my daughter’s glass was only half-full (or was it half-empty???). Not astounding, not even worth finishing, and you know it takes a lot for me to leave a cup of coffee behind.
Beyond this sad experience, you might want to visit Tujague’s just to view the bar. It’s a stand up cypress bar that’s an original - over 150 years old. And the large beveled mirror that hangs behind the bar graced a Paris bistro for ninety years before it was shipped to New Orleans in 1856. Old pictures, some autographed, decorated the walls, and you could be tickled by their collection of antique pocket-sized decorative whiskey bottles while you wait for a table.
The waiting list for the restaurant without reservations was 45 minutes when we arrived at 5pm, so the restaurant was hoppin’ - perhaps because it was one of the handful open on Christmas day. Since we had reservations, we waited just long enough for a table to be cleaned and re-draped. Dress ranged from casual (sweaters, jeans) to high casual (slacks and coats), and I believe that my daughter and I were the only women who wore dresses. So we had some class, even if our dinner didn’t.
Rating? 5 out of 10, considering that we enjoyed our surroundings. Hopefully, their meals beyond the holidays will improve as time goes on…if not, try their merlot ($6.50 per glass), because it was smooth, light, and it may assuage any disappointment that you might experience at Tujague’s Restaurant.
Posted by beanybabe at 2:45 PM PST
