Galatoires

Reviews 5

JA

Jay Keyes

Galatoires on Bourbon Street is one of the "holy trinity" of old school New Orleans restaurants in New Orleans (the other two are Antoines and Arnauds). To keep out a certain Bourbon Street element, Galatoires has a dress code that requires men to wear jackets. It is an old place, with a white tableclothed dining room and early 20th century decor. That Galatories makes everyone dress up really does make this a great people-watching destination and helps the meal feel special. As many locals have advised in online review boards, I did not open the menu, and instead asked my waitress to order for me. I trusted that the service staff would know best about whats fresh and likely to be spectacular on any given day. I assured my waitress that I will eat anything that she brings out. She started me with Galatoires Goute, a salad appetizer consisting of a portion of Crabmeat Maison split with a portion of Shrimp Rémoulade over iceberg lettuce, separated by sliced tomatoes. I preferred the Crabmeat Maison side of this dish, which was fresh lump crab drenched in house-made mayonnaise with capers. The Shrimp Rémoulade was a decent foil for the creamy maison, but had a fierce amount of horseradish - perhaps a bit too much horseradish, as I could not really taste anything else in the rémoulade sauce. My main course was the Pompano Meunière Amandine, which was a fantastic piece of filleted fish, served skin-on. Pompano has a mild flavor, but it was not overpowered by the brown butter meunière sauce or minimal seasoning, which was just enough to provide an accent to the fish. The almonds brought crunchiness to the dish and paired well with the tasty Sazerac cocktail I had ordered. A side of steamed asparagus accompanied my entree, but I found it to be rather bland. The béarnaise sauce poured over portions of the asparagus but, although traditional, it didnt really make the asparagus much more interesting. I would have preferred an adequate amount of salt & pepper. I will keep Galatoires on my list of places to visit when I return to New Orleans. While far from the best meal Ive had in the city, it was a nice leisurely-paced experience with some true highlights, particularly the Crab Maison and Pompano Meunière Amandine.

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ED

ed martin

On Friday February 27, 2009 my wife and another couple went to Galatoires for dinner. The place was packed and very loud, every three minutes it was someones birthday, so the waiters and all patrons sang. we had to wait for our waiter to come around, he was more of a comedian that a waiter. We finally got our drinks and our appitisers. no complaints there except for I prefer my drinks not to be watered down. Now heres when good things go bad. The waiter came out with our entrees, everything looked good three people had fish, I had crabmeat sardou. My dinner was nothing to write home about, my wife had redfish, the other couple had pompano. I looked up to see that no one was eating their fish. I asked and all three people said that it smelled like fish and and it definetly was not fresh. Our waiter finally came about and was told that the food smelled bad, he made no comment, The waiter asked if we wanted desserts, we said no and the porter came and removed the food, you would think someone from the restaurant wondered why the food on the plates was not touched, We were presented the bill which was high, but we went in knowing that and also expecting a meal worth its price. To tell the truth, a fish sandwice from McDonalds would have been better that a meal from Galatoires. Needless to say I or my guests will not be returning to Gagatoirs Restaurant. What prompted me to write this was the ad and article in the Sunday Times Picayune where "Executive Chef Brian Landry" with his picture on the front page boasting how he buys only the freshest fish, from Rouses, If the owners of Rouses was servred that fish prepared by Chef Brian Landry, he would probably get sued for trashing Rouses good name.

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RH

Rhiannon Prim

Literally the worst service Ive ever received. I dined a couple Fridays ago for lunch with 6 friends during our reunion in New Orleans. One of my friends was excited to try the lunch being that she works for a well known food magazine and the restaurant was highly recommended to her by those in the industry. We made reservations in the upstairs room for Friday lunch on the 2nd. Our waiter was sick - so sick we couldnt understand a word he said, but hey, life happens! However he then proceeded to leave us sitting for almost 3 hours unable to get a drink, place an order or even get our water refilled. We finally had to summon additional help and which point our now warm drinks arrived. He threw hollandaise on the table 45 minutes before the potatoes arrived, so it just got cold and congealed by time the food arrived. Oh and the food? Also cold, sloppy plating (food from my friends fish dish was splashed all over my egg dish) and of terrible quality. Ive had better meals at the airport bar for a fraction of the cost. Were all pretty agreeable people and the majority of us worked in service at one point, so a simple acknowledgement of the situation would have been enough to turn our experience around, but instead we were met with rude glances from the waiter. I would never, ever suggest this place to anyone - there is so much good food in New Orleans, please dont waste your time or money dealing with Galatories.

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BO

Bobby Bergeron

As a New Orleans native, I was very excited to bring my wife here for our anniversary. Huge disappointment in every way to say the least. Actually, it was the worst meal Ive ever had and I wouldnt go back if you paid me honestly. The Oysters Rockefeller was supposed to be served on a bed of rock salt, but instead each oyster contained multiple pieces of rock salt making them inedible. Not to mention they were also torched to a burnt black crisp on the top (obviously left in the broiler way too long). When we mentioned this to the waiter, he took my wifes fork and offered to pick out the pieces of rock salt for her rather than do the right thing and bring us a new one! Wow. When the seafood entrees arrived they were literally rancid. And I mean this food must have been left in a fridge for months rancid. We both had one bite and asked for the check. Not once did any one bother to ask why we didnt eat our entrees. This place no longer puts any care, love, or even concern for food poisoning in the dishes they put out. They are living off an old reputation as one of NOLAs oldest establishments and Im utterly shocked to see they receive any positive reviews based on my experience. Its too bad I wasted $100 at this place for my anniversary dinner.

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KI

Kimberly Boatman

The food made up for the rest of this dining experience. When making our reservation the expectation was set that this would be a nice, classy restaurant. Our table felt like it had been placed there just to try and fill an empty space even though it was a bad traffic location. Our table was not ready when we were sat so our plates and utensils arrived in rounds after we were seated. We were not greeted by our waitress for atleast 10 mins after sitting and she then proceeded to be a bit awkward and gruff through out our meal. They give you a great bread thats delicious but super flaky and impossible to not get on the table while trying to tear your pieces off. This wouldnt have been an issue if our table could have been cleaned off before our meal but it was not so I just used my hand to try and clear it up. If not for the amazing food this would have been an incredibly disappointing experience. The front of house needs to match the level of the kitchen. The pork chop that I had was the most amazing piece of meat I have consumed. It was cooked to perfection. We started with the duck crepe which did not disappoint and neither did our cocktails. The feeling was that of a restaurant trying really hard to be fancy but falling short.

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