Clinical Laboratory Scientist. Louisiana State University. Taiwanese. American. Footbiker. Dreamer. Food Blogger; Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and some other places too.
Drago’s in the Hilton in downtown NOLA specializes in charbroiled oysters and other seafood. Were these dishes hits?
Good to try, but not going to return. In my slow, slow journey through New Orleans’ many, many restaurants I won’t be venturing back here. The crab au gratin was creamy and crabby tasting, but any lumps of crab meat that may have been in there were disintegrated. The crust on top was easily broken by the provided tortilla chips. They chips were thicker than what I’m used to, which is restaurant style tortilla chips and… Doritos chips.
The Charbroiled Oysters, which are highly recommended by many, were quite good. But the taste of the oyster was really covered up by the toppings. I’m not sure what all was on there, but I feel that it was predominantly cheese and herb butter. The flavor of being charred was there, and the shells show it too. That was a nice touch. I guess I’m just a purist, or a minimalist. Whatever the word is, when I’m going to eat oysters I want to taste oyster. Instead, I got a mouthful of cheese and butter.
On that note, the butter herb was amazing. That french bread served on top? It’s made to absorb all of butter that’s sitting at the bottom of the plate. It’s the vector that the butter will use to wind up in your stomach. The star of the show: Bread and butter!
A geometric meal.
At the intersection S. Claiborne and Louisiana Ave sits Little Korea, a Korean restaurant built into the skeleton of a former Taco Bell. It opened up pretty recently, and it’s one of the few places in Louisiana that serves Korean cuisine. The interior is nicely decorated. Wood tables, booths, a nice painting of a tree on the wall. It looks nice inside.
I got the Bibimbap ($10.99) that came with ‘banchan’ or sides that consisted of miso soup, japchae, kimchi, and this marinated/braised potato thing. I liked the kimchi because it tasted fresh and spicy. This is in contrast with the more sour stuff that I’m used to, which I also really enjoy. The soup and the potato were normal tasting. The japchae however was kinda bland. It had a hint of sesame oil in it. And the texture was great. I hope that if you order japchae as an entree that it has more taste.
I was pretty satisfied with the beef Bibimbap. I added all of that spicy, fermented soybean paste stuff that they gave me and then asked for some more. I wish it had a bit of a stronger flavor. The beef was well marinated but the portion was small. The veggies were great, but it was kinda hard to break up with shredded carrots.. I wound up eating it in one or two large chunks. The biggest disappointment was that the egg wasn’t raw. It was sunny side up..! It was served in a hot stone bowl too! Oh well.
I’d like to go back and try the other stuff, like the table grill/Korean bbq!
I’ve got a back log of pictures to upload. I’ll start with this.
Chocolate chip cricket cookies. With the crickets on top. Tasted like chips ahoy with the knowledge that you’re eating a critter with it. I could taste exoskeleton a few hours after eating this too.. Even though it tasted fine, knowing that you’re eating a bug definitely brought up the gag reflex.
I also tried a chocolate covered waxworm. It exploded in my mouth with this.. dusty sunflower taste. Turns out they are deep fried in oil. I now have this weird association of certain granola and sunflower seeds with the taste of waxworm.
Taste your own bugs at the Audubon Insectarium on Canal.
