Spent the past weekend in New Orleans helping to celebrate a friend’s birthday with a big group and indulging into much rich Creole fare. Too much alcohol, too, of course. It seems impossible to eat without drinking there, especially as a tourist. As in the past, the weekend’s festivities began with a Friday lunch downstairs at the famed Galatoire’s, which is something special, largely for its celebratory environment that’s raucous yet mostly refined, but the food is terrific, and has been on each of several visits.
The menu is not inexpensive, but fairly priced. Many of the dishes are centered around locally sourced seafood. High quality seafood bears a cost. The fairness in pricing extends to its good-sized French-heavy wine list, and maybe more so to its spirits.
After we finished with the food – at the men’s table, as the women shunted us to a separate one where the desserts were overlooked but the beverage list not at all – my brother tapped me on the shoulder to show me what another person in our group had just ordered, a glass of Macallan 12-year-old filled neatly a full-three fingers high. That was a surprisingly stout pour, and just $15. In Houston, to give a few examples, an order of Macallan 12 at both Georgia James and Le Jardinier is a full ten dollars more, and nearly so at Squable where it is $24. The pours at most establishments in Houston are probably an ounce or even an ounce-and-a-half less than the one at Galatoire’s, also. It was impressive. The Macallan 12 is an entry level Speyside single-malt whisky that is easily enjoyable for me most after-dinners with a big meal. With the tariff for that quality and quantity, I had to order one. It might have been two; it was a fun afternoon.
I’ve experienced this over the many years in New Orleans; in the tackiest touristy bars in the French Quarter to the nicest restaurants in the city, the town does not rip you off with the alcohol. I find that the quality of the cocktails there are usually just middling, even at James Beard Award-winning bars and restaurants, including at several in a few days, though Commander’s Palace in a notable exception in this regard. Regardless of the quality of mixing, the drink is always strong, and usually more-than-properly priced. Plus, the settings and atmospheres are almost always a lot of fun.
A neat whisky at Galatoire's the other day. Note all the stains nearby.
The menu is not inexpensive, but fairly priced. Many of the dishes are centered around locally sourced seafood. High quality seafood bears a cost. The fairness in pricing extends to its good-sized French-heavy wine list, and maybe more so to its spirits.
After we finished with the food – at the men’s table, as the women shunted us to a separate one where the desserts were overlooked but the beverage list not at all – my brother tapped me on the shoulder to show me what another person in our group had just ordered, a glass of Macallan 12-year-old filled neatly a full-three fingers high. That was a surprisingly stout pour, and just $15. In Houston, to give a few examples, an order of Macallan 12 at both Georgia James and Le Jardinier is a full ten dollars more, and nearly so at Squable where it is $24. The pours at most establishments in Houston are probably an ounce or even an ounce-and-a-half less than the one at Galatoire’s, also. It was impressive. The Macallan 12 is an entry level Speyside single-malt whisky that is easily enjoyable for me most after-dinners with a big meal. With the tariff for that quality and quantity, I had to order one. It might have been two; it was a fun afternoon.
I’ve experienced this over the many years in New Orleans; in the tackiest touristy bars in the French Quarter to the nicest restaurants in the city, the town does not rip you off with the alcohol. I find that the quality of the cocktails there are usually just middling, even at James Beard Award-winning bars and restaurants, including at several in a few days, though Commander’s Palace in a notable exception in this regard. Regardless of the quality of mixing, the drink is always strong, and usually more-than-properly priced. Plus, the settings and atmospheres are almost always a lot of fun.
A neat whisky at Galatoire's the other day. Note all the stains nearby.
