Tasted: 11/9/2013
Accompanying Drink: IPA
On the advice of a friend we tried out NOLA restaurant, and it was a pretty fantastic experience overall. In addition to the carpaccio we had the stuffed chicken wings which I highly recommend.
Weighing in at $14 under the “Salads” section of the menu instead of the traditional appetizers section, it was a no-brainer to give this carpaccio a whirl. I would have expected a place like NOLA with its pricey entrees to have more higher-end appetizers but I wasn’t going to complain.
Billed as “Creekstone Beef (assumably Angus) Carpaccio”, the dish is unfortunately very much on the small side, I guess I would say a little below average. The dish came out very warm, as if it were under the warming lamps and almost starting to cook. Even though I am never a fan of onions/shallots on carpaccio, thankfully these were not very strong or plentiful. After tasting one I was able to brush the rest aside without too much residue left on the meat itself.
The Dijon Aioli was perfectly prepared and the meat was appropriately dressed. Sometimes you’ll find an olive oil splash on carpaccio but none was present. Nor, however was there any Parmesan, which in my opinion is an absolute must. In fact, this is the first carpaccio I’ve had that did not include Parmesan.
There was the smallest amount of cracked pepper throughout, commensurate with the beef volume. The capers were also in good flavor and ratio to the dish overall.
The menu claimed there is baby cress in the salad but I only found arugula. The proportion of the salad to the beef solves the mystery of why this is on the salad menu instead of the appetizer menu – it was out of proportion to a typical carpaccio dish.
In summary -it wasn’t the worst carpaccio dish I’ve ever had, but if I went back to NOLA I would not get it again. They seem to reserve their effort for other signature dishes and this is not one of them.
Score: 5 out of 10 Capers
NOLA Restaurant
534 St. Louis Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: 504 522 6652