march 3 – acme oyster house, café du monde

After my earlier failed attempt this week to make it to the acme oyster house, i decided this week i’d make an earlier visit hoping to secure a spot in the seemingly always overcrowded restaurant off of bourbon st, even if it was just at the bar.

so an early trip is certainly the key to getting in. but i did end up sitting at the bar. after chatting with my bartender about what raw oysters tasted like, she offered to give me one to try for free. though i’ve always kind of had the squicks about the idea of eating raw oysters, this was actually quite good. i could easily see how, if they weren’t fresh, they could be quite bad quite quickly. not the case here – fresh as could be and, as my bartender told me, pretty much just take on the taste of anything you put on them. i tried cocktail sauce, tabasco sauce and just plain lemon juice. all were quite good.

for my entrée, i hurriedly made the choice to get the peacemaker po boy. bad call. the bread was poor, very chewy, and hard to bite into without the sandwich just falling apart. after about two failed attempts to bite into the sandwich, i ditched the bread and just ate the fried oysters and shrimp after squeezing some lemon juice over them. very good. especially the oysters.

had another evening of a large café au lait at café du monde before heading over to preservation hall and maison bourbon for some fantastic live music. preservation hall is clearly the main place to really experience old-style live jazz music in the FQ. and it is well worth the inevitable line you will have to wait in. don’t be annoyed or dissuaded by the clueless tourists around you who will whine and groan about the wait. it’s worth it; stick it out.

NB: the price of tickets for one set at preservation hall has increased from $5 to $7.50. you’re scooted out after one set is over, so be prepared to wait on line longer than you will be able to listen to music.