The most flawless meal I have had in a long time

Joined: Mar 03, 2010
Posts: 3
Review of Nola
5

This place blew me away.

the interior is lovely, the service was perfect, no hovering, no screw ups, just the right amount of attention and the meal was perfectly timed.

We ate at 2pm and chose the weekday lunch special. 55RMB each, it goes from 11am to 4pm.

I chose the gumbo starter, the chicken and dumplings main and it came with a warm apple pudding dessert and a coffee. My partner chose the broccoli balls starter, the meatloaf main and with the coffee and dessert as well. We also ordered olive tapenade and crackers.

Glasses of water were put on our table immediately without asking and filled up regularly but not obsessively. The waitress asked when we would like our coffee, we asked for it first and it came quickly and with complimentary ginger snap cookies. The starters came and were delicious; the stew was full of different meats and was a thick and delicious gravyesque soup with rice, the broccoli balls came as a serving of 6 wonderful, golden crumbed balls of cheesy deliciousness with 2 dipping sauces and the black olive tapenade was complimented by a sweet caramelized onion topping.

After the starters were done, the plates were taken away and a short while later our mains arrived. the portions were not huge but satisfying and perfect considering we were having 3 courses and a drink for 55RMB. The chicken was tender and juicy and had an amazing salty crunchy skin. It was on a bed of brussel sprout leaves, creamy sauce with delicate moist flour dumplings. The meat loaf was baked in a pocket of flaky, golden pastry with mashed potatoes and mushrooms sautéed in a sweet brown sauce. all of the dishes complimented each other, the flavors were unique, delicate and fulfilling.

After the mains we received the standard dessert which was a small slice of a spongy, warm, apple pudding served with home-made apple sauce.

We were more than full after our meal and vowed to return again soon. The menu is amazingly reasonably priced for such a quality experience, the starters all began at about 23rmb and the mains were no more than 100rmb. they had bottles of wine starting at 110rmb coffee from 12rmb but the standout thing - and reason i will return for dinner very soon- was the cocktails starting at 28rmb for a hard lemonade. Most cocktails were 30rmb and they had a great selection.

I dont know a lot about New Orleans Creole cuisine and many of the things on the menu were new to me, but I cant wait to go back and try the catfish, the shrimp and the steak.

get in there before it gets too popular and prices go up!