On a beautiful Sunday, we headed out for lunch on the South Shore. I racked my brain to think of somewhere we hadn’t been and for some reason, a place in St. Rose popped into my mind. It’s another restaurant from the Frenier’s Landing folks called Boudreaux’s River Road Restaurant, located in the former Truck Farm Tavern.
I liked the old place and I assumed I’d like this one as well, but somehow on the ride over Tom mentioned Galatoire’s, which briefly excited me because I had just been writing about Galatoire’s, which made me want to go. (That’s the whole idea of what we do, and it always works first on me,)
But I frequently remember Tom often saying that he wished he could only go places he wanted to go, and not mostly places he had to go to keep up with the scene. It’s so true. But I also realized that in Tom’s situation, this could stop at any time, so I decided we would eat brunch somewhere in his wheelhouse.
I didn’t want to deal with parking in the French Quarter so my mind fell to Uptown, and immediately my thoughts landed on Patois, a place we hadn’t visited in far too long. I called and got a reservation and we parked across the street.
We were seated upstairs by a window which couldn't have been better. We were behind a wall insulating us from the cold air blowing in when the door opened. This might be the best table in the house. I do like the bar area downstairs, but this is even better.
The problem with this menu is that I needed everything on it. I just had to make a pact with myself to return. We started with Breakfast Breads which I always find irresistible in a place like this. They arrived in a deep ceramic bowl accompanied by little ramekins of lemon curd, strawberry jam, and a lovely artful swirl of butter.
Everything in this bowl was good, but all of it would have been incomparably better warm, and toasty. There were two scones with fruit inside, a muffin, and bits of biscuit that were so small I thought maybe they were the cutting remainders when the larger biscuits were cut. The biscuit was from the cut biscuit universe, my preference always, but because of its room temperature and size these came across as stale. I would love to try one of these warm with just butter because I feel they might be fantastic.
The scones also needed toasting but were good otherwise. The fruit inside gave it a little something extra and the light glaze was nice. The muffin was completely unadorned with anything and was sensational just as is. I could have eaten a bowl of just this. Tom thought the lemon curd and strawberry jam were wonderful too.
For official starters, he got the house special oyster preparation which was fried oysters with Buffalo Sauce and blue cheese crumbles. I wasn’t sure if he liked Buffula Sauce, but it didn’t seem like his thing, so I got it on the side.
He was delighted with the sauce and the entire dish. There wasn’t a scrap of anything left on the plate. I was disappointed in the oysters themselves, which seemed a tad greasy. This would become a theme throughout the meal.
My appetizer came from the salad menu. I can't resist duck confit when I see it, especially in a place like this. The Five Spiced Duck over Slaw was intriguing. That’s putting it mildly. This was a fantastic dish. The large duck leg came atop a pile of colorful vegetables with crushed peanuts on top of it. The presentation was arresting for the eye.
This was superb. The duck was tender and meaty with a great flavor, the peanuts gave it crunch, and the slaw underneath shifted my paradigm of what a slaw should be. Crispy cabbage and carrot ribbons, turnip, and radish slices were tossed in a light vinaigrette that made me realize the error of my ways with creamy coleslaw.
This was enough of a meal to stop, but who could stop with the entree offerings so alluring? I wanted the fried chicken, and the chimichanga, and the Cuban Croque Madame. And I figured Tom would have his usual, pan-roasted fish. He surprised me and made it easier by wanting the Madame, and I decided the chimichanga was overkill. I settled on the fried chicken for me.
Tom’s French sandwich was decadent. There was of course tender roast pork which was in chunks rather than shredded, and the sliced ham was terrific. Mustard and pickles made it officially Cuban, but the sauce and cheese that made it a Croque was the rich part. The cheese melted into a crust that was really flavorful. The bread was dense and chewier than a traditional white sandwich bread, and together this registered as a hefty delicious sandwich, or rather half-sandwich. It was open-faced with one side of bread. A sunny egg came on top. It was fried to my preference, which is a little crusty on the bottom, making a doily-like effect around the edges.
This came with a small pile of disappointing house-cut shoestring fries which, like the oysters, were a tad greasy.
Had I noticed this earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten the fried chicken. It too, had the characteristic of being a bit greasy. But that was not its only problem. I have to tune in a little more. Only the hippest restaurants are on RESY, so fried chicken in a hip restaurant is not traditional fried chicken, It will be pounded out thighs, as these were.
The crust was too thick, it was greasy, too spicy, and overall, a mess. This pile of chicken pieces came drenched in country gravy, and somewhere in this was a biscuit.
I have to remember that I don’t like country gravy, especially with large chunks of things studding it. I knew this when I ordered it, but the fried chicken trumped my reservations. This gravy had a lot of very good Italian sausage throughout it, but that didn’t redeem it for me. I’m sure it was a fine dish for people who like fried chicken thighs and country gravy, but it was the wrong order for me.
Since my dish came with a poached egg, I asked for it over easy instead and added some hash browns to my order. I originally asked for a side of fries since they were house-cut. The waiter did what rarely happens, and reminded me that fries came with Tom’s sandwich. His tip went up.
The "hash browns” were chunks of potatoes which were also greasy. They were fine otherwise, especially with a crust on the edges, but they were too dark and greasy. The frying program here needs some investigation.
That is my main complaint about an otherwise stellar meal. The ladies at the next table had some gorgeous desserts. They were so beautiful it made me want dessert, and I usually don’t eat dessert. But we were so full already that when the waiter described them, I decided not to indulge. What looked like a gorgeous cheesecake was Key Lime. I like that but not enough to order it. Also on that table was a dessert special that was a large slice of banana bread with fruit on top. We passed.
I can’t wait to go back to Patois. I have always loved it, and it was exactly the same. Polished food and service, a charming place. A lovely time.
