It was our first night in New Orleans and we decided to go big, because we sure as heck weren’t going home. As if our first stroll down Bourbon Street wasn’t experience enough, we went to the famed Pat O’Brien’s for dinner. ”Dinner?” I asked. I thought they just did those “hurricane things.” Boy, was I wrong.
There was a little bit of a wait for our party of five, so we killed some time enjoying a local brew…
Just a hint of strawberry! Light and refreshing!
…and taking pictures on Bourbon Street.
My new favorite sibling snapshot
Before long we were seated in the lovely courtyard area. It was nothing like the pub atmosphere I was expecting.
This place is huge! It seemed to go on forever, with more tables and bars at every turn. I loved the fiery fountains found throughout the courtyards.
It was nice and toasty next to this blazing bon-fountain!
Now let’s get right down to it. I really came here for one thing:
Oh, that is a tall, cold glass of deliciousness.
There are four, count ‘em FOUR shots of rum in there with the secret hurricane mix. Mama Dish was my sole partner in hurricane crime on night #1. The delicious fruity concoction packs a powerful punch, so I was sure to sip with caution!
Did I mention you can get these to go?
One of our more exotic food choices were the gator bites! Delicious deep fried chunks of gator meat with a honey mustard dipping sauce:
Tastes just like chicken!
Because everything has to be a competition in the Dish family, we declared a “winner” of each meal. We all tried to order something different, and whoever had the best meal was the winner. The prize? You get to fight off everyone else’s forks invading your plate. On this particular night, Brother Dish happened to be the winner.
Crawfish Cakes. I'd pay big money for someone to ship me an order of these right now.
The rich filling of the crawfish cakes combined with the tangy sauce on top was just divine. The consistency was perfect inside and out. We rounded out the meal with bread pudding heaped with pecans and whiskey sauce.
With a little teamwork, we made it disappear.
So while Pat O’Brien’s is famous for Hurricanes, you’ll get a lot more than that if you visit. We went back on our last night for round two at the piano bar there. Mr. Dish and I even picked up a packet of the coveted Hurricane Mix to take home with us… so we can re-live our Hurricane experience whenever we want!
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