Navigating NOLA | Where To Eat & What To Do

Hey guys. I know it’s been a minute since I last posted but I took a little vacay and had to recoup. My boyfriend took me to New Orleans for my birthday since I always wanted to go and it was quite the trip. I had an amazing time. Let me tell y’all about it. We stayed in the heart of the French Quarter at the Omni Royal Orleans. The hotel was beautiful and the location was perfect as we were able to walk everywhere. The rooms were on the small side but comfortable and cozy, and we had a balcony that opened up to the courtyard with a area to relax or chat. That was my little hang out spot.

We arrived really early in the morning and our room wasn’t ready yet so the first thing I wanted to do was eat. I can’t front, I wanted to go to New Orleans mainly to experience the food! We headed to a little cafe called Cafe Fleur de Lis.

I had the Shrimp n’ Grits while my boyfriend had the Crab Benedict. The food was quite good and the Mango Mimosa washed it down nicely. Next we took a walk along the Mississippi and met up with a friend.

At this point our hotel was ready so we went to relax for a bit before we headed out to the Swamp Tour with Ultimate Swamp Adventures. We encountered a few gators, one on the large side, and watched them get fed. I even held a baby one named Gatorade. Surprisingly I wasn’t afraid a bit.

When we got back from the tour I had one thing on my mind, Cafe du Monde. This was my #1 place to visit in NOLA and it did not disappoint.

The beignets were so delicious. Hot, fluffy and loaded with sugar. The cafe au lait made with chicory coffee was the perfect compliment. It was all that I expected. We were wiped out at this point since we hadn’t slept much the night before so we headed back to the hotel to relax poolside and enjoy some drinks. When we arrived this was waiting for me…

My baby knows me well 🙂

We had an amazing view from the rooftop pool. Later on that night we headed to Bourbon St for dinner and drinks. We ate at Oceana Grill and I tried alligator for the first time which was amazing, especially the blackened!

It was so dark that I couldn’t get pics of the rest of the food (y’all know how much I like taking food pics) but I had the Crawfish Etouffee with blackened crawfish and it was O.M.G amazing. The plate was huge and I could barely finish. The man had blackened redfish with crawfish sauce which was pretty good as well. We headed to Tropical Isle to get us some Hand Grenades (popular drink) and walked Bourbon from end to end stopping in various bars. Good times.

We slept in late the next day then headed to brunch at The Original Pierre Maspero’s.

Everything was amazing. I couldn’t get over how delicious this Iced Cafe Au Lait made with Patron XO Cafe was, I’m going to have to replicate it at home.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Grilled Shrimp Remoulade

Fried Chicken n’ Waffles

Seafood Pot Pie

After brunch we headed to the Pharmacy Museum which was pretty cool.

For those that don’t believe that Coca Cola once really contained Cocaine.

The museum was very interesting and we learned a lot.

Next we headed to The Presbytere Hurricane & Madi Gras Musuem.

We learned so much about Hurricane Katrina, the stuff that they don’t tell you on the news. It was enlightening but very sad. The Mardi Gras Exhibit was a nice pick me up though to keep me from bursting into tears. I’m sensitive like that.

After the museum we walked around Jackson Square and even witnessed a wedding in the park which was so cool. Then we headed over to Cafe Beignet for a snack.

I didn’t enjoy the beignets here as much as the ones from Cafe du Monde. Don’t get me wrong, they were fresh from the oven hot and had a nice taste but were on the larger side and a little bit too dense. I could barely get through an order.

That night we enjoyed a Dinner and Jazz Cruise on Steamboat Natchez. We really enjoyed the ride and live band but the food was nothing to write home about. It tasted like cafeteria food and I was extremely disappointed. It’s all good though because later on we had the most amazing pizza at Vieux Carre Pizza. The Bourbon slice was delicious with all of it’s chicken, pesto, feta and spinach goodness. Then we browsed Bourbon St. Again.

The next day we headed to Royal House for lunch. This was the best meal of the trip. The food was SPECTACULAR!

Fried Alligator

Redfish Beignets

Oysters Royale

Shrimp Creole

Crawfish Ravioli

I tried a Bloody Mary for the first time and I wasn’t a fan. At first sip I thought my this is the delicious but every sip after just got worst. It was like sipping hot sauce trough a straw and as much as I like hot sauce I’d rather it on some chicken.

We were so stuffed that we could barely move. We ate every last drop! After our meal we walked around the French Quarter and did some souvenir shopping. It started raining really bad so we ducked inside until it stopped and then headed to Cafe du Monde. I could not leave without at least one more trip.

That night we headed to Preservation Hall and enjoyed some live Jazz. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, the performers were extremely talented! We enjoyed some Po’ Boys at Oceana and drinks on Bourbon again and just enjoyed our last night in NOLA.

And that’s it. Whew that was long so I won’t feel bad if you just scrolled through the pics lol. As I expected NOLA was foodie heaven. I was so impressed that I came home and immediately ordered a Cajun cookbook so I can try to make some of the food at home. Hopefully I’ll be able to feature a few dishes here soon.