Dear the person who invented brunch, I don’t know who you are, but I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kiss you on the lips with an open mouth. I mean, what a novel idea. There’s breakfast and then lunch, but to have the presence of mind to discover the hidden meal in-between meals takes an innovator and culinary visionary. What’s even better, is brunches that stray from the traditional offering of cookie-cutter chains. Brunches by chefs and restaurants that incorporate their cuisines into their weekend menus. “Like what,” you ask? Great question! How about Cajun inspired brunch from Bistro Nolah?
Named after an acronym for New Orleans, Bistro Nolah (originally reviewed here) has been serving up Louisiana inspired weekend brunch for a while now and I finally had the chance to check out.
The brunch menu consists of a handful of dishes, each with their own unique Nolah twist. Perfectly poaches eggs on top of fresh cornbread, smoked country style ham, covered in a spicy creole hollandaise served with brabant potatoes.
This dish had the perfect combination of flavours to tease all areas of your palate. The sweet cornbread, paired with the salty ham laced with the creamy broken yolk and tinge of heat from the luscious creole hollandaise left you craving the next mouthful. Why hasn’t anyone thought of spicing up a hollandaise sauce before? Delicious. Genius.
The buttermilk fried chicken and brioche pain doré. The chicken was tender and juicy and was had the crunchiest golden batter. This was served with maple syrup and an apple and raisin compote.
A great alternative to the typical chicken and waffle, the pain doré was fluffy and sweet and complimented the savoury chicken. Really, what’s there not to love? French toast, great! An excuse to eat fried chicken first thing in the morning, amazing!
They’ve got some other pretty interesting items on the menu like a shrimp Po’Boy, grits and chorizo, and pancake with bourbon sauce. Going off of what we ordered, I can assume the that other brunch dishes are subtle, humble but refined. They had Nutella beignets for dessert which we passed on. In retrospect, I regret it. What kind of jerk passes on beignets? But beignets with Nutella? THIS JERK. I don’t know what I was thinking. Perhaps I was drunk on the jar of maple syrup I poured over the French toast and fired chicken? Or maybe I was subconsciously already making plans to come back.
Bistro Nolah
3669 Boulevard Saint-Jean
http://bistronolah.com
1 comment
Hello Jason
question for you is there any way i can get copies of the pictures you took during your brunch visit. i want them for my new website.
Richard.