Nola – Weaken the hurricane, not the crawfish
It’s amazing how Wikipedia updates its stuff so efficiently, there is no way we could have read our encyclopedia about a hurricane the same day it is hitting the coast of Louisiana if we were trying to 10 years ago (or if we’re in New Orleans right now, as there’s no power anyway). On my flight back to Houston, I remember how happy I felt to see the plane streak through thick fluffs of cloud, as I was too filled with sunshine in California any small shade of tree was a blessing. For a whole week after that Houston was soaked. It rained and rained and rained. And now Louisiana too is getting a bath. How about California? As dry as a frying pan.
As we waved goodbye to our friendly hostess at Cafe Renaissance, we still had some room for dessert (or so we thought, little did we know the Persian food had a surprisingly delayed effect), so we set out for Nola a stone’s throw away, hoping to get some beignet. This was not my first attempt to try the French pastry that I’ve heard about during commercials on the Little Saigon Radio, and it won’t be the last. Nola (short for New Orleans, Louisiana) was out of beignet on a Saturday afternoon at 6pm. The waiter kindly told us so and assured us if we came back the next day there would be some, so albeit the guilt we felt and the balcony seat we got, we thanked him for the water, stood up and left. Perhaps it was our fault for not coming back the next day, but we returned on Monday, asked for beignet, our sweet waitress disappeared into the kitchen, then came back gently apologized that their frying pan had broken, hence no beignet. She also did not forget to assure us that if we came back later in the week there would be some. At this point I started to wonder why they hadn’t just taken the beignet off the menu and avoided all the troublesome customers like me. But anyway, we were hungry so we stayed and ordered jambalaya and etouffee, which were as Cajun as you can get.
For dishes this red, nothing but a white plate can enhance the color so well. The jambalaya above was as spicy as it looks, although not intolerably tear inducing spicy. It would have been nice if the sausage cuts were a little more generous, though. (I know, you can’t see any sausage in the picture.)
I thought the etouffee was good. Mainly because of the rice. Sadly it’s not Cajun rice, but basmati rice mixed with green onions. The little curled up chaps are the crawfish, not too intimidated by two big shrimps also curled up and lots of marshmallowy chunks of scallops. No offense to the scallops, but I think their texture didn’t quite belong there. Nonetheless, I finished everything on my plate except the green onions and their white bulbs. See the dinner menu for more of what’s in there.
We didn’t have to wait very long for our food, but we had to wait quite a while for our bill. Such is the loving attention of the restaurant: they didn’t want you to leave. It was early in the evening, the restaurant only had a few tables occupied, both up and downstairs. Some waiters casually leaned against the wall chatting away the hour, a few waitresses walking around in miniskirts, putting colorful Mardi Gras beads on the tables. It was such a peaceful scene. Despite our obvious display of finished plates on the table, no one came our way with a black leather envelope. At first we were unsure whether we needed to go to the cashier to pay, but we asked and a waiter lackadaisically delivered the bill to our table. Meanwhile our waitress was nowhere to be found. We put in the card, and waited some more. Finally our waitress came to take the card and let us sign, and we were released. Restaurant California. Perhaps the Eagles came here before?
Did we come back to try again for the beignet? We’re not that desperate over a dried well. Well, if you’re drinker, it’s definitely not dried. The food is decent, but I’ll patiently wait until I can go to New Orleans to try New Orleans food. Until then, we’ve bid farewell to fake Palo Alto Nola (Panola? Nopa? Anyway…).
Address: Nola’s Restaurant and Bar
535 Ramona Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 328-2722
I genuinely enjoy reading through on this internet site, it holds excellent content. “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” by Andre Gide.
1I don’t unremarkably comment but I gotta state appreciate it for the post on this great one :D.
2Generally I don’t read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, quite nice article.
3I am impressed with this website , really I am a big fan .
4My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
5Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “He who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints.” by Joan Brannon.
6Wonderful work! That is the kind of information that are supposed to be shared around the net. Shame on Google for no longer positioning this post higher! Come on over and discuss with my site . Thanks =)
7Hello my friend! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all important infos. I would like to see more posts like this.
8Hello, i think that i noticed you visited my site thus i got here to “return the choose”.I am trying to in finding things to enhance my web site!I assume its adequate to make use of a few of your concepts!!
9I really like your writing style, good information, thanks for posting :D.
10Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this website. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What a great site.
11Great weblog right here! Also your site rather a lot up fast! What web host are you the use of? Can I am getting your associate hyperlink for your host? I want my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol
12Some really great articles on this website, appreciate it for contribution. “A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in vain.” by Jessamyn West.
13I have not checked in here for a while since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I will add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
14I have been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?
15Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you require any coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
16I’ve been browsing on-line greater than 3 hours lately, but I never discovered any interesting article like yours. It’s beautiful price enough for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the internet might be a lot more helpful than ever before. “Nothing will come of nothing.” by William Shakespeare.
17You have brought up a very superb details, regards for the post.
18I’m curious to find out what blog platform you happen to be utilizing? I’m experiencing some minor security issues with my latest blog and I’d like to find something more safeguarded. Do you have any suggestions?
19Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog centered on the same ideas you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an email.
20I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
21Hi there very nice site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find numerous helpful info here in the put up, we want develop more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
22You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
23Having read this I thought it was very informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
24Utterly composed content, Really enjoyed looking through.
25I have been reading out many of your articles and i can state nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
26It’s really a nice and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
27Helpful information. Lucky me I found your web site unintentionally, and I am shocked why this coincidence didn’t came about in advance! I bookmarked it.
28Real instructive and great structure of content material, now that’s user genial (:.
29Thanks for this post, I am a big fan of this internet site would like to go along updated.
30obviously like your website but you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.
31I have been browsing online greater than 3 hours lately, yet I by no means found any interesting article like yours. It’s lovely price sufficient for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you probably did, the net can be much more helpful than ever before. “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work and my God.” by Hellen Keller.
32Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your design. With thanks
33Thank you for helping out, excellent information. “The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.” by Edward Gibbon.
34Would you be all for exchanging links?
35Really wonderful visual appeal on this site, I’d rate it 10 10.
36Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your web site in internet explorer, would test this… IE still is the market leader and a good portion of people will miss your great writing due to this problem.
37Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
38Simply a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great design and style.
39Really informative and superb body structure of content material, now that’s user genial (:.
40You have remarked very interesting points! ps nice site.
41Howdy! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Many thanks
42Utterly written content, regards for selective information.
43I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make certain to do not forget this website and give it a look on a constant basis.
44Thanks for the marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will ensure that I bookmark your blog and definitely will come back someday. I want to encourage you to continue your great job, have a nice morning!
45Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful information particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
46Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
47Thanks for any other informative website. The place else could I get that type of info written in such an ideal method? I’ve a project that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been at the glance out for such information.
48Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
49I like this post, enjoyed this one thank you for putting up. “Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.” by Ronald Reagan.
50