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
This really answered my problem, thanks!
1Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and I find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to present one thing back and aid others such as you helped me.
2Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!
3great post.Ne’er knew this, regards for letting me know.
4Some really great info , Sword lily I observed this.
5Thanks for another fantastic post. Where else could anybody get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such info.
6Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
7Hey there, You have done an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this web site.
8Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
9I got what you intend, regards for putting up.Woh I am pleased to find this website through google. “It is a very hard undertaking to seek to please everybody.” by Publilius Syrus.
10Pembahasan mengenai Flavor Boulevard menarik, terutama cara topiknya dijelaskan secara runtut dan mudah dipahami.
11Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange arrangement between us!
12I genuinely enjoy looking through on this site, it has got good articles.
13Hello! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Fantastic blog and wonderful design and style.
14My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a number of websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
15I was looking at some of your posts on this internet site and I think this website is very informative ! Retain putting up.
16Pembahasan mengenai Flavor Boulevard menarik, terutama cara topiknya dijelaskan secara runtut dan mudah dipahami.
17Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything. But imagine if you added some great graphics or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and video clips, this blog could definitely be one of the best in its field. Fantastic blog!
18Sweet web site, super style and design, rattling clean and utilise pleasant.
19You need to participate in a contest for the most effective blogs on the web. I will recommend this web site!
20I like this website its a master peace ! Glad I noticed this on google .
21Terrific work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
22you are truly a excellent webmaster. The site loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick. In addition, The contents are masterpiece. you have performed a excellent process in this subject!
23Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
24Thank you for sharing with us, I conceive this website truly stands out :D.
25wonderful post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector do not notice this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, you have a huge readers’ base already!
26I like this blog very much, Its a real nice position to read and obtain info . “Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.” by Baltasar Gracian.
27I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my difficulty. You’re incredible! Thanks!
28