Top 5 things to do in New Orleans during Mardi Gras

A quick must do list for those who haven't been in New Orleans.

1. Walk around French Quarter and savor its architectural magnificence.

St. Louis Cathedral, built in 1718. It is the oldest cathedral in US

quaint Spanish inspired ironwork balconies and Creole townhouses

Every angle and every street in French Quarter looks like a postcard. Spanish inspired townhouses, old fashioned courtyards, cast iron balconies and carriageways brings you back in time and makes you feel that you've time traveled in the 17th century. Everything is authentic. Worn out buildings and brickhouses looks so amazingly beautiful. It proves to show that imperfections make things beautiful. 

2. Dress/Undress to impress. (The choice is yours!)

Pink all the way

A body paint and gold bikini ensemble on a 10C/50F weather. I hope this nice lady is already recovering from pneumonia.

Overdress is a foreign word in New Orleans especially during Mardi Gras. Feather boas, tons of bead necklaces, furs, colorful masks and ridiculous headpieces are normal sightings in Bourbon street and all around French Quarter. 

3. Watch the Mardi Gras parade.

Join the excited crowd in Canal Street as they watch all the colorful floats go by. Oh and grab your favorite drink on the way since the parade can lasts for hours.

4. Eat, drink and be merry.

Hickory Grilled Redfish with tasso and wild mushroom Pontalba potatoes, topped with sauteed Louisiana jumbo lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce from Red Fish Grill

world famous beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde. We waited in line for 45 minutes (2 hours for full service) to get a taste of these!

Sizzling oysters from GW Fins. The best thing on earth. Let it swim in butter for an added ecstasy!

New Orleans is known for its outstanding cuisine. Skip red meats because their seafood selection is to die for.  Don't hesitate to indulge on local and popular dishes such as sizzling oysters, (a must! If you can just eat one thing in New Orleans, go straight to GW Fins and get 5 portions of it) gumbo shrimps, jambalaya, beignets and cafe au lait. Restaurant reservations during dinner time is necessary or you'll either wait 45 minutes to an hour to get a table.

Booze is available in every corner of French Quarter especially in Bourbon St. You can drink on the street all day and all night since there is no bar time in New Orleans. [This information is based on three locals I talked to. The 'no bar time rule' is not just during Mardi Gras. It's all year round] So drink and be merry! Just don't pass out on the streets and leave your valuables tucked safely in your hotel room's safe. 

5.  Join the jazz festivities in Frenchmen St. and party in Bourbon St. like there's no tomorrow. 

Blue Nile Jazz Nightclub along Frenchmen St. This band did their own rendition of 'Rolling in the Deep'.

Bourbon Street at 2 am

Frenchmen Street is a long strip of jazz clubs frequented mostly by locals, hippies, poets and artists. Bourbon street is more popular among the tourist as it is always featured in travel programs. There's a long line of strip clubs and people in balconies throw beaded necklaces for people willing to show their tits. If you're not comfortable showing yours, it's OK. They will not condemn you for it.  Bourbon is more crowded and crazy. Check out both streets. Party all you can!

Even though my trip to New Orleans was very brief, I'm so ecstatic that it happened. Aside from the fact that I was able to cross it off my bucket list for 2012, I honestly think that it was one of the most beautiful city in America. I'm dead serious about this. I never thought that it would be this AMAZING! If you think you've already seen the best parties because you've been to New York, Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, you are absolutely wrong. New Orleans has a lot to offer. Authentic old world feel, amazing food, incredible party scene and an over all unique experience, you'll never run out of things to do.

Eno-Vino Valentine

I'm unfortunately booked up for Valentine's day. Taxes, school commitments then work at night. So I celebrated Valentine's day two days early. It was one of those let's-eat-everything-today-then-we'll-start-a-new-diet-tomorrow days. 

We started with a very sinful brunch in the couch with our favorite TV series. 

We were going to watch a movie but since we couldn't agree on what movie to watch, we decided to skip the cinema. I wanted to watch The Vow but he kept insisting  that we watch Underworld: Awakening. [Seriously?! Underworld Awakening?! on a Valentine date?! Who does that? sigh.] We tried to keep it simple so we just went to Madison in pursuit of something to do to get rid of boredom. 

The mall is full of over the top mushy gift items. This industry must be making a lot of money. There were literally hearts everywhere. Even Starbucks had their cups designed for Valentine's. 

It was dinner time and we had nothing better to do. We went to my favorite restaurant, Eno-Vino for dinner.  [Read my previous post about Eno-Vino here.]   We got seated and immediately greeted by our server. She went on with a very long spiel telling us about Eno-Vino's Valentine special. I didn't pay much attention as I was busy observing everyone in the room. As expected, there were a lot of couples. I silently estimated how much money the restaurants, flower shops, hotels/motels are making on Valentine's day. It's so overrated. We tried not to blend in with those couples. We talked about Europe, real estate and the Federal Reserves. Basically anything other than romance. 

We couldn't decide on what to order. So we just settled for their five course Valentine's menu. $65 dollars per person plus the option to pair it with five different wines for a $20 add on. We agreed to do the wine pairing too because we were too lazy to come up with something interesting/different to drink. 

She immediately brought a sourdough bread with a little scoop of cheese spread on the table. 

Next thing she brought was a pair of little canapes. It's a sourdough crostini topped with salmon and cranberry encrusted cheese. She also brought a glass of sparkling wine paired with it. She muttered the wine variety but it was inaudible since the restaurant was a full house. This pair was complimentary, like a prelude to the main event. I absolutely loved the canape. It was an excellent start. It took us three seconds to chow it down.

She immediately brought the first course which was the Sweet Potato Ravioli with sage cream, brown butter, pecorino romano and prosciutto. Every bite was heavenly. It was paired with Erath Pinot Noir. I wasn't generally a fan of red wine but this was good.

Next up is the B.L.T Salad It was literally a cross between a BLT sandwich and a salad. Roma tomatoes, mixed greens, English cucumber and basil emulsion  were staked in between sourdough croutons topped with bacon and parmagiano reggiano. This was my least favorite part of the meal. The entire experience would still be awesome without this. It was too bland for my taste. Good thing it was paired with Remy Pannier Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc from Loire France. It instantly became my new favorite white wine. I googled it as soon as I get home and looked for a place where I could buy it.

The third course was Peter's favorite. Parmesan Crab Crepes with tarragon buerre blanc and lemon shallot vinaigrette. This dish was also a winner and I honestly think that it was not because of the crepe itself but because of the vinaigrette. I imagined it would be good all over my rice too. What?! I eat everything with rice okay!  I was getting a little full at this point so I have to give up half of my crepes dish which Peter gladly took advantage of. The dish was paired with Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay. There was nothing remarkable about the wine. I would still prefer Kendall Jackson for Chardonnay.

The fourth course was the bomb! Seared Beef Tenderloin plated daintily over a bed of mushroom risotto and served with baby carrots drizzled with Pinot Noir reduction. This was the highlight of my night. The beef was so tender and flavorful. You know what the best part was? They paired it with rice. It was nothing but spectacular. The Show Cabernet was the wine paired with it. I hardly drink this wine since Cabernet is my least favorite wine.

No matter how full I may be, there's always room for dessert. The fifth course was a White Chocolate Mousse with cocoa espresso whipped cream topped with a fresh raspberries and almond biscotti. Sweet! The biscotti dipped in the cocoa espresso whipped cream was heaven on earth. Seriously. It was paired with Warre's Late Bottled Vintage Port. Sweet and strong just the way I like it.

Just before the server handed us the check, she brought these two rich chocolate covered strawberries. But of course, our gluttonous appetite was still up for it even if we can hardly stand from our chairs.

We left the restaurant with happy hearts and tummy. For sure we'll be back again.. Soon. 

HuHot Mongolian Grill

I can't believe that I have not been in HuHot Mongolian Grill before. I had dinner in HuHot last Tuesday with a bunch of friends and indulged in tons of food. 

We got seated and hurriedly ordered our wine. We didn't paid much attention to the server that greeted us since we're all starving when we got there. Since it's our first time in HuHot, we basically didn't know what to do. 

But we easily figured it out.

First, we chose the meat that we want to eat for dinner. It's a pretty large selection of meat. They have beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, tilapia, scallops and crabmeat. 

If you're not big on experimenting, they have a list of recipes available to make it easier for you. 

A few recipes caught my attention.

But I ended up taking control of my destiny. I put everything in my bowl. Yes!

Next, we threw in a bunch of veggies in our bowl. There were also different kinds of noodles available. 

I had a hard time choosing since there were so much stuff to choose from. 

Last stop is our choice of sauce. This was the hardest part. Good thing they provided us with recommendations since I have no way of knowing what kind of sauce to put in my bowl. 

After figuring out what sauces to blend, we proceeded to the grill. We handed over our bowl to one guy who grilled it for us. 

He did some exhibitions with his spatula.

I tried to capture it in camera but he was too fast and I couldn't figure out the right setting. 

Pre-war 

I paired my stir fry with a big bowl of piping hot rice. Yum! 

Post-war

It was so delicious that I had to go for round 2. Yeah that's me on a diet! =) After the second round, I still want to get dessert. Yeah I'm on diet. SERIOUSLY. 

When I saw s'mores on the menu, I took it as a sign. Yeah, dessert is ALWAYS a good idea! =)

  

What a sweet way to end dinner!

I found a new place to hang out! Did I mention that the stir fry is all you can eat for just $12.79?! That's not a typo. 

Check out their menu.

All set for Mardi Gras

I'm all set for my road trip to New Orleans! I feel so excited since it's been a while since I last traveled. Peter and I will attend the Mardi Gras festival in Louisiana on February 19-21. As far as I know, the Mardi Gras in Louisiana is one of the biggest carnival celebration in the United States. 

Photo credit: Limolivery website

We had a hard time finding a good hotel deal since a lot of hotels were already booked up for the Mardi Gras weekend as early as December. We didn't have a choice but to pay premium rates in our hotel. 

Anyway, I can't wait to go since I've heard so many nice things about New Orleans. I've been watching different clips from Travel Channel about the place. I have already started planning our itinerary for the entire trip. 

Here are some of my to do and to go list:

Wander around French Quarter and just appreciate the unique architectural styles that reflects the city's rich history and multicultural heritage.

Party in Bourbon Street. Bourbon St. is probably one of the most popular place in New Orleans for its notorious nightlife. Since Peter likes jazz music, we'll probably spend some time in jazz nightclubs along Bourbon. 

I certainly have to try the famous 250-calorie-per-piece beignets paired with cafe au lait of the iconic Cafe du Monde.

Photo credit: Flickr

Savor Louisiana's Creole cuisine in Antoine's, the oldest restaurant located in the heart of French Quarter.

Visit Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World to check out sculptures and floats used in previous Mardi Gras festivals. Maybe we'll visit the Warehouse District [Art District] too to check out their art galleries and world class museums. 

Photo credit: elvis.com

And on the way back, we'll make a quick stop over in Memphis to visit Graceland, a 13 acre mansion of Elvis Presley. 

Anyway, I'm also thrilled because this is my first major road trip. Peter have been into so many that he can't stop raving about it. It's time for me to try it. I can't wait.

Have you been to New Orleans? Are there any other places worth checking out in NOLA? Give me some suggestions! 

Valentine's Day Prix Fixe Menu

Valentine's day is just around the corner. My favorite restaurants in Madison has finally released their Valentine's day prix fixe menu. 

Melting Pot, known for their elaborate fondue dinner service came up with this fabulous five course dinner menu for $70/ person. If you are planning to celebrate with a group of friends, Melting Pot provides a special Valentine offer. For a four-five person party, dinner will be priced at $60 per person while if there are six or more, dinner will be at $55 per person. Good deal!

Graze Pub, known for serving locally grown food came up with a more affordable three course dinner menu for only $30 per person.       

and of course last but not the least, Eno Vino. I love this restaurant to death. [Check out my restaurant review here.] Reading their Valentine's menu makes me hungry. They will just have two seating on the 14th so I'm almost sure that reservations are necessary. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta make phone calls and restaurant reservations.