Day 20 in NOLA

I had a great day, but a little planning would have gone a long way. I biked up and around all through Mid-City, winding up at Liuzza's by the Track. And yes, it is right by the track. Unfortunately, races aren't run on Thursdays (and Galatoire's is open for a highly recommended lunch experience that is, by all accounts, just as enjoyable but much less harried than the ultra-competitive Friday version). So I should have done Galatoire's today (better luck next time) and Liuzza's tomorrow, so that I could swing by the races afterwards. I might just do that, but I also might not (considering that I have made some tentative lunchtime arrangements - mental arrangements that is).

So Liuzza's it was, and it was a whole lot of fun, though I wound up ordering twice as much food as I should have (this has become a familiar refrain). I got their nice Creole gumbo garnished or accented or just topped with shrimp. It was good, but I'm still hankering after that thickened gumbo I had at Boulangerie on Magazine. It appears I have a preference, and that's good to know (that said, the gumbo at Liuzza's was lovely). However, I also got a side of fries slash sweet potato fries, because I'm easy. They were also good, but did I really need an enormous side of fries?

Maybe I did.

Anyway, there was more riding around, some French Quarter parfumerie business, and general transit taking.

For dinner, thanks to the folks at Chowhound, I wound up at Clancy's. I would say it's an excellent "real New Orleans experience" and the food was fine, but I don't need to go back (not to say you might not love it). It's kind of high-falutin' and clique-y (and no, you are not part of the clique), which has a certain charm, I suppose. I had the ridiculous fried oysters with brie to start. It's ludicrous. It's exactly as decadent as you are imagining it to be. I also had the panéed veal with crab and (I believe) a Bearnaise sauce. Now, I am absolutely not one to send back a dish for minor imperfections, but perhaps I should have? You tell me. The mashed potatoes were lukewarm (the butter, which was room temperate, was hard to melt). There were lumps. Now, I actually enjoy lumpy mashed potatoes, but that's when they're done up, you know, all rustic style (read: my style). But when they're puréed, shouldn't they be lump free? Also, there were the odd bits of shell in the crab. Again, nothing to write home about, and to me, nothing worth complaining over, but maybe that could be something I change, at least in upscale restaurants where the waiters wear tuxedos. It was good, just not great. Oh well. It was fun to go.

I caught the ole Magazine bus to get there, and the streetcar home... which dropped me off at Bourbon, where TBC were playing again. I danced in the street for two hours.

I could really get used to this.