It’s a new day in New Orleans and we spent our first morning out with the alligators! This is one of our top things to do while we’re here so we woke up early and got on a bus from our hotel out to the swamp to see some Alligators. Of course, it rained because we’re super lucky and it felt like bullets were pelting us for the full hour but it was worth it. We were drenched but Alligators like rain and the thunder held off long enough for us to stay out looking for some gators.
Our list of things to do during our vacation is more like a list of things we want to eat before we leave so today we decide to tackle Alligator after seeing the real thing live in the bayou. Thanks to the recommendations from our hotel concierge we have a plan. Once we change out of out soaking we clothes we head over to bourbon street and walk around.
LOCATION: 739 Iberville St. New Orleans, LA 70130
We have no idea what we’re doing but we make it to Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar for lunch today and the best part of a tourist-y location is that the waitstaff is so used to tourists they know exactly what to recommend. We find our Louisiana Alligator and order it blackened thanks to the advice of our waitress. Christel and I are trying to order as much variety as we can so we both do 1/2 Po Boy and a Side. I go with the Oyster Po Boy and the Seafood Gumbo while Christel gets the Etouffee so we can try both.
This was a good first real meal in New Orleans for sure. We were pretty excited for the Alligator and it ended up being really good. Like people say, it taste a lot like chicken, it has a mild flavor and we thought it was great and cleared the plate pretty fast. I actually like it more than chicken because it’s more tender like a fish might be. Blackened is the way to go in this area so we were happy with that decision too thanks to our waitress.
The po boy and the gumbo/etouffe were what got us. My po boy was so good and balanced really well. I like the bread here because it reminds me of Vietnamese/French bread that’s fresh but not hard on the outside yet. I’m not a fan of getting my mouth all cut up from overly hard bread and this melded down really well. This was a pretty simple po boy so the flavors weren’t out of this world but it was a good sandwich over all and I enjoyed it.
Christal and I had to look up the difference between gumbo, etouffee, and jambalaya several times in our prep for this trip. Gumbo - considered a soup generally has a variety of meats like shrimp, chicken, and andouille. Etouffee - is thicker than gumbo and served more often as an entree focusing on meat like shrimp or crawfish. Jambalaya - is a multi - meat dish cooked with rice instead of served over rice like etouffee or gumbo. I liked mine more than Christel’s but she liked hers more than mine so it worked out the way that we ordered it. I feel they have a slightly bitter, darker flavor that I’m not a huge fan of and while it’s full of protein like seafood I don’t think I’ll ever be craving either anytime soon. Just something that’s not for me.