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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

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Among the best locally.

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Excellent and ambitious.

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Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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Clementine’s Belgian Bistro

Belgian.
Gretna: 2505 Whitney Ave.. 504-366-3995. Map.
Lunch Tuesday-Friday. Dinner Thursday-Saturday.
Nice Casual
DC MC V

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Like Belgium itself, this charming chalet is wonderful surprise. The food of Belgium--basically French, with some Dutch influence here and there--is as marvelous as it is unknown in New Orleans. Clementine's does pure Belgian cooking, starting with spectacular mussels and running through crepes, fondues, and seafood. All of this goes at lower prices than you'd expect.

WHY IT'S GOOD
You'll be familiar with most of the food on this menu, but you're not likely to have seen them in one place before. Nor prepared exactly like this. Mussels--for which Belgians have a mania matched only by the passion they hold for fried potatoes--come out in several different sauces, several dozen at a time. Also here is enough fondue dishes, prepared at the table for two, to make an entire meal. Crepes are another big deal, prepared in both savory and sweet styles. Although they don't have as wide a range of Belgian dishes as a fan of the cuisine would like, they do a good job with the beer-based beef stew called carbonnade flammande and a few others of that ilk.

BACKSTORY
Chef Laurent Desmet and his mom (Clementine, pronounced in the French way) are both from Brussels. They opened the restaurant in 2002, taking over the former Willy Coln's Chalet.

DINING ROOM
After the hurricane, the Desmets renovated the old cottage, retaining the chalet look they inherited from Willy Coln. The better and larger of the two dining rooms has a homey, comfy appearance and windows looking into the neighborhood. It's rustic but pleasant.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Garlic mussels (appetizer).
Daily soups (very homestyle).
Salade Liegoise (green, bacon, onions, potatoes, green beans).
Moules (mussels) any style (best: au vin blanc, a little creamy).
Crepe Campagnarde (mushrooms, ham, bacon, and cheese)
Steak au poivre with frites.
Chicken with tarragon.
Fondue dinner.
Belgian fries.
Crepe Clementine (puffy, with apples, flamed at the table).

FOR BEST RESULTS
Even if you've never had a taste for mussels, have at least one entree of them on the table. They will change your mind.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The catfish with almonds would be better with some other fish--trout, flounder, even sheepshead. They could add a few more Belgian classics, at least as specials. Waterzooi comes to mind.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 7/1/2010.

A list of over 350 full, current reviews is here.