Bourbon House
144 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130, USA
French Quarter
The corner of Iberville and Bourbon Streets may be the best restaurant location in New Orleans, with a surfeit of classic local eateries right there or mighty nearby. The Brennan family alone has four major restaurants within the block, creating a little tension when Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House encroached upon Ralph Brennan's Red Fish Grill's seafood-restaurant turf. As it turned out, both places thrived because of the propinquity, not despite it. The Bourbon House also offset one of Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse place at the other end of the block. All is harmony now.
Anecdotes & Analysis
The corner of Iberville and Bourbon Streets may be the best restaurant location in New Orleans, with a surfeit of classic local eateries right there or mighty nearby. The Brennan family alone has four major restaurants within the block, creating a little tension when Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House encroached upon Ralph Brennan's Red Fish Grill's seafood-restaurant turf. As it turned out, both places thrived because of the propinquity, not despite it. The Bourbon House also offset one of Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse place at the other end of the block. All is harmony now. [caption id="attachment_38549" align="alignnone" width="300"]<img src="http://nomenu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BourbonHouseDiningRoom.jpg" alt="Dining room at the Bourbon House." width="300" height="201" class="size-full wp-image-38549" /> Dining room at the Bourbon House.[/caption]
Backstory
The Bourbon House opened in 2002 as the main restaurant of the new Astor Hotel. After creating a runaway success with their steak house half a block away, Dickie Brennan and Steve Pettus thought they'd have good luck with an upscale seafood place. They were right. The name has a historic precedent: through the 1960s, the original Bourbon House meant a restaurant on the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter (now the Embers steakhouse).
Dining Room
An expansive room with large windows and interior balconies, the Bourbon House stands just close enough to the Bourbon Street strip to have a strong sense of place, but enough separated from its louder aspects to make dining perhaps a bit too civilized. The lighting fixtures look like gigantic peeled satsumas. The service staff is young and usually leaves me thinking that not many of them are serious seafood lovers--but that may be my own age talking.
Why It's Essential
Big seafood restaurants are popular across America, but nowhere more so than in New Orleans. Say the words "seafood platter," and the image of a large pile of fried oysters, shrimp, fish, stuffed crabs, and the like comes to mind. But finding such a thing in reality in the French Quarter has long been maddeningly fruitless. The seafood restaurants there were either too upscale or too touristy. The Bourbon House strikes a good balance between the two. It looks too fancy for all that fried and boiled seafood or an oyster bar, but it isn't. [caption id="attachment_26158" align="alignnone" width="400"]<img src="http://nomenu.com/wp-content/uploads/BourbonHouse-Oysters222.jpg" alt="Baked oysters three ways." width="400" height="300" class="size-full wp-image-26158" /> Baked oysters three ways.[/caption]
Why It's Good
The raw oysters, gumbo, and fried platters bring enough to the table to make the place worthwhile. Everything's fresh and distinctly Creole in flavor. The kitchen is at least as adept at grilling, sauteeing, and broiling. Here are one of the best version of barbecue shrimp in town, and a great example of that recent hit dish, redfish on the half shell (grilled on the skin and scales with garlic butter). The oyster bar is very good and usually more accessible than the famous line at the Acme, a few doors away. The several baked oyster concoctions remind us how deep runs the stream of ambitious oyster cookery. A few classic Brennan family dishes show up, including a few I recall from days gone by at Commander's Palace. The Bourbon House adopted bourbon (the spirit) as a specialty, and not only makes great cocktails with it but mounts major bourbon-themed dinners. [caption id="attachment_26160" align="alignnone" width="400"]<img src="http://nomenu.com/wp-content/uploads/BourbonHouse-FriedCatfish-.jpg" alt="Fried catfish." width="400" height="318" class="size-full wp-image-26160" /> Fried catfish.[/caption]
Most Interesting Dishes
<em><strong>Starters</strong></em> Raw Louisiana oysters on the half-shell Oysters on the half-shell with caviar Fruits de mer (oysters on the half-shell, caviar, boiled shrimp, mussels, marinated crab fingers, seafood salads) Charbroiled oysters Truffled seafood vinaigrette Fried calamari, chipotle aioli, Romano cheese Bourbon barbecue shrimp Ceviche du jour Soup du jour Corn & crab soup Seafood gumbo Spinach salad, pecan-molasses vinaigrette, feta Bourbon House salad (tomato, cucumber, onions, crouton, Maker’s Mark bourbon vinaigrette) <em><strong>Entrees</strong></em> »Fried seafood platters (shrimp, catfish, oysters, or combinations, pommes frites, cole slaw, cornbread) Seared crab cake, bourbon corn sauce Redfish on the half-shell Blackened Gulf fish, corn salsa, shrimp gastrique, mcilhenny beurre blanc, potato cake Catfish pecan, shrimp, popcorn rice, Creole meuniere Crabmeat-encrusted fish, deviled crab dressing, lemon herb butter Roasted chicken, pepper jelly, jambalaya risotto »Pannee veal & crab, lemon butter and jumbo lump crabmeat <em><strong>Dessert</strong></em> Chocolate banana bread pudding Pumpkin and white chocolate cheesecake Pecan pie Crème brûlèe Seasonal gelato or sorbet 6
Deficiencies
The food at the Bourbon House has been a shade inconsistent during the past few years, for no apparent reason. Same chef, more or less the same menu, same management. What gives?
For Best Results
Make a reservation and let them know you're a local. Sundays, the Bourbon House has begun serving a brunch menu from opening until 5 p.m. If you'd like raw oysters, get them at the bar. I've been served oysters at the tables here that appeared to have been shucked in advance.
Bonus Ratings
2
Attitude
1
Environment
1
Hipness
2
Local Color
1
Service
1
Wine
Holiday Ratings
2
Christmas
0
Thanksgiving
2
New Year's Eve