La Boulangerie (New Orleans, LA)

4526 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115, T: 504-269-3777

Few things are what they seem in New Orleans, but La Boulangerie looks and is a real French bakery serving Old Continent quality bread, pastries, and sandwiches. It is located in Uptown, a hipster area close to Tulane University-and an oasis of relaxation after several days in the loud and tacky French Quarter. The place is always crowded with locals and tourists alike.

For a European stranded in the United States, who has enjoyed eight years of great bread and pastries in Antwerp, La Boulangerie is as close to heaven as you can get. It has an incredible range of breads and pastries, all freshly made with authentic ingredients. We had a whole range of things, which we spread out over breakfast and lunch. The croissant was crispy and flaky with a thin sweet coating-seriously one of the best I have ever had (even in France!). The chocolate croissant had the same base, but had two small sticks of high quality chocolate-delicious! The chicken sandwich had chunks of grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, and egg on a solid but not crunchy baguette-very tasty. The apple cinnamon pasty was a fresh, not too sweet, flaky pastry-top quality, reminding me of the best bakeries in Antwerp. Finally, the almond chocolate croissant was covered with slivers of almond and filled with almond paste and chocolate-SCRUMPTIOUS!!! In addition, they had some good coffee too.

VERDICT: 97/100

La Boulangerie is as close to France as you can get in the US. It is not just the best French bakery I have visited in the US, it would even be considered a good place in Paris.

Clover Grill (New Orleans, LA)

900 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, T: 504-598-1010

Clover Grill is a hole in the wall in the gay part of Bourbon Street and a New Orleans institution. It is open 24h and attracts a broad variety of people throughout the day. When I enter, on a Friday evening around 6.30, it is packed, which isn't difficult as it only holds some 20 people, with a lively group of gay guys from New York.

I order the burger ($5.79) and add chili (+$1.25) and jalapens (+$.1.25). The 1/2 lb patty is frozen and broiled under a cap on the griddle. Together with the tasty fresh-made chili and spicy jalapenos it is a great old-school burger. The side of French fries (+$2.75) is plentiful and pretty good.

VERDICT: 90/100

Clover Grill is without a shadow of a doubt the gayest pig out spot I have ever eaten. However, it is also a real grease hut, in the best possible way. They serve unpretentious quality food. You overpay a bit for the location, but get compensated by a unique experience!

Johnny's Po-Boys (New Orleans, LA)

511 Saint Louis Street, New Orleans, LA, T: 504-525-8037

Johnny's P0-Boys is a real grease hut in the French Quarter, which serves a broad variety of po-boys, the quintessential New Orleans sandwich. As several other restaurants in the city, they claim to serve "New Orleans finest po-boys." The fact that they have been around since 1950 might be an indication that they are right.

I decided to visit Johnny's for breakfast, and although I was tempted by the greasy smell and delicious sights of greasy fried fish po-boys, I decided to stay light and get a bacon and egg po-boy. As I skipped the lettuce, tomato, may and pickle, the sandwich looked fairly light - while the price was rather heavy ($7.63). It would have been a basic bacon and egg sandwich, if it weren't for the excellent (airy) French bread.

VERDICT: 82/100

Johnny's Po-Boys is a real pig out spot, where you can get a broad range of greasy po-boys on excellent French bread. My sandwich was good, but clearly overpriced. However, I would definitely come back to try a more hearty one.

Cafe Beignet (New Orleans, LA)

334 B Royal Street, New Orleans, LA, T: 504-524-5530

Café Beignet is a cute little café in the heart of the French Quarter serving coffee, sandwiches, and… beignets. Even out of season the place was packed with tourists.

I ordered a double espresso ($2.99) and a portion of beignets ($2.99). The espresso was bitter but not very strong. The beignets, which come in one portion of three, were very thick and covered with powder sugar. While fresh and still warm, the powder sugar was hardly absorbed by the doughy and largely tasteless beignets. The only good thing of them was that they made me appreciate the beignets of Café du Monde even more.

VERDICT: 56/100

While the beignets are much bigger than at Café du Monde, they have none of the flavor. Clearly not the place to eat beignets in New Orleans.

Croissant d'Or (New Orleans, LA)

617 Ursulines Ave, New Orleans, LA 710116, T: 504-524-4663

There are several things from Europe I really miss, and good pastries (of the croissant variety) are definitely among them. So, I looked for the place with the best croissants in New Orleans and was steered towards, how surprising, Croissant d'Or in the French Quarter. It is a beautiful French style tea house with a large choice of pastries, sandwiches, and hot and cold beverages. Surprisingly, it is quite affordable; particularly for the French Quarter.

Enthusiastically I went to town on both pastries and drinks (including, obviously, an Orangina). The Frangipane was a bit dry and plain, but not bad. The chocolate croissant was dry and had an odd taste. Even the espresso was kind of weak; definitely more French than Italian. I later read online that the place is under new management and that has led to a serious decline in the quality. This could be the (only) explanation.

VERDICT: 72/100

Croissant d'Or was disappointing, no doubt. In most towns it would be among the better pastry places, but in a city with options, let alone NOLA, it is simply sub-par, despite its affordability.

Central Grocery Co (New Orleans, LA)

923 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116, T: 504-523-1620.

To be fair, we didn't do much research before we came to New Orleans, so we had to be pointed to the Central Grocery Co by our friends. We were told they had a delicious sandwich, which we had to go and eat. When we arrived to the "Home of the Original Muffuletta," we found ourselves surrounded by other tourists amazed by this incredible Italian delicatessen store.

Obviously, we went for The Original Muffuletta. I was somewhat take aback by the price ($15.91) and the fact that it came pre-made. However, when we unwrapped that bad boy, the size and smells already changed our minds.

The Original Muffuletta comes on a huge round bun, a cross between a focaccia and a semolina, layered with salami, ham, provolone, Swiss, olive oil, and a unique Giardiniera. Each individual part was delicious, Old Continent quality, but the whole was even better than the sum of the parts. Incredible!

VERDICT: 100/100
This is the ultimate cold sandwich! Nuff said! DO.NOT.MISS.THIS!!!

Cafe du Monde (New Orleans, LA)

800 Decatur Street, New Orleans, La, 70116, T: 504-525-4544

Cafe du Monde is an American institution. It only serves coffee and beignets, yet has various branches throughout New Orleans and you can buy their coffee and beignet mix in delicatessen shops across the US and abroad. I visited the big restaurant in the French Quarter.

We ordered a portion of beignets ($2.42) and a Cafe au Lait ($2.42), the two staples of Cafe du Monde. The beignets were fresh and very tasty; surprisingly they are empty within, which actually give them more taste. The Cafe au Lait was smooth and creamy, but not too milky. Delicious!

VERDICT: 90/100

To be honest, I liked it a lot when I was there, but I really appreciated it after having the same at another place. Cafe du Monde does only a few things, but it does them well. Not the best beignets I ever had, but definitely the best I had in the US.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers (Baton Rouge, LA)

3313 Highland Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, T: 225-387-3533

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is a fried chicken chain that started in Baton Rouge, LA in 1996. Today it has over 50 restaurants in 15 states, mostly in towns with major universities. I went to the one close to the LSU campus.

I ordered The 3 Fingers Box for something like $7 (I forgot the exact price). It includes three chicken fingers, wrinkle fries, a piece of Texas toast, and Cane's special sauce. The chicken fingers were the most tender I ever had. Although the batter was not particularly tasty, the fingers tasted great, particularly with the peppery special sauce. Both the fingers and the fries were very fresh. I have to admit it, I ordered two more fingers (as $0.99 each) and coleslaw ($0.69). This time the fingers weren't as fresh, but still very tasty. The slaw was too mayo-ish.

VERDICT: 92/100

Raising Cane's is definitely the best chain for fried chicken. If you get it fresh, it is some of the best you ever had. Don't forget to dip it in the special sauce!

Old Tyme Grocery (Lafayette, LA)

218 W St. Mary Blvd, Lafayette, LA 70506, T: 337-235-8165

The Olde Tyme Grocery is a po'boy place in Lafayette, LA, which came highly recommended (among others in Roadfood). It has both a grocery store and a small restaurant, but it seems most people come to take their po' boys out.

As it was still in the morning, I decided to go for just half a roast beef sandwich; at $6.43 already quite a treat. Then again, they seem to put on half a pound of hot roast beef, which is costly. Unfortunately, the roast beef was not just way too much, it was also too salty., overpowering the lettuce, tomato, and mayo On top of that, the bread, which so many reviews hailed, was unremarkable.

VERDICT: 74/100

Old Tyme Grocery provides decent hot subs, but are too expensive for what they offer. That said, the more local shrimp po' boys might be worth the trip, if you are a seafood lover.

Mother's Restaurant (New Orleans, LA)

401 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, T: 504-523-9656

Mother's Restaurant is an institution in New Orleans, featuring in all the good guides (Man v Food, Roadfood). It now has two restaurants, the one downtown that I visited, and a Mother's Next Door in another part of town. It is famous for its Black Ham, which are smoked on the premise.

I went for the signature item, their most popular Po'Boy: the Famous Ferdi Special ($10.75). This beast of a sandwich comes with their famous baked ham, roast beef, debris (kind of pulled pork in a very tangy jus), slaw, creole mustard, and mayo. And this ultra-juicy feat of tastes comes on the best baguette I have had in the US. Best warm sandwich I ever had!

VERDICT: 97/100

Mother's is one of those famous places that actually lives up to its reputation. If you go there, do go for the Famous Ferdi Special (share it if you are not a big eater). You will not be disappointed. If only every city had one...