Nola Kitchen — Restaurant in Xinyi District

Here is the basic rundown: if you are Taiwanese and want American food that has been altered to match the local palate, you will love this place. If you are American and are craving authentic Cajun and creole cuisine, you are going to be disappointed from your first bite to your last.

My wife and I had reservations on a Sunday; we got there promptly and were seated. Unfortunately there was only one person on the waitstaff and this one poor woman was receiving and seating customers, handing out menus, and taking orders (both dine-in and take away). I felt bad for her, so the long delays between being seated and having our order taken were understandable.

I wanted to try the onion rings. My wife wanted to try the fried green tomatoes on the "Signature Platter" (along with Cajun-spiced chicken wings, fried potato wedges, mozzarella sticks (I know, neither Cajun nor creole but then again neither are fried potato wedges...)). I ordered a Hurricane and their double "American-Style Wheat Beer" special; my wife ordered an iced chicory coffee. My wife also ordered the chicken and waffles and beignets.

First to arrive was the "Hurricane" and the iced coffee. Instead of passion fruit syrup, the cocktail just had rum and orange juice. Disappointing but drinkable. My wife enjoyed her chicory coffee.

Next were the onion rings: large, crispy, airy, dusted with cayenne pepper, and completely devoid of flavor. The spicy remoulade on the side was okay, but in the end I didn't finish the onion rings.

The signature platter was next to arrive. I looked at the platter. "Honey," I said to my wife, "those aren't tomatoes." More onion rings! My beer arrived next and we asked the waitress to check with the chef - where were the fried green tomatoes? The waitress came back: sorry, we ran out of tomatoes so you get onions rings. ???? Hello?

If we had known there were onion rings on the platter I wouldn't have gotten a full order on the side! in fact, the fried green tomatoes were the ONLY reason we ordered the platter at all. The mozzarella sticks were okay (just mass-produced frozen moz sticks, nothing special) but the cajun chicken wings were actually quite good! The wings definitely saved the platter!

Frustrated I sat back and took a long drink off my beer. I admit, I had doubts about "American Style Wheat Beer" since every wheat beer I know of is central European in origin, so I should have been prepared. NOT a wheat beer! An IPA. I despise IPAs. This is like ordering a Martini and getting a Margarita.

Finally the main dish - the chicken and waffles!!! Yeah... sooooo... wellllll.... Let's say NOT AUTHENTIC. The chicken was battered not breaded. Instead of having the wonderful, savory flavors of Southern Fried Chicken this had the sweet taste of Taiwanese-style fried chicken. No oregano, paprika, cayenne, thyme, garlic, or black pepper. Instead, five spice and white pepper. I actually LIKE Taiwanese chicken, and as Taiwanese chicken it was pretty good! But as Southern Fried Chicken it was a 100% failure. Chicken and waffles is a successful dish because the savory and spicy of the chicken contrasts with the sweet of the waffles. Instead this was sweet on sweet. Not horrible, but not the authentic taste we were looking for.

Finally the beignets. By this time I was done; I had zero confidence in the restaurant. That being said, the beignets weren't terrible. Were they made with pâte à choux? No, but they were light and airy enough and covered with powered sugar!

Oh, one final complaint! About 2/3rds of the way through our meal another party came in WITH THEIR DOGS! I don't understand why people in Taiwan feel the need to bring their animals into restaurants, or why restaurants allow it. These two pooches were very well behaved, but unfortunately my wife is quite allergic. Fido and Rex plopped down only half a meter from her. Instant coughing and sneezing, but nobody did a bloody thing. What a horrible end to an otherwise terrible experience.

My recommendation to other...

It's close to the Xiangshan Hiking Trail and I assume that's why many people end up there (just like me 😆).

I was there in the afternoon, fancying some rest, a coffee and something sweet. The staff was not very attentive that day and didn't seem really interested in what they were doing or how we, the customers, were doing.

I had a black coffee (they don't have soy milk) supposedly French Market coffee. It was ok. But quite pricey. I also ordered the beignets, a NOLA staple. They looked great and you get four for the equally high price. They are basically as expensive as ordering beignets in New Orleans at Café Beignet. The quality however, was nothing to write home about. Idk what they are doing but real beignets are not dough pockets with only air inside. I was disappointed and wouldn't really recommend a visit. There are surely better places close by to enjoy some rest...

We ordered the jambalaya, gumbo with a salad and chili fries. If you have had any of these dishes at a Cajun / Creole restaurant in Louisiana or even anywhere in the US, you would be vastly disappointed in these dishes. They taste nothing like what these dishes should taste like. They don’t even have the basic proper ingredients. It’s almost as if someone decided to make a New Orleans restaurant from looking at the pictures alone.

As a hint to the owners of this restaurant, almost all cajun / creole food starts with sautéed sofrito of green peppers, celery and onions. This is non negotiable. This basic flavor profile is considered the holy trinity of Cajun food.

I got this via Ubereats so that’s my disclaimer. But, I don’t believe that ultimately impacted the flavoring...