Le Chat Noir — Restaurant in New Orleans

I debated this one for a long time before posting.

I'm a vegetarian and, on the positive side, they have a bunch of meatless options, all of which were delicious. The food is genuinely tasty (and my omnivorous companions agreed) BUT they vegetarian dishes weren't worth anywhere near those prices. The $17 roasted carrots with ricotta we're fantastic--just like the roasted carrots I make on my grill every summer for $3. The $15 sticky beets were certainly tasty, but they weren't anything different than roasted beets out of my oven at home, and, unfortunately, we got the equivalent of about 2 beets. We ordered the super-fancy "Bread service royale" for $27 and it came with literally 8 pieces of bread. It comes with pate and bone marrow and fancy jam and pretentious butter, but they skimp on the bread. I can't even.

The food was good, but for this vegetarian, it wasn't anything amazing and certainly wasn't worth the price. (For what it's worth, my guess is that the people raving about the veggies don't cook vegetables at home. There's no meatless dish here that any halfway-decent cook couldn't make at home.)

If I had paid $20 for that meal, I'd have been happy; but I paid more like $65. I would have gotten more enjoyment out of giving two twenties to the people in need on the street.

In addition, the service was kind of irritating. Folksy but kind of inattentive. For these prices, I expect someone to notice when we need clean plates and cutlery. They didn't and we had to ask (whatever, NBD) but then we had to remind them that three forks weren't enough for our six-top. They remembered to refill some drinks and not others. It was just... odd.

Finally, the atmosphere is lovely unless you want to talk to anyone. It's so cavernous and loud that I just gave up after a while. It was too much work to hear and be heard.

Food: tasty but severely overpriced Service: disappointing Atmosphere:...

Great fine dining in New Orleans with explicitly vegan options (such a relief in this city where not much is labelled according to diet).

Went for my mum's birthday where were lucky to get a table for dinner as walk ins. I'm not sure whether Mardi Gras increases the business or if it was always like this but I don't think they sat any or many other people without a reservation after us. The server was very friendly & knowledgeable about all the items on the menu.

The menu offers a choice of small or large plates; the small plates providing a tapas style of dining in ordering several or a large plate constituting more of a main meal on it's own (though one small plate in addition likely wouldn't overdo it). My mum (vegetarian) chose several small plates while I (vegan) chose one large (& we did share a little between that).

My Japanese eggplant dish was incredible, certainly the best eggplant I've ever had. The sunchokes were a new food to us, it being the root of the sunflower plant. It had a potato like quality but with it's own uniqueness to it, it was my mum's highlight of the meal. She also had the sticky beets which she enjoyed and the house potatoes which she found to be too over-salted but our server was able to amend this which was greatly appreciated.

Alongside the amazing main courses we also had the Baba Au Rhum for desert which is one of the best deserts I have had in a very long time (& this is coming from someone who usually favours chocolate over those flavours). To drink we had the French Buck (an absinthe cocktail) & a Cosmopolitan, both delicious.

Highly recommend for vegans & vegetarians (& those who aren't I'm sure) in...

I was very excited to try this place based on what I had read online and in reviews, plus the menu looked very intriguing with interesting flavor combinations and nice emphasis on veggies. I had a dozen shuckers choice oysters (ordered half dozen, whole was brought and decided to keep), carrots, crab cake and crème brûlée. Oysters were the best thing and seemingly the least interaction with the kitchen. Carrot dish could have been excellent, but ricotta was slightly over seasoned, more pumpkin than caraway seeds (which were needed for flavor) and the flavorful oil was puddled in one place not distributed. When you got the caraway seeds and oil with just enough ricotta and a bite of carrot, it was stellar. There were maybe 3 bites like this in the whole dish, unfortunately. Plating execution just lacking. The crab cake was served with perfectly cooked asparagus and wonderful asparagus hollandaise - but it seemed to have more filler/binder than crab meat (or perhaps very very small shreds of crab ha the lump I’d expect at this price point) and was barely crisp at the edges - more of a mush texture. Flavor was on point, execution sloppy again. The crème brûlée had such interesting flavor and was not too sweet, but unfortunately was scrambled (overcooked) in part of the dish. Again, execution was the stumbling block, not the idea. I hope it was just an off night, but even when I mentioned the brûlée, just an oh I’m sorry not even an offer to replace or comp. Have to say it was the least satisfying meal in my trip and entirely not worth the price :( maybe just avoid cooked protein and go for the veg heavy dishes with...