Tujague's — Restaurant in New Orleans

This is going to be long...Sadly so disappointing...was on vacation with my five kids, my husband and I always take one night to ourselves to have a date night and we heard this place was pretty good. We have been to New Orleans without our kids and ate at alot of great restaurants, several of the Brennan restaurants, GW fins, we are foodies, they were all great and we were hoping this would be too. When we arrive for our 8pm reservation the place was pretty much empty. We stood at the door for a minute, a woman, I assume a manager signal for someone to come and help us. The bartender was very polite and took us to our table. We had two servers, they were nice but our main server, I believe Ralph was his name could care less about his tips apparently. We ask what kind of sweet bottles of wine they had, he said he didn't know and pointed to the wine list. I prefer Moscato or reisling the bottle of Moscato was $29 the other sweet wine bottles were about double. Didn't matter to me I picked the Moscato because I liked it but he could have made more in gratuity had he recommended a more expense sweet wine. Next the meal....They have this 5 course meal runs about 70-80 per person. We weren't necessarily interested in all of the 5 courses but we though we would give it a try. This is what we had discussed doing. This option came with a brisket appetizer, but we also want 6 charbroiled oysters. On the menu these are the same price so we asked if we could get the brisket for my husband's 5 courses and the oysters for mine. Our server told us no they couldn't swap them. He did go and ask the chef and they said they would but only 3 oysters. We didn't think it was fair and a bit unreasonable, they said with the 5 courses you basically get a half portion of the regular size, which is fine but for an extra 3 oysters we didn't feel it was that big of a deal. We told the server if they made the swap we would order the two 5 course meals but if not we were just going to order the individual items we wanted. They wouldn't do it. So we order 6 oysters, turtle soup, the lamb and the gulf fish, which the server called a Bass snapper....not sure what that is and we live in destin and fish all the time...lol...so the choice to not make the swap for the oysters cut our bill in half and the servers tip in half...I'm explaining all of this because as business owners this makes no sense to us. Over $1.50 worth of oysters....so then to the actual food....the oysters were lacking, they were overcooked and grainy, and seemed almost dehydrated. If you've had charbroiled oysters anywhere else in NO, they are overflowing with cheese and juices, these were dry and barely had cheese on them. Next the turtle soup, the flavor wasn't bad but I don't think there was any turtle I'm there, I found two marble sized brown chucks of meat, I had one my husband had one...I was really looking forward to that so very disappointing. My fish was actually cooked perfectly, but there was so much pepper on it its all you could taste, never figured out if it was sea bass or snapper but it was way over seasoned, my Brussel sprouts were so acidic and tasted like straight Lemons, my husband's lamb was also cooked perfectly but had no flavor and the Cabbage under the lamb was also so acidic it was unpalatable. Really wish we had a different experience here...when we mention to our server he could get a much bigger tip if the manager would let us swap the oysters he said he didn't care, he just wanted to go home....also, brought us our food, never came back to see if it was OK, or if we needed anything....so there's that....lots of great restaurants in the French quarter, not this one...actually had some awesome charbroiled oysters the day prior at the French quarter Market restaurant and bar, heard brennans had the best turtle soup from the guys at the new orleans school of cooking...was going to go there but they were closed on Wednesday. Hope this review saves some others from a...

Yikes on bikes, this was not a cute night!

We came for the $58 Thanksgiving Pre-fix menu. Soup, salad, and dessert were fixed, and we had a choice of five entrees.

We had a 6:30pm reservation and were told they were over an hour behind. One hostess said she’d take our number and text us when our table was ready. We came back (no text), and found apparently that hostess and left (maybe quit?) and had not communicated with our new one.

We were seated by 8pm. Our server was nice but seemed inexperienced. We asked if he had been hearing any feedback about what was good and what wasn't, and he said "I don't know, I haven't really been hearing anything" and he didn't know what to recommend. We had a dirty water glass on our table and asked for a new one but had to remind because he forgot. We asked about some allergen information because two in our party have strong intolerances, and he looked at the menu to guess what "might" have mushrooms. Once we received the soup (which he did not mention) we realized it likely had mushrooms in it.

The food — they were out of butter, the soup I somewhat enjoyed at first because of its tang, though it was barely lukewarm. A friend commented that it tasted "like bile" based on the sort of briny flavor, color, and texture. I couldn't un-taste that and couldn't finish it.

Beet salad with bacon vinaigrette and goat cheese - I am pescatarian so i asked for mine with no bacon/vinaigrette. Two out of the six salads that arrived to our table had no cheese on them. The waiter noticed and said he'd bring us cheese, which he brought in two small ramekins, both of which had salad residue in them. After this i realized that my salad actually had bacon in it, and our waiter kindly brought me a new one. In the new salad it seems they had switched out the golden beets everyone else had for some canned red beets (not sure if this was the case)

Gulf fish almandine - a poorly cooked piece of fish (three bites were nicely cooked and the rest was dry, tough, clearly overcooked), a tangy tasty sauce, and a few green beans. Pretty underwhelming. Other folks at the table had very overlooked duck and the thanksgiving meal which included a confusing/unpleasant stuffing (weird texture, a flavor that was similar to chimichurri, and seemed to have no bread in it) and tasty mashed potatoes

Sweet potato bread pudding - I actually really enjoyed this but other folks at my table did not, partially because of the firmness and inconsistency around temperature (mine was a little warm, others totally cold). The crème anglaise was absolutely delicious and if you made sure you had some in every bite it was very good. I didn't really get a sweet potato flavor, but for me this was very clearly the best part of the meal.

Service - they were swamped and struggling. Our soup and salad came pretty quickly but we had to wait a long time for our entrees. We could see that while turning over tables, managers were helping servers but were clanging silverware, staff were dragging dripping bags of trash through the restaurant, and waiters were inattentive, never coming to ask about the food or if we needed anything.

We ended up paying about $440 for the 6 of us total and overall it was a bizarre and disappointing experience for our group (I think i probably walked away feeling the least frustrated). It seems like for a night with a preset menu and running solely off of reservations, things should have gone much smoother. No one communicated what the issue was--not sure if they overbooked, were short staffed, maybe kitchen staff were striking, or if this is just what it's like to eat at this restaurant. It's clear that staff were very overwhelmed, and I felt really bad for the folks working last night. I know this is supposed to be an iconic NOLA institution, but I wouldn't...

If you want impeccable service and an experience? Make a reservation!!

Tujague is an upscale restaurant offering traditional Creole dishes on Decatur St. The ambiance and decor offer a syzygy of French and Spanish old world New Orleans that draws your spirit and taste buds. On the second floor, we were greeted by Alena and Brent, who took care of our group for the night. Both were not only well versed in the specials for the night but the menu, pairings, and what the greater New Orleans has to offer. Their detail of the menu and service were more than impressive. We WILL come back just on the service alone!

For starters, we had Boudin Balls(sausage and rice balls, deep fried w/pepper jelly that were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside). Crisp Pork Belly w/ corn maque choix and pepper jelly gastrique that melted in your mouth.

For entrees; Gulf Fish Bienville. Oven Roasted Red Fish with Blue Crab butter sauce and New Potato Salad. The fish was beautifully seasoned, and the sauce balanced and complimented the whole plate. However, the fish was a bit over roasted, causing the fish to thread around the edges. Duroc Pork Chops was a 1/2" thick and cooked perfectly! An excellent, center cut chop that was tender and aggressively seasoned, resting atop Braised Greens, Sweet Potato Mash, and Pepper Jelly gastrique! It was everything! Savory, sweet, spicy, without anything overpowering the harmony of the dish. Pan Seared Duck Breast, Foie gras mash potatoes and a citrus dry cherry demi glace was another winner! This was the birthday girls' first introduction to duck, and it was an excellent representation! Evenly medium rare, all the way through the breast. The citrus dry cherry demi was so good that one of my daughters ordered an extra side to go with her grits! The Foie gras mash potatoes were luxurious and lent a creaminess to the potatoes that usually is accomplished with cream. WELL DONE!! Shrimp and Grits were not your average take on the dish. These pan seared shrimp were simmered in New Orleans-style BBQ sauce( a combination of spices, butter, lemon juice, garlic, and worcestershire sauce) that SLAPS! Nestled atop creamy, stone ground grits that were unmatched! Prosciutto Wrapped Sea Scallops with crispy Parmesan Polenta Cakes, Micro Green Salad, and smoked tomato sweet vermouth butter sauce was the last plate of the night and well received! The Prosciutto was crisp and salty in the right way! Comin in with the assist to seasoning the scallops, that were juicy and succulent. The parmesan polenta added texture and richness that was vital to the scallops. Throw in the micro green salad for a pop of freshness and you have a dish that is worth ordering again!

Tujague's is a must visit for top notch service and good...