Good morning to our first full day in New Orleans, Louisiana!! We are both so excited for the day! We have our day half planned and half not planned. We have two reservations for breakfast and dinner and the rest is left up to the air. The first place I made reservations at was called Oceana Grill right in the heart of the French Quarter. I read on Yelp that there could be a wait and didn’t want to risk it on Labor Day weekend. Our hotel was just about 18min away from the French Quarter and we spent the morning walking around and exploring.. getting to know the geography of the French Quarter prior to our reservation.

Absolut Vanilla White Russian. Their unique twist to an old favorite. Sweet, creamy and light.

Gator Tail Bites. Marinated white meat gator tail served fried and blackened with remoulade sauce. This was surprisingly good and better than chicken! Even though it is white meat, it definitely is more chewy, more fatty and more dark compared to chicken. The fried gator bites were so moist and savory. The blackened gator bites was so tender and juicy. Both was so good!

Fried shrimp po-boy. Served with French fried and dressed with cole slaw, tomatoes, pickled, onions, remoulade. Wow this is a lot more filling than it looks! So much fried shrimp… the shrimp inside is very moist and well seasoned to bring out its flavors. The fried bread is crispy. The tomato is light, the pickles are sour, the remoulade sauce adds moistness, the cold slaw is refreshing.

Look at that shrimp!

Afterwards, we went and wandered some more. We then accidentally stumbled upon the French Market where it looked like a flea market, but with outdoor bars and food. The cool thing about New Orleans is that they encourage drinking outside on the streets. You can hold your cocktails or beers while walking and strolling on the streets.

We went to The Organic Banana for some drinks.

Tropical Rum Daiquiris. With Old New Orleans white rum. I heard you have to try a daiquiri while in NOLA. It’s one of their classic alcoholic drinks. Very light, refreshing, mildly sweet, coconut-y, and strong. You can’t taste the alcohol and it creeps up on you. Beware!

Then boyfriend wanted to go to a brewery so I had to let him. Next stop: Brieux Carré Brewing Company.

A flight of six beers. We sat on a high top wooden stool table with outlets!!! I liked that I was able to charge our phones. Boyfriend was more intrigued with people watching and trying the local beers.

My turn to pick! Let’s go to a decadent sweet place called Sucré in French Quarter. Walking distance again hehehe. It is a bakery filled with delightful pastries, cakes, macarons, truffles, alcoholic milk shakes, etc. Upstairs is the Salon by Sucre, where the 2yr old restaurant features brunch and cocktails.

Espresso Yourself. Vanilla vodka, cold brew, cream. A typical espresso martini that’ll not only give you a buzz but also keep you awake. Creamy, light, slightly bitter, sweet.

Chai Rise. Woodford rye whiskey, lemon juice, crimson chai tea syrup, lemon zest, chai rise, egg white. Off menu. My favorite! This is strong on the nose and in a sweet way. Tasted just as sweet and foamy.

Dessert time!

Sucre Eclair. Pate choux filled with Tahitian vanilla pastry cream finished with dark chocolate glaze. Named one of the best eclairs in the world by Food and Wine Magazine. Wow, it is as good as expected to be named one of the best in the world.. soft, light, creamy.

S’mores Skillet. Petite skillet filled with a graham cracker cookie, graham cracker pastry cream, and chocolate cake custard filled with a toasted marshmallow and served with Tahitian vanilla bean gelato. THIS WAS SO GOOD! The layers and richness of the cookie and cake and gelato was the perfect contrast! And look at those shiny cold-covered chocolate beads! So aesthetically pleasing!

New Old Fashioned. Spiced rum. Brings it on a whole new level.

Time for some truffles! Cute bag and box!

Top right was the malted milk, vanilla malted ganache with 36% OPUS grass fed milk chocolate.

I have to say all of their chocolate truffles are soooo decadently smooth and rich…

Sucre Dark. Signature palet d’or of single bean 65% Maracaibo chocolate. My favorite.

Category 5. A Salon Original. Wow! What a stealer drink for the ladies! Sweet, refreshing, light.

Grown-up Grasshopper Milkshake. Mint chocolate chip gelato, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua, chocolate sauce topped with whip cream. Oh my can I absolutely not taste the alcohol in this thing! But it’s strong and definitely gives me a buzz with every sip.

PB&J. White chocolate peanut butter ganache topped with strawberry marmalade.

Magnolia. 38% milk chocolate ganache with southern pecan and a hint of pecan liquor.

Two more hours until our dinner reservations and I was stubborn to try to sneak into Royal House for some oysters..

Oyster Duo. Sample both of oyster favorites: Oyster Rockefeller (Louisiana oysters with sautéed spinach, bacon, sambuca, and baked to a golden brown) and Oyster Royale (Louisiana oyster topped with seafood stuffing and baked to a bubbling perfection). It was disappointed.. I think I’m going to stick to the chargrilled oysters with herb butter and Parmesan cheese. These are too dry and take away from the oysters.

Now time for Cafe Amelie!!

Chef Jerry’s Gulf shrimp and grits. With corn and andouille maque choux. We’re both so full still, but we only wanted one thing from here anyways and that one thing is the only dish everyone raves about. And with good reason: it’s as good as it is hyped on Yelp. The shrimp is amazingly flavorful and the sauce is on another world.

And last but not least… Cafe du MONDE for the famous beignets!!! No wait right now whatsoever. In fact, the line in the back for takeout only was longer than for the sit down line.

Cafe au lait. Coffee and chicory with milk. This smelled and tasted burnt. Boo! Boyfriend things that over time, they became famous for the beignets while the coffee went downhill.

3 beignets with powdered sugar. We only made one order but our waitress said they messed up on ours so they gave an extra plate for us that was actually fluffy and airy.

Some people suggest dipping the beignet into the coffee but that didn’t do anything for me. Instead, the powder sugar just kept falling into the cup.. haha

And now I am so unbelievably stuffed..