I recently had the luxury of a weeklong trip to New Orleans, and since Cajun food is one of the regional food types of the United States I am least familiar with, I wanted to make sure I would do it right! I did tons of research into the best restaurants in the area. I asked my friends and family who had been there for recommendations. I made spreadsheets with the dates restaurants I was interested in were open so I could plan the best days for dining. I scoured online menus looking at which places seemed like they would give me great representations of Cajun and Creole cuisine. I looked a fusion restaurants. Mosquito Supper Club was definitely at the top of my list of places I wanted to try, so I managed to get a booking for a Thursday night.
One thing that I found very interesting about New Orleans is the number of houses that have been converted into businesses. There were restaurants in houses, shops in houses, offices in houses, so I wasn’t too surprised when I walked up to venue and discovered it was also in a house. Especially since there was a several walk block through a residential zone from the street car stop. The house has a southern feel with pillars holding up the roof, and there is plenty of outdoor seating set up. This is because they not only do the supper club tasting menu, but they have early afternoon drinks and nibbles available as well. We did try a few of the cocktails, some of which were definitely right up our alley, and although the nibbles looked great, we knew we had a big meal ahead of us.
After awhile, the mosquitos started coming out (and I could see where the restaurant’s namesake came from), so we moved inside to the bar where we had an amazing time chatting with the bartender about cocktails and local drinks. It was also right when the Negroni Sbagliato craze was at its peak, and the bartender was slightly annoyed that he had had a Sbagliato drink on the menu for much longer than what was currently fashionable. It was definitely a great chat and a fun way to relax and feel welcomed before the meal starts.
The meal itself was set up to be family style, so we were seated at a table with three other groups, coincidentally of which two of them had ties to the Bay Area themselves. It’s also set up to encourage conversation between the groups, which is not my favorite style of eating, but given the concept of local produce and gourmet home-style cooking, I get that the concept fits well with it. They apparently offer a small number of private dining tables as well, and perhaps in the summer even more in the outdoor area. The meal was split into four courses, the first of which were a selection of small appetizers.
There were definitely things I had never heard of before. Yes, I know about soft shell crab, but that night I was made aware of soft shell shrimp. Which are pretty much as amazing as crab. I also learned that what makes the shell soft is that they have recently shed their hard skin, and haven’t yet gotten a new one, and that soft shell seafood isn’t a specific species. There were fresh, local oysters, some crab claws that were heavenly and a great seasonal cucumber pickle. I also can’t forget the sweet potato biscuits with Steen’s butter, and I also learned about Steen’s syrup which is a cane syrup that is used all across Louisiana. One thing I really loved about this meal was that I learned a lot about the culture of southern cooking as well as experiencing some amazing flavors.
The second course was up next and it was gumbo! They made a point to let us know that the gumbo they make is a roux-less gumbo. Again, it was something I didn’t even know existed, as my experience with gumbo and Cajun cooking was limited to areas outside of Louisiana. And while I had dabbled at home and at restaurants, I honestly felt like I was a newbie when it came to the food. It was a simple gumbo made from stewed down okra cooked for hours and some amazing local shrimp. They serve it with both rice and potato salad. Apparently potato salad is a common side dish with gumbo, and honestly, I preferred it over the rice. But the dish was so fantastic, I knew the cookbook was definitely something that I was going to have to acquire in the future. It was honestly the best gumbo I had eaten (not that I had eaten a lot of it!)
The third course was fried stuff crab, pumpkin and Brussels sprouts, and a seasonal salad. The crab was basically a decadent crab cake stuffed inside of a crab shell and fried. It was brilliant! The presentation is simple, yet elegant. Both the vegetable sides were also well prepared and tasty. I do have to say that one nice thing about a family style meal with more groups is that if some people aren’t huge fans of some of the dishes, that may mean a few more bites for you (and this was eagerly taken advantage of with the crab claw starters).
Finally we had dessert: A blackberry cobbler. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, as cobbler for me growing up was fruit with biscuits on top, and this was more of a pie without a bottom crust, but it was really nicely done, and while it wasn’t a wow dessert for me, the buttermilk ice cream that it was served with was really special.
Mosquito Supper Club was hands-down the best overall meal I had in New Orleans. While maybe some of the dishes weren’t as extravagant or rich as other meals, almost everything was incredibly tasty, and being able to learn about the history of some of the food in the area really is an added bonus that wasn’t really felt other places I visited. The menu runs around $125-$150, and they do offer an additional wine pairing to go with the meal, which did allow us to try some fantastic wines, although I do prefer a bit more wine with my meal, so there was some supplements that we added in. It’s definitely a must visit restaurant on your trip to New Orleans, and if I go back, I’m fairly certain it would be the only place we had dinner that would get a return visit.
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: Well it’s a set menu, so you’re gonna get what you’re gonna get!
Mosquito Supper Club
3824 Dryades St
New Orleans, LA 70115
