The Fat Girl's New Orleans Foodie Adventure, Day 2

After an eventful first day of indulgence... on to day 2 we go!

Breakfast was at a little place by Jackson Square. I found Stanley via Yelp (duh!) in my quest for an incredible breakfast. I, my friends, love me some good breakfast. We took a nice walk from our hotel to the Jackson Square area where we got an awesome spot by the window overlooking the (gasp!) homeless folk drinking vodka out of buckets (no joke) at 10:00am. Nice. As creepy as these people were the people watching was a great way to pass the time while we waited for our food. 

I ordered the Eggs Stella - Cornmeal-Crusted Soft-Shell Crab, Poached Eggs, Canadian Bacon and Creole Hollandaise on Toasted English Muffin. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED my dish. The crab was meaty and juicy, the hollandaise sauce was spicy enough but not dangerous. The eggs were a little runny for my taste but overall it was really good.

Yes, that's a WHOLE crab dry humping my eggs benedict

My husband didn't like his meal, but then again, he got the most boring thing on the menu. Everything was good in my opinion, but why would you go this far and order something you can get at Denny's? He had the Stanley Classic ~ Scrambled Eggs, Smoked Bacon, Creole Breakfast Potatoes, and Whole Wheat Toast. He gets what he deserves for being lame. I would've gone for the Corn Beef Hash...but whatever.

We also shared a Pancake with Louisiana Cane Syrup. The pancake was thin but fluffy and the cane syrup was FLG! I regret not buying a bottle while in NOLA. Then again maybe it's not such a bad thing - I'd put that shit on everything.

Overall it was a great meal and I would highly recommend it for anyone in NOLA seeking a unique breakfast/brunch experience. My only regret - not leaving enough room for this: Stella Uptown - Three Scoops of Rum Raisin Ice Cream, Carrot Cake, Sweet Cream Cheese Sauce, Whipped Cream, Toasted Walnuts and a Cherry. FML.


Next up - we drove to the Oak Alley Plantation about an hour away from the city. We didn't eat anything here, but here's a couple of pics of the property since it was nice. And of our juleps, which were pretty good. Good and strong, burned going down, but good.

Since there was nothing remotely interesting to eat nearby (and I'm not wasting calories at a tourist trap cafe on the plantation grounds) we made a hungry drive back to NOLA in search for another great Yelpy find: Dat Dog!

OMG. One of the best stops on the trip. This is a tiny little shack filled with nothing but amazing food and super nice people.

The menu is extensive and made me wish I had multiple stomachs like lucky livestock. The dogs are served on steamed and toasted sourdough buns which were so good. They must bake it in-house because it was very fresh. I ordered an Alligator Sausage dog topped with sour cream, guacamole, and cheddar cheese as recommended by the super nice dude behind the counter. My gator dog was awesome - the flavor of the sausage was very different and super flavorful. The toppings were on point and they gave it some cool since the dog had a little heat.

My husband ordered Louisiana Smoked Sausage dog topped with chili, onions, cheese, the works. it was also very good - the chili was awesome.

We also ordered their cheddar/bacon/ranch fries which delicious - super rich, the bacon was chunky, the ranch was creamy, the cheese melty and plenty, the perfect companion to our dogs.

After inhaling triple the amount of calories any human should consume in a week, what do we find right next door? A cake shop. But not just any cake shop, the most amazing cake shop ever. Yes, I said it: EVER. This place makes me want to have parties and plan events to give myself a guiltless excuse to stuff my face with cake.

Since we were overly stuffed from our lunch, we took it easy and ordered just 2 cake pops from their beautiful selection of goodies. Their cakepops are bigger than any I've ever seen, which just adds to their charm and mystique. We had the white cake filled with salted caramel and the classive red velvet filled with cream cheese. The white cake was awesome - the sweetness and perfect texture of the cake mixed with the creaminess and hint of salt from the caramel was out of control. The red velvet was perfect - the cream cheese was awesome. The moistness of the cakes were on point - I've had plenty of cakepops and these little guys take the cake.

After several hours of a food come/nap and serious indigestion, we had our first and biggest heartbreak on this trip. Dining at Jacques-Imo's Cafe came highly recommended by my dear friend who reported this being the only place she went to more than once during her time living in NOLA. The place is super cool - crazy decor, awesome menu, ridiculous wait (90 minutes... not a minute more, not a minute less)...

My favorite beer - Abita's Purple Haze. Had my first Amber Abita and loved it. Abita is officially my favorite brewing co.

The bar @ Jacques-Imo's Cafe

Given the stellar recommendation, great first impression and insane wait time (on a Tuesday) we had incredibly high expectations. We had some beers while we waited. The place has very cool bar scene, very chill and casual.

We were sat in the back and ordered a few things to start - the infamous alligator & shrimp cheesecake, fried green tomatos, and crab cakes. We also indulged in their amazing cornbread muffins. The garlicky topping is so buttery and flavorful. The muffin itself was sweet and tasty. I had 4 by myself. Shame....

The alligator cheesecake was great - super rich, meaty, fluffy, creamy - thick chunks of shrimp and alligator were all over so that was a good time.

 My husband didn't like the fried green toms, they were overly salty and the shrimp portion was skimpy.

The crabcakes were super, duper salty. So salty we couldnt finish them.

We were looking forward to washing down the saltiness with their amazing bread pudding so skipped the entree and went straight to dessert. Sadly, they were out of bread pudding. Major, epic, wordly fail. We left sad and salty and not very pleased.  I wish I could go back and give them another shot b/c my friend spoke so highly and the place seems to have something to keep full and busy.

Take asome Pepto or Dulcolax and stay tuned for day 3...