Noblesse Oblige

OUT AND ABOUT
Noblesse Oblige Teahouse
316 Iris St
Lake Charles, LA
337-433-8094
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM $1-$15
With no advertising and just some discrete signs this low-key tearoom opened. I only heard about it from various sources that tell me about such things. Not much has been done to it since it was Wayne Harpers. A fresh coast of paint on the inside with some paintings seems the extent. They start you off with a complementary cup of their house tea, a basic spiced tea with orange notes.
My first visit occurred after a very stressful week. Merely going into this venue gave me a sense of calm. I started with French Onion soup, nice flavor with melted cheese on a piece of rye bread. I next ordered a Fresh Veggie Sandwich. I received sliced red onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce on sourdough bread. It proved light, refreshing and crunchy. I ended with a teacake and a scone. Their teacakes are more of a shortbread cookie, rich and delicious. The scone was light and fluffy. I washed it all down with a delightful Cardamom flavored Chai (Milk Tea). My stress melted away
Next time in I meet my sister there. She got Potato Soup (creamy with chunks of potato) and Quiche Loraine. It turned out to be an individual one instead of a slice. A nice size and enjoyed by my sister in spite of an uneven distribution of seasoning. I went with Vegetable soup. Nicely spiced broth (black pepper) with chunks of vegetables including okra went down a treat. I then ordered a Downtown Brown. A riff on an open face hot sandwich created in the 1920’s at a Louisville Kentucky hotel called The Brown. That one consists of turkey and bacon on bread covered with a Swiss cheese sauce and broiled. This one has sliced grilled chicken breast and tomatoes on toasted bread topped with a Parmesan cheese sauce. It proved quite tasty. I also got a pot of Kesari (a deep rich Indian black tea).
For the last outing I booked a tea party for the whole group. For a change all nine of us were able to attend. I specified a traditional English Afternoon Tea and they delivered. Walking in the room, the table proved breath taking with a lace tablecloth, print runner, lovely teacups, and plates. We later learned that they were heritage pieces passed down from great grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers and aunties. Plates of finger sandwiches (smoked chicken salad, spicy pimento cheese, egg salad, and turkey-cucumber with olive butter) awaited us with scones, teacakes, and brownie bites. To finish off they brought delectable custard tarts filled with fresh berries. Unlike some places where you have to order tea just for yourself, they brought out pots of various teas (black, green, and herbal) so everyone could try what ever they wanted. This does not apply during regular service. The feeling was more like you were invited and honored quests in their home and not just customers.
The experience was wonderful and I highly recommend it for spending a civilized afternoon with your friends. They are willing to accommodate any requests within reason. Also you have to make arrangements a week in advance. I now have a calm oasis to go to in times of stress. Not only for an arranged tea party but also for weekday service.


http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/21279064

When the muse hits

I took off Mardi Gras. Maybe because it was in the middle of the week I was in a strange and creative mood. Using ingredients I had at the house I came up with the following items. Below is an open faced salmon sandwich. I had five cheese Texas toast which I did up. Then I sauteed some Seapack Salmon Burgers that I had in the freezer. Topping them was a glaze of grape jelly and Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce made with fish sauce). It suited my taste that day. A sweet and savory dish with a hint of hear.

The night before I had laid out some bread to get stale as I intended to do Pain Perdu. I had also macerated some strawberries as topping. Coming back from setting up the banks for the restaurant so my boss could concentrate on setting up for Mardi Gras I passed by the new donut shop on Broad and got breakfast. Therefore I was no longer in the mood for sweet Pain Perdu. So I did a savory version. I made a milk and egg soak without sugar but added chipotle mustard and salt. The strawberries got cooked down with black pepper and balsamic vinegar added at the end. This proved quite delicous and I will likely do this again. The bread with the mustard undernote made an interesting contrast with the sweet, spicy, and vinegary strawberries.

Chili's

Monday afternoon not wanting to fix something at the house and not wanting to do drive thru I finally wound up at Chili's on Hwy 14. I went with a new item called the Triple Dipper Dinner. They offer nine items and you choose three. I went with the Big Mouth Bites, Buffalo Chicken Crispers Bites and the Boneless Sweet Chili Glazed Wings. The Big Mouth Bites are mini burgers topped with applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, sautéed onions and Ranch dressing on sesame seed buns with Jalapeno ranch dressing. The boneless wings are tossed with sweet and spicy ginger-citrus sauce. Served with Ranch dressing. The crisper bites are fried and dipped in Buffalo sauce then topped with cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, pickle and ancho-chile ranch dressing on sesame seed buns. Served with the ancho ranch dressing. The cost here is $9.99 and I enjoyed every bite. The burgers were nice and juicy, the crispers gave that classic buffalo wing taste while still being crispy and I love sweet and spicy and the boneless wings delivered that. It was also filling.

http://www.chilis.com/menu/default.asp?Unit_ID=001%2E005%2E0471&tierID=62&menuType=Dine+In&menu=1

Below is what remains of a Sweet Shot. A mini dessert concept that is getting popular. It provides just enough sweet without being overwhelming in it size. I got the Red Velvet Cake. Layered like a parfait with cake and icing.

http://www.chilis.com/menu/default.asp?catID=12&tierID=62&Unit_ID=001%2E005%2E0471&menuType=Dine%20In

Beans and rice

South Louisiana comfort food, beans and rice. But not exactly traditional. The beans are lima beans from a can (Trappeys at least) and the sausage is a veal/pork bratwurst. The German sausage has a link to south LA. That is all the German folk that settled here in the 18th and 19th century and were the basis of all the good sausages we have now. The lima beans were treated to several shakes of a locally blended seasoning mix then slow cooked until all the liquid had evaporated they had turned creamy. Good enough for a put together meal. I enjoyed it.

Interview video

A link to the Thursday morning interview with John Bridges. View it soon as I do not know how long they will keep it up on their website

http://www.kplctv.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=3463900&h1=Sunrise%20411%3A%20Arthur%20Hebert%2C%20Food%20Critic&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=187033&LaunchPageAdTag=Station%2015&activePane=info&rnd=30722622

Regalia

Just pics. New platter. Grape leaves, kibbie, turkey, rice and pasta, pasta salad, hummus

Mamoul (Syrian nut filled pastry) and Arabic aka turkish coffee

Italian ice. Not pictured because I messed it up is a spinach kibbie destined for the Lent menu

TV Appearance

For those who are interested I will be on Sunrise on 7 Thursday Feb 19 at the 6:15 spot. Commonly known as the 411 spot

Back Yard Burger

Monday is sometimes fast food day for me. Especially if I have to straighten up the house for the lady that comes in every two weeks to clean. Yesterday I passed by loads of places with long lines. Swinging in at Wendy's I saw that the line there was long but it was short at Back Yard. plus they had a new burger. It was made with Smoked Gouda Cheese, caramelized onions and a spicy aioli mayo. It was a Kaiser roll and the Gouda had enough smoke that the bacon was not missed particularly. Not bad for a chain burger


They also had some new Backyard Dogs. This was the German and excellent. Served on a French Baguette type bun it contained a juicy thick dog with kraut, onions, tomatoes and spicy German style mustard. I like my dogs with lots of stuff and this hit the mark. Enough to go back. They also had a BLT one two. I may try that one and pick up a German. The bun was sturdy enough that you could eat it like a dog down to the last delicious bite

Waffle House

I had to go down to work to do the banking Saturday to give my boss an extra hour to get ready for Valentines day. When I left I was a tad hungry so the mind started it run through. A Ha. It has been years since I have eaten there and I had the envie for pancake/waffle. Let the kvetching begin. First of all they need to change their name. What they present these days for a waffle is an insult to that fine product. Tasteless, soggy, tough,thin, etc. Below is what I got. A tragedy. Second of all what happened to the "welcome greeting" when you come through the door. It annoyed the hell out of me but it was part of the Waffle House experience. I nearly had to cause a riot to get someone's attention. Lastly corporate must consider every prospective customer an blithering idiot and illiterate to boot. You can only get the picture menu online

I got the All Star Special. Two eggs (sunny side up), grits or hash brown (grits), waffle or biscuit (next time it will be biscuit), bacon or sausage (bacon) and toast. I must say that except for the waffle this was a decent diner breakfast. The eggs were perfect (just the way I love them. Runny yolks and just set whites. The grits firm and not runny. The bacon could have been crispier but sufficed. The margarine and jelly in PC's (personal containers) I would expect from a large chain. If grading I would give a B-, just because of the waffle.

Thadapetch

ABOUT AND BEYOND
Thad da Petch
1910 South 5th St
Leesville LA
337-239-6222
11:00 AM - 9:30 PM Seven days a week $1 to $14
I have previously taken you to a venue in DeRidder. A bit further up 171 lies another excellent place. The menus are similar but the cooking is not. Each chef has a different touch. Personally I like the food here a tad better. It seems lighter and fresher. Like the other located by a hotel except in this case attached to it. A pleasant but plain dinning area awaits you. If you go in on a Saturday the chef/owner may even be waiting on you
First time in occurred with my food board friend and her husband my engineer friend. We got a few appetizers. First one was Curry Puff. Potatoes, onions and peas in a fried won ton skin. They serve it with cucumber slices in a sweet marinade, similar to Indian samosa and very tasty. Next we ordered Prawns in a Blanket. Marinated shrimp wrapped in a spring roll skin and fried. It came with a sweet and sour sauce. Sweet shrimp interior and crunchy exterior contrasted well. My food board friend ordered Gaeng Maas-sa-mahn. This curry of beef with onions, peanuts and potato with coconut milk was basically a very good beef stew. Everything was fork tender and flavorful in a new and wonderful way. My engineer friend got Ped Kroh. A boneless half duck topped with a sweet sauce. Crisp skin and succulent duck meat cut width way into strips. A tomato and honey sauce covered it. Better than any Peking duck I have eaten. My dish was Pla Raad Prik. Deep-fried snapper filet topped with sautéed bell pepper, onion and green onions in a spicy chile broth. Epitome of the Thai blending of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty and to my taste. For dessert we went with the ubiquitous Mango and Sweet Rice, sweet
Second and last time our baking friend and my sister joined us. My food board friend and me started off with Tom Ka (soup). I got shrimp and she chicken. This is a sweet and sour soup finished off with coconut milk. It contains the protein, mushrooms, galangal (ginger related), onion, lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, chile, and lime juice. Again the balance of taste extraordinary. For entree our food board friend ordered Gaeng Panang. A red curry of beef, bell pepper, coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves and basil. My taste detected a peanut component. It was spicy with an underlying richness. Our engineer friend got Choo Che Pla Dook. Fried catfish with bell pepper, Kaffir lime leaves and choo che paste. This seemed to be a spicy red curry with fried catfish nuggets, excellent combination. Our baking friend got the duck dish. Just as good as the first time. My sister went with Pad Dra Tiem Prik Tai. Sauteed pork with garlic and black pepper with steamed broccoli and carrot. Excellent mild stir fry with deep pork flavor. I went with Pla Raad Khing Sod. Again a fried snapper fillet but this time in a soya-based sauce with fresh ginger, onion, mushroom and bell pepper. It possessed superb flavor and a nice contrast between sauce, fish and vegetables.
The plates here are wonderful. Each one more artistic than the other. I just wish we could get one closer to Lake Charles so I could go more often.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/18062698

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20044280

Noblesse Oblige

OUT AND ABOUT
Noblesse Oblige Teahouse
316 Iris St
Lake Charles, LA
337-433-8094
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM $1-$15
With no advertising and just some discrete signs this low-key tearoom opened. I only heard about it from various sources that tell me about such things. Not much has been done to it since it was Wayne Harpers. A fresh coast of paint on the inside with some paintings seems the extent. They start you off with a complementary cup of their house tea, a basic spiced tea with orange notes.
My first visit occurred after a very stressful week. Merely going into this venue gave me a sense of calm. I started with French Onion soup, nice flavor with melted cheese on a piece of rye bread. I next ordered a Fresh Veggie Sandwich. I received sliced red onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce on sourdough bread. It proved light, refreshing and crunchy. I ended with a teacake and a scone. Their teacakes are more of a shortbread cookie, rich and delicious. The scone was light and fluffy. I washed it all down with a delightful Cardamom flavored Chai (Milk Tea). My stress melted away
Next time in I meet my sister there. She got Potato Soup (creamy with chunks of potato) and Quiche Loraine. It turned out to be an individual one instead of a slice. A nice size and enjoyed by my sister in spite of an uneven distribution of seasoning. I went with Vegetable soup. Nicely spiced broth (black pepper) with chunks of vegetables including okra went down a treat. I then ordered a Downtown Brown. A riff on an open face hot sandwich created in the 1920’s at a Louisville Kentucky hotel called The Brown. That one consists of turkey and bacon on bread covered with a Swiss cheese sauce and broiled. This one has sliced grilled chicken breast and tomatoes on toasted bread topped with a Parmesan cheese sauce. It proved quite tasty. I also got a pot of Kesari (a deep rich Indian black tea).
For the last outing I booked a tea party for the whole group. For a change all nine of us were able to attend. I specified a traditional English Afternoon Tea and they delivered. Walking in the room, the table proved breath taking with a lace tablecloth, print runner, lovely teacups, and plates. We later learned that they were heritage pieces passed down from great grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers and aunties. Plates of finger sandwiches (smoked chicken salad, spicy pimento cheese, egg salad, and turkey-cucumber with olive butter) awaited us with scones, teacakes, and brownie bites. To finish off they brought delectable custard tarts filled with fresh berries. Unlike some places where you have to order tea just for yourself, they brought out pots of various teas (black, green, and herbal) so everyone could try what ever they wanted. This does not apply during regular service. The feeling was more like you were invited and honored quests in their home and not just customers.
The experience was wonderful and I highly recommend it for spending a civilized afternoon with your friends. They are willing to accommodate any requests within reason. Also you have to make arrangements a week in advance. I now have a calm oasis to go to in times of stress. Not only for an arranged tea party but also for weekday service.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/21279064

Saturday Menu at True Mexican

True Mexican House February

This is the last month for plate lunches. Starting in March during the week they will sell only tamales. Saturday they will open at noon with a special menu I will post later. I got her special fajita plate. She sauteed pork,bacon, bell peppers, onions, poblano peppers together and then added Monterrey Jack. Not your usual but quite delicious. All the flavor melded together

Since she is going to just tamales I got one. This is vast difference from when she first opened. Then it was massive tamales with much more masa than meat. These are cylindrical (suspect machine made) with a thin coat of masa and much more meat. I got spicy pork and it took the roof off my mouth. Muy Caliente but decent.

She only packed corn tortilla and here is the mixture stuffed in it. What I could not get on the tortilla I mixed with the rice and ate. That was good also

Here is the tamale cut open.

Below is a copy of the plate lunches this month

Big Daddy Sports Bar and Grill

This morning I made the Sam's run. As I did not have any frozen items I had time to go to breakfast. On this side of town my preference is this establishment. This morning I went with a pancake. You don't need much more than one as these are substantial.. You receive a mile high one that is light and fluffy.

These days I only us Steen's syrup or honey. However here at each table is a canning jar of home made preserves. This table had plum. So after slathering the pancake with butter I added a layer of plum preserves. I always go for large breakfasts on the weekend

I also got some bacon (nice and smoky) and some grits. They serve excellent grits here. Add a large glass of milk and I was very content for $8. During the week the cutoff is at about 10 but on Saturday they serve breakfast until after 12

As a side note they have acquired the space next to them at this strip mall and have expanded. This weekend they will start featuring live music on Friday night. So get over there and get some good home cooking and entertainment.

Pho Tien

I needed to make a run to Sam's. I went from work hoping to get a cart. No go they were all taken and an half hour sitting there did not produce one. A bit peckish and on that side of town the answer of course is Pho Tien. Below is the Imperial Rolls. A fried roll with pork, mushrooms, and rice vermicelli inside. You wrap it in lettuce leaves and cilantro (unless like me cilantro tastes like soap) and dip in the Nuoc Cham. My niece's are a lot better but these will do

I then went with Bun. This is the dish that my half Vietnamese niece introduced to my sister and me. I usually go with the special. You get an Imperial Roll, couple of grilled shrimp and a mountain of grilled pork topped by chopped peanuts. That sits on rice vermicelli noodles with cilantro, pickled carrot, pickled radish, bean sprouts and chopped lettuce on the side. I would prefer some other herbs like basil and mint. The way I eat this is to dump the Nuoc Cham on everything and then mix it all up and go at it. It is light and refreshing with plenty of flavors I love. The whole sweet, salty, spicy and tangy thing.

Pats of Henderson

Another foray to Moss Bluff wasted. This new place with newly posted hours was not open when they said they would be. They have either folded or are taking their sweet time reorganizing. Still hungry for oysters I came back down and stopped off at Pats of Henderson. Below is a little lagniappe you get when you sit down. Catfish bites with tartar sauce. The catfish bites were extraordinarily bland. No seasoning what so ever. I squirted lemon on them and then some in house seasoning. Pretty good.



I ordered a dozen raw oysters. They brought a dozen ranging from the fairly big to the ridiculously small. Just a dozen and only a dozen. The small ones should have been counted as one quarter and an at least a baker's dozen brought out. As you can see I ate most of them before I thought to take a picture. They were nice and briny.

Next came shrimp and oyster gumbo. Spicy broth with a nice roux and fantastic rice on the side. As you can see the shrimp and oyster are cooked just right. I suspect they have a big pot of gumbo base which they add the protein to at the last minute. I will remember that in the future and just order oysters.

Continuing on the oyster theme I ordered a plate of fried oysters with onion rings. These rings were thicker cut than yesterdays but still in house made. It makes for a better ring. These had a flour coating which I love and were outstanding after salt and pepper. They gave me a hush puppy which had whole kernel corn in it. A bit different but delicious. Also a dollop of seafood jambalaya. Too much tomato although it was nice and spicy. They oysters were fresh and fried properly but again the wrong kind of coating . This seemed to be a batter of corn flour and regular flour. It makes a thick crust which while keeping the oysters hot took away from what I wanted oyster. I prefer a corn meal dusting for my fried oysters. The gritty corny outside accentuates the briny moist interior for me. I know where to get this kind and will go there in the future.

The bread pudding was the ground bread type with some sweet spices and coconut in a not too alcoholic rum sauce. I enjoyed it for the most part. Again one of my peculiarities. I like the flavor of coconut but do not care for the texture of coconut flakes. But this one was good enough to overlook that. I especially like the rum sauce. A lot of places put too much alcohol in their sauce. This in my opinion ruins the taste because all I taste is the raw alcohol

The best thing here I got I can not take a picture of. It was the finest service I have had in a long time in this city. Jim was perfect. I was virtually the only person in the dining room. These days the server would have put everything I ordered to the kitchen and brought it out all at once so they could go smoke or do whatever they do when they should be watching out for the customer. Jim was attentive but not overly so. Friendly but again not overly so. The courses came out in a timely manner with virtually no overlaps. Jim made some adjustments based on what I ordered and the time the kitchen would take to perform it. Also dessert was suggested instead of the ticket just appearing after the main course. The man knows how to build a tip and he got a generous one from me. I did appreciate it and told him so.

Boskeez

I headed up 171 to Moss Bluff to try out a new venue that I had gone to two weeks ago. Unfortunately they had changed their hours to dinner service only. Hungry and not wanted to fix something at home my mind started it's run through. Since I was up that far on 171, Boskeez at Gillis popped into my head. Out of my normal pathways I had not been in ages. So off I went to this homey and tasty place. Below is their chicken and sausage gumbo. Nice roux and thin flavorful broth. Rice not too bad. A winner.

Next came an oyster loaf with onion rings. The onion rings were thin sliced in a flour coating. Perfect. The oyster loaf less so. Considering the bread he uses he made certain improvements on it. It is griddled and in true oyster loaf fashion hollowed out with tarter sauce, lettuce, and dill pickles topped with the oysters. If I had know dill pickles were part of the package I would have asked them to be left off. I like them ok by themselves but not in a sandwich. I just picked them out. No big deal. They oysters while tasty were breaded. A bit thick and heavy. Talking with the owner later I found out he was not happy with them either. He was trying something new and would be going back to corn meal. Because of staffing problems they are only open for lunch (11 to 3) these days. Despite a less than perfect meal I will still go back to this place. It has lots of good stuff. I just had the envie for oysters.

More Hot Dogs

Last of my hot dogs from Usinger. I did a guac dog with Wholly Guacamole singles package and my favorite the New York onion dog

Liz's Baked Goods

Leonard's now stocks Liz's pies and cakes for dessert. Below is a sweet potato cake done loaf style. Full of sweet potato flavor, moist with a sweet glaze on top.

Below is a peach pie. Sweet dough crust, peach pieces in a sweet spice syrup.

They cost about $2.50 a piece and are large. Each one is about two portions and home made. Sometimes I just need a sweet and this is convenient for me