Food From Nawlins!

Nawlins? What? People living in that city actually pronounce it as New Awleans, but because of the speed and the way they connect the words together, it comes out as "Nawlins". If you have ever been to New Orleans, then you might know that this city is extremely important in the culinary world of the United States. There are plenty of great chefs that have come from New Orleans and made it pretty big. Familiar names might be, Emerill Lagasse and John Besh.

So what makes it special? It's the influence of cajun and creole cuisine. When i was younger, i was fortunate enough to have gone to New Orleans, the problem at that time was that i was not a foodie. If i would go now, it would be a completely different experience. I would search for the Po Boys, the Beignets, the Shrimp and Grits, the Jambalaya's, and the Gumbos. These are some of the dishes that make up the wonderful New Orleans.

First off, the place looks great. The theming is really wonderful. They got the whole Mardi Gras party theme going on. Masks hanging on the wall, instruments hanging from the ceiling (New Orleans is credited to be the birthplace of Jazz) lots of posters of musicians and it's just really colorful in there. I should go there in the evening one time, especially during Mondays or Tuesdays when they have a live band. I certainly hope that it is Jazz music that will be playing with lots of trumpets and saxophones. The staff is also nice, they smile and they are attentive.

Murray's New Orleans is more of a restobar. Since the restaurant wants to radiate Mardi Gras and for most people, that means wild parties and drinking yourself stupid, they use that to create a lot of promotions concerning drinks. I don't drink a lot. I can enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail and that would be it. But i do would like to come over on a Jazz evening, enjoy the music and a drink. We will see when that happens. I like food more, so let's talk about that!

For the cover picture, all the way on top. This was the blackened tuna. Now, in cajun cooking, they like to "blacken" certain dishes, primarily meat dishes. The blackening however does not refer to overcooking and burning the meat. What they do is, they rub the meat generously with a cajun mix. Now, their cajun mix might differ from mine but generally what i put in a cajun mix is this: salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme and some red pepper flakes. However, i am sure there is a little special ingredient in theirs. So after they have dry rubbed it, they essentially sear the meat on both sides on really high heat. That will give it is "blackened" look and all those cajun flavors are locked inside the nice crunchy crust that has been formed. Now, when you look at my tuna, it wasn't really blackened. but it really should be. But, the dish was nice, the vegetables were great, i think all the vegetables were roasted together, potatoes were left with the skin on, which i love. roasted onions are great as well. and i'm sure that they roasted it together with some butter because it was nice and creamy. Although with the french beans, i thought it was kind of awkward that the tops weren't sliced off, i normally do that at home. I don't know if it matters or not. But it was still pretty good. The sauce on top was good as well, no idea what it was but i assume it was some sort of barbecue sauce, maybe with some bourbon in it?

My friend had the Shrimp and Calamari Po' Boy. By the way, it's always good to eat with friends when you are writing a blog, you have more pictures! So what's a Po' Boy? Well, It's actually short for Poor Boy. The name came from around the 1920's where a bunch of workers went on strike against the streetcar company and local restaurant owners Benny and Clovis Martin would serve their former colleagues free sandwiches. And in a joking way, they would refer to the workers as Poor Boys. And that's how it got its name, later on it became short for Po' Boys. The Po' Boy usually contains either roast beef with gravy or fried seafood, which was the case here. Fried shrimp with fried calamari and to top it off, the shrimp was also wrapped in bacon! I mean, anything that has been wrapped in bacon is just good! Then, all that fried-tender-inside goodness is then served on a french baguette, the bread should be crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside. Naturally, there is a dressing on it, i unfortunately, could not retrieve what that was. It could be some sort of honey mustard vinaigrette but i can't tell for sure.

My other friend had the salmon on top of a bed of rice, i was able to get a taste from it. It tasted alright to me, but according to my friend, and it was interesting what he mentioned is that he thinks that the salmon has been pellet fed and therefore bred. He says this because when he opened up the fillet, it wasn't full pinkish all around which is the way that it should look like, but there were a lot more shades of white than there was pink. It could've been overcooked, but it was still juicy. The flavor of the salmon was slightly different, hence the reason my friend said that it was pellet fed. I am not entirely sure on this and can't prove it for a fact.

The rest of my friends had salads, they like to live the healthy lifestyle. The salads can come in two sizes, regular and large i believe. The large one is actually pretty large and it had seared tuna on top of it, generous portions actually, and it was nicely seasoned. My friend thought the lettuce was kind of dry, which makes sense because he didn't put the vinaigrette on...he thought it was too sour, i said, well that makes sense since it was a honey citrus vinaigrette!

If i would choose a salad, i would definitely choose the one with the tuna. Vinaigrette's are always more healthier than a ceasar or ranch or any other thick dressing. And i personally like a balsamic or a red wine vinaigrette. I love the zing it can give to a salad.

If you like to make your own healthy vinaigrette. This is what you do:

- balsamic vinegar

- olive oil

- salt and pepper

- dijon mustard

If you can, put all of it in a jar and shake it. If you leave the mustard out, it won't mix or "emulsify". The dijon helps bind it all together. If you don't have a container to shake it in. You can stir it, put everything in a bowl except for the olive oil. Stir everything together and then while stirring, slowly pour in the olive oil. This will help emulsify everything together. When you have that done! You have a perfectly, healthy dressing! After that, you can play around with all sorts of things to make nice vinaigrettes.

To continue with the tour, the bottom is a caesar salad with grilled chicken. It looked pretty good, but i would've opted to get the sauce on the side. Kind of control the cholesterol that you are putting on the otherwise, very healthy dish.

Finally, i think the food is pretty good, although very highly priced in my opinion. For me, this is an expensive restaurant. I personally don't like spending a lot and receiving small portions at the same time. This is my second time to come here, and the first time i had a gumbo, it was a small bowl, i needed more of it! It was a good dish, don't get me wrong. But for the price that i paid, i expected to get a bit more. Especially when you consider that the salads are massive for the same price. I wanted my gumbo, which is a very significant dish in New Orleans to be a whole lot more.

Overall, it is a nice place to be in. I personally am a sucker for themed restaurants. I love that so much. If only they would name their dishes in a fun way and lower their prices, i would be there all the time! I do want to visit in the evening one day, i assume that it is quite busy but i might go there with Suzette, get a drink and enjoy the jazz music. Should be a nice experience. I wish i could go back to New Orleans now...

To end my blog, i shall give you the location of this place, as always.

Address: 4th Floor, New Wing of the Ayala Center Cebu.

Hours: Monday to Sunday - 10:00am - 02:00am

But times can vary depending on mall hours. So be mindful of that.