NOLA Restaurant Review: Green Goddess (French Quarter)

 

Well, I’m back!  It was a whirlwind of a trip so I didn’t have the opportunity to post any blog updates while we were down there, but I have my notes & will be sharing here throughout the rest of the week. 

We arrived in NOLA (my hubs & I) Saturday, and ventured toward the Uptown district to catch a bit of the Krewe of Pontchartrain parade.  The hubs was surprised to hear that they have daytime parades—of course, those aren’t the big flashy parades that make the headlines in other cities (or, The Great Elsewhere, as Times-Picayune writer Chris Rose so frequently puts it).   These are less-extravagant floats, often filled with kids, riders on horseback, and marching bands with dance teams from the local schools.  But I still love them nonetheless.

Non-locals might not be aware, but Mardi Gras is more of a “season” than a day in Southern Louisiana.  Weekend parades begin several weeks before “The Big Day” rolls around.  And those are the parades I love, because it’s family friendly and less crowded & not so touristy.  It’s pretty well the opposite of what you see on “Cops: New Orleans Edition” (which always seems to center around Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras). 

(Bourbon St. during Mardi Gras day—no thank you.)

But we’ll talk more about the parades later in the week.  Today, we’re talking dessert.

A friend recommended The Green Goddess restaurant, located in the French Quarter down a little alleyway that reminded me of Venice.  There was little to no foot traffic which was a nice change from the raucous parade watchers up on Canal Street.  The restaurant is very cafe-style & features 3 or 4 outdoor tables, but with high winds and 40 degree temps, we shuffled inside. 

When you enter, you think, “well, I guess I’m going to have to wait!” because the cozy-borderline-cramped entry room features one 6-top table and two barstool seats.  However, we were ushered to another cozy-borderline-cramped room in the back, which held 5 two-seater tables with small candlelit lanterns.  Intimate indeed!

We had already eaten earlier in the day, so we were here strictly to get down to business, and try their “notorious bacon sundae”:

(Image pilfered from interwebs, as I had forgotten to put my memory card in my camera & my phone was dead.)

From the Website:

“Pecan praline ice cream with a creamy bacon caramel
sauce carrying a bit of both Pink Himalayan & Black
Lava Salts, & micro-planed Nueske’s Applewood
Bacon, layered with whipped cream, of course! $8”

To warm up, I also ordered a cafe au lait: Their brand uses a chicory coffee blend (as all good NOLA restaurants should) and sweetened condensed milk.  AKA—heaven in a tall mug.

We had to wait a bit for our sundae because they were making fresh whipped cream…but it was SOOO worth the wait.

I’m glad I had my husband there to experience & share it with.  Because there is no way I would have been able to finish it myself, and there’s no way our friends would believe how freaking awesome it was if I didn’t have some backup.

The ice cream itself is heavenly.  Sweet & slightly nutty & delicious.  The caramel bacon sauce is to DIE for.  And the blasts of saltines from the lava salts and the microplaned bacon just hurtled it over the top.

Paired with the cafe au lait, I think I’d be within my rights to say this is possibly the best dessert in NOLA. 

They open at 6pm, & we got there at 6:05 & they were already pretty well full (not tough to do when you only have indoor seating for 18 people), so I’d recommend getting there early. 

I’d love to go again & try some of the amazing dishes & cocktails—the menu is extensive and adventurous, although a little on the high end (like most of the more well-known restaurants in the Quarter).  Definitely worth a splurge if you have the chance.

And if you don’t have the chance, check out this entry on the Scoop Adventures blog, where blog author Lindsay has done her darnedest to recreate the recipe for this decadent treat.