A Little Taste of the Big Easy in Seattle

 Toulouse Petit 

601 Queen Anne Ave. North

Seattle, WA 98109

Vacation time! It has been a long time since we got any extended time away. We have done a couple of short two-day jaunts, but this is our first extended trip since before covid appeared two and a half years ago. The main reason for this is that Katie started a new job two years ago, and she and her coworkers have been very busy helping open medical facilities. In mid-March, we squeezed in a four-day trip to Seattle to check out the sights and of course sample the best food that this area has to offer. This is the first of eight restaurants that I'll be reviewing from the Pacific Northwest. 

We had an early flight departing from LAX, so we arrived in Seattle ready for lunch. By the time we had gotten our luggage and waited way too long for our rental car, it was already well past normal lunch hours. Our plan was to visit the Space Needle before checking into our hotel, so we looked for a restaurant on my list near this iconic attraction. Toulouse Petit is about a block and a half away, so that's where we headed to fuel up before taking in the spectacular views from 48 stories up in the Space Needle. 

Toulouse Petit is situated on the corner of Queen Anne Avenue and Mercer Street, in the Uptown area, the neighborhood formerly known as Lower Queen Anne. We arrived just after 2pm on a Wednesday, and predictably since it was past lunchtime, and well before dinner, we pretty much had this Cajun-Creole restaurant to ourselves. The dining room is dreamlike, with lots of lit candles on each wall, circular tiled flooring, and light fixtures right out of a fairy tale. I can only imagine how much more stunning this restaurant is when it's dark outside and all the candles along the walls are more prominent. 

Opened in 2009, Toulouse Petit has gotten a lot of praise and accolades for its New Orleans-inspired cuisine. They have been named to many best-of lists, have one of the most acclaimed brunches in all of Seattle, and are the sixth most Yelped restaurant in Seattle, with over 4,500 reviews and a solid 4-star rating. 

Their menu is just as impressive. They serve their brunch menu until half-past two every day, and they also have a very large lunch menu, with over 70 items on it. It was a little overwhelming, but that might have just been due to the hunger pains I was experiencing since I hadn't eaten since dinner the preceding evening. Let's see how our first meal in Seattle ended up going. 

From the minute we sat down, Katie zeroed in on the Dungress Crab over Fried Green Tomatoes with a Tarragon-Chive Ravigote ($23). It doesn't get much more southern than this dish. To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of tomatoes, but these were some of the better ones I have had. The tomatoes were nicely fried with a cornmeal-type breading which was not too heavy and played nicely with the sliced tomato underneath. The best part of this plate for me was the shredded fresh crab with the slightly acidic, dijon-based ravigote sauce. I could not get it out of my head that these two would have made a great sandwich if they found their way together in a french roll.   

Our entrees were up next and let's start off with Katie's selection the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Po' Boy ($17). This is one of eight po' boy sandwiches available at Toulouse Petit. They all come on a french roll with lettuce, Roma tomatoes, peppers, and a creole mayonnaise. Katie was quite fond of this sandwich. The chicken was tender, the bread was soft and pliable, and the peppers added little bubbles of flavor. She did mention that they could have used a tad more mayo on this, but it was still a solid sandwich. Alongside the sandwich was some Pommes Frites with garlic aioli. There were a lot of fries here, so I found myself eating a good number of them to help Katie out. They were pretty addictive. The garlic aioli was a little thinner than I was expecting, but it worked well with the fries. 

I was really in the mood for a burger, but since we were in a restaurant that featured food from New Orleans, I figured I'd get the quintessential dish people think of when they think of Big Easy cuisine, Jambalaya ($20). This traditional version came with plenty of rice, sausage, shrimp, and chicken. The menu claims that this is unapologetically spicy, but I found it to be very mellow. Not lacking in flavor, but definitely not spicy. I have never been to New Orleans, so I can't compare this to any from there, but it's a very solid version among the ones that I've had at other restaurants. 

Finishing things off for us at Toulouse Petit this afternoon were these Toulouse Beignets ($10) and Vanilla Ice Cream ($3). These six beignets came out of the kitchen fresh from the fryer, they were still smoking. They came topped with powdered sugar and a chicory cafe Anglaise sauce that I did not use because I'm not into coffee-flavored things. I ended up alternating bites of the ice cream and the beignets, which was a better option for me. I liked these but wished that they had not stacked these, as the powdered sugar really only got on the top layer. Still, a nice finish to our first meal in Seattle. 

With a menu this extensive, I feel that we just barely scratched the surface at Toulouse Petit. If we lived in the area I could see us going item by item of their brunch and dinner menus, trying to find our perfect meal here. Everything that we encountered on this visit was pretty good, with a lower than I expected price point. The service this afternoon could best be described as cordial, with no glaring weaknesses. This restaurant was an excellent welcome to our adopted home for the next 4 days. If Toulouse Petit is any indication, we are in for some really good meals the next few days. 

Out of five shopping carts, (because the nearby Space Needle opened in 1962, the same year as the first Target, and if you are like the rest of us, even if you only need one thing, you should always grab a cart when shopping there), five being best to zero being worst, Toulouse Petit gets 3 shopping carts. 

For more information about Toulouse Petit, head to their website by clicking here: https://toulousepetit.com/

A Hot and Steamy Night at Kettlebar - CLOSED

Kettlebar

2493 Park Avenue #41

Tustin, CA 92782

It finally seems like the Union Market in Tustin is getting on track. It's been a prolonged process, but this much-anticipated retail and restaurant space in the old Borders Book area of the District at Tustin Legacy is finally getting some life. We walked around the space earlier this year, and it was almost sad. There was lots of construction and empty booths, but little action was happening. The few booths that were open were not really drawing customers, from what we could tell.

Flash forward to earlier this month, and the area seems much more alive. There are many more retail booths open, and what I was eagerly waiting for is that more food places are now open. Taking up residency at the Union Market are Front Porch Pops, cookie shot vendors, The Dirty Cookie, Crepe Coop, Portola Coffee Lab, Hatch, a sliders and craft beer space, and a place that's moving up my list of restaurants to try, The Kroft. That place will have to wait another time, as we were meeting our good friends Alex and Jaszlyn and having dinner at Kettlebar.

Kettlebar is a Cajun/Creole restaurant that uses steam kettle cookery to make their dishes. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you that I understand how they use steam to make these dishes, as I'm not an advanced cook or anything, but this kind of restaurant is one of the hottest things right now. Okay, sorry for the bad pun. Anyway, this is our second time eating at a restaurant like this. Our first was a place called Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking, and we really enjoyed the food there and hoped Kettlebar would be just as good.

The menu is the same here as at Ritter's. They have some appetizers, a couple of salads, a shrimp or oyster po boy sandwich, and the main event, the bowls. There are a couple of ways that you can go here. They have Cajun standards like etouffee, gumbo, cioppino, and probably their most famous dish, the pan roast. There also seems to be more emphasis on alcohol than at Ritter's. Many craft cocktails, wines, and beer are available at Kettlebar. Our waitress was aloof regarding what was on tap, as she had to keep making runs to the bar to find out what they had available.

We got to Kettlebar at about 6pm on a Friday night. The restaurant was pretty busy, but they did a great job keeping the tables turning over, so we got in immediately. I don't know if it was from the steam cooking or just the heat outside, but this restaurant was relatively warm, and we were sitting near the back of the place. No big deal, as I was ready to see if this place would be as good as our first experience at a steam kettle joint. Let's see how it went.

I usually do not highlight my beers when we are out, but I enjoyed this Mr. Pineapple from SanTan Brewing Company. I'm partial to lighter beers, and Hefeweizens are right in my wheelhouse. I liked this beer because it was a little different, with the added fresh pineapple juice and the wheaty aftertaste. It was very refreshing and went well with what I hoped would be my spicy meal.

Not one to be swayed by what's popular, Alex did not go with a pan roast like the rest of us but instead had this Cajun Garlic Noodle ($18 with clams added). He could not have been happier with his decision. This came out way before our meals, and he had almost already finished half of this before we had gotten our meals. Alex felt this dish had the perfect amount of garlic included, loved the clams, and would not say a bad thing about his dinner. For once, the big guy was speechless, and we all enjoyed the silence, at least for the few minutes he was quietly eating.

Jaszlyn, Katie, and I all got the pan roasts, which all look the same in the pictures, but each of these was different. Katie opted for the Chicken and Sausage Pan Roast ($16), Jaszlyn had the Shrimp Pan Roast ($19), and I had the Kettlebar Pan Roast ($23), which came with the same creamy tomato base as the others, but with snow crab, lobster, shrimp, chicken, and rice swimming in the bowl. Jaszlyn and I had asked for ours to be spicy, but the heat in these was very manageable. I liked the creaminess of the tomato base; the shrimp was prevalent, but the rest of the other proteins got lost here. The rice-to-pan roast ratio was a little off. I had way more pan roast when I finished my rice. It's not a big problem, and I could have just ordered a side of rice for another two dollars.

Pan roasts are filling, but we decided to try two desserts, the first of which was this Hummingbird Parfait ($8). This dessert is a variation of the southern dessert staple, the hummingbird cake. I had just heard of it this night, but it is a banana pineapple spice cake. I did not detect a banana or pineapple flavor in the one bite Alex allowed me to have, but they loved this dessert. It even inspired Jaszlyn to claim that she would make this shortly. I hope to get invited over to try it when she does.

Mine and Katie's dessert was not as good as the hummingbird parfait. This Cinnamon Bread Pudding ($8) sounded much better when the waitress described it, but it fell flat, like with many bread puddings I have had. I liked that this had ice cream served on top of it, but the bread pudding was a little on the dry side and could have been made better by adding more ice cream. There was a definite cinnamon tinge here, but even that could not save this dessert.

We all left Kettlebar liking it, and we'll be back, but I liked Ritter's a tad better. I liked Ritter's appetizer variety more, and they made their pan roasts with a little more kick to them. Kettlebar is worth visiting and is much more convenient than Ritter's. The evening service was pretty good, as we did not have too many problems, except Alex's food came out five minutes before the rest of us hit the table. Glad to see that Kettlebar has brought some much-needed life to the Union Market.

Out of five walleye fish (because the city of Kettle Falls, Washington, hosts several walleye fishing tournaments throughout the year), five being best to zero being worst, Kettlebar gets 3 walleye.

Kettlebar has a minimal website, and that's putting it mildly, but hopefully, it will be updated soon. Click here to see it: http://www.kettlebar.com/
 

A Hot and Steamy Dinner at Ritter's - CLSOED

Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking

1421 MacArthur Blvd.

Santa Ana, CA 92704

I have heard good things about Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking lately. Every time I get my new issue of Orange Coast Magazine or read the OC Weekly, there's some mention of Ritter's in almost every issue. The reviews have been glowing, so I put this on my list of places to try immediately.

I knew I wanted to go with my good friend Angel and his wonderful girlfriend, Rebekah. They consider themselves excellent judges of Cajun cuisine, and Rebekah even makes a delicious version of gumbo. Orange County used to be devoid of Cajun restaurants. There was a place in downtown Santa Ana that I had been to growing up, and there was also a place in this weird food court-type place by my dad's work in Irvine, but other than that, we only had a few Cajun options here. That is until Boiling Crab and other similar restaurants exploded onto the scene.

Ritter's has become so popular that they now have a second location in Huntington Beach. This first one, in Santa Ana, is located right near the intersection of Bristol and MacArthur, in the same shopping center as Wienerschnitzel, and across the street from their competition, the Boiling Crab. We got here just before 6PM on a recent Friday. We were lucky enough to grab a table before Angel and Rebekah showed up, but this restaurant filled up quickly and stayed that way during our entire stay.

The restaurant is small, with 20 tables and a long bar that overlooks the cooking process. The reviews I have read suggest that the bar is the best place to sit and soak in all the action here, but it's not conducive when you are talking and catching up with your friends. Be aware this is a loud restaurant. Even with only twenty tables, the high ceilings do little to mute the conversations and blues and jazz playing over the dining room speakers. Be prepared for the chairs here, which are some of the most uncomfortable ones we have sat in during the five-year run of this blog. They could have these to keep the tables turning over and avoid long wait times. Let's hope the food was a little more comfortable than the chairs.

While we were waiting for Angel to finish getting himself restaurant ready, we were served this Bread Basket. These rolls were pretty crusty, suitable for dipping and what they serve here. We went through two baskets of these during our meal.

Yelp was all abuzz with its love for the New England Clam Chowder ($4) at Ritter's, and for once, the Yelp kids got it right. They have both New England style and Manhattan here, but do yourself a favor and try the creamier New England version. This will sound like a diss, but the version here reminded me of the clam chowder I had at Polly's. I used to love getting it every Friday night, and this version was just as creamy, more full of clams, and had a great flavor to it. It is one of the best chowders we have had during the run of this blog.

As much as we were looking forward to having the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp ($12), they were a letdown. The description made them sound so good. They are molasses-marinated shrimp and mozzarella deep-fried, then wrapped in bacon, which sounds incredible, right? These were boring, though. All of the components were here, but they lacked that wow factor. These might have been better if not paired with a molasses mustard sauce. I don't know what sauce should have been used here, but this sauce relied too much on mustard to add flavor.

When ordering the Red Beans and Rice ($5), they ask you how hot you would like it, using a numerical scale. We asked for a seven out of ten, and the heat here was pretty tame. Angel and Rebekah ordered theirs at an eight, which were about the same. A little inconsistent, but when we told our waiter we would like these more spicy, he brought us some habaneros, which cranked up the heat and made this dish a winner. Besides the beans and rice, andouille pork sausage was included. I liked this appetizer and would ask for the habaneros on the side so that Katie and I could enjoy this with our desired heat levels.

Shrimp does funny things to Katie, so the Cilantro Chicken ($14) caught her eye immediately. This really had a pho vibe going for it. Chicken breast, Andouille sausage, and linguini noodles joined the tomatoes and cilantro in the lemon garlic broth. Katie felt this was an excellent option for people who want to eat a little lighter at Ritter's. She was thrilled with this dish.

Rebekah went with Cajun staple Jambalaya ($18) for her dinner tonight. This version was traditional, with shrimp, chicken, Andouille sausage, and rice in a tomato-based sauce. She liked this version but has had better. The picture does not show it, but this was a good-sized serving of jambalaya.

When he walked in here, Angel knew what he would be getting, the Ritter's Famous Gumbo ($20 with shrimp added). I believe he wanted to see if this version was better than his girlfriend's, and being a good boyfriend, he said hers was better. Angel did enjoy this, though. He liked that the okra was not slimy, which is usually a significant contention for him with other gumbos. This also featured the trinity of Cajun cooking: cut-up bell peppers, onion, and celery, along with pork Andouille sausage and a mound of rice in a dark roux sauce. Angel definitely made sure to clean his plate tonight.

Like Angel, I knew what I would have at Ritter's even before walking in the door. The Ritter's Famous Pan Roast ($23 for the house version) was excellent. This was the best dish to hit the table on that night, and I was glad I was the one who had ordered it. The pan roast is a tomato cream sauce, with the trinity included, a big mound of rice in the middle, and the house version comes with shrimp, clams, crab, and lobster. Plenty of seafood was in here, but the tomato cream sauce stole this show. Even writing this now, I still look back fondly on this meal, especially that sauce. You rarely come to a restaurant for the first time and get the best thing on the menu, but I can't see myself getting anything else on future visits here.

Ritter's is worthy of all the press they have received recently. Both Katie and I enjoyed our meals, and even Angel and Rebekah had to admit that their meals were pretty good. We had excellent service on this night, even though they were pretty busy during our stay. We even got a visit from Chef Ritter while eating here. He took the time to visit each table, which was a nice touch. We will definitely be back. Glad to see that there are now more Cajun options in OC, and Ritter's is near the top of those options.

Out of five knights (because ritter in German means knight), five being best to zero being worst, Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking gets 3.5 knights.

For more information about Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking, go to their website here: http://rittersskc.com/

A Slice of the Big Easy in Fullerton

Bourbon Street

110 E. Commonwealth

Fullerton, CA 92832

There are so many good places to eat in Downtown Fullerton, that some places kind of get lost in the shuffle. I mean, restaurants seem to be opening up in a rapid rate in DTF. Just within this year, Hopscotch opened to some rave reviews, JP 23 started serving some barbecue out of the old Church location at the corner of Commonwealth and Harbor, and on this latest trip up to Fullerton we spotted a new pizza joint, Fuoco Pizzeria, which one of our friends told us we must try on our next trip up the 57 Freeway. This excursion was all about a restaurant that has been around for over five years, and has been serving up California Cajun cuisine, Bourbon Street.

To be honest, I had Bourbon Street confused with another restaurant that I used to eat at as a kid, Sombrero Street, which was a few streets over. We used to go over there for brunch when I was in elementary school. That restaurant is long gone now. Bourbon Street is located right next to Stubriks, and in the same shopping area as Knowlwood's and the Old Spaghetti Factory. Kind of in a corner spot, it is well worth the trouble finding it though.

We got here at 7:30 on a Saturday night. The whole downtown area was practically deserted on this Labor Day weekend, which we at first thought was odd, but made sense when you think about it. The Orange Street Fair was going on, the heat keeps a lot of people at home, and a lot of people head out of town for the last big weekend before school starts up again. We took advantage of this lull in the almost always busy Downtown Fullerton area, by getting a great parking space, less than thirty feet away from the entrance to Bourbon Street.

When we walked in Bourbon Street, the first thing I noticed was the great decor that really captures what they are trying to bring to California from New Orleans. They had a cobblestone walkway, the lampposts were reminiscent of New Orleans, and colorful walls brought back to mind the Crescent  City. The other long wall is made of brick, and is dominated by maybe 15 to 20 large HD TVs, which were all playing a different college football game on this particular Saturday night. They were even gracious enough to turn the TV nearest to us, to my beloved Washington Huskies, as they dominated Boise State. Hopefully a sign of things to come this season.

Much like the rest of Downtown Fullerton, Bourbon Street was not very busy on this night. There were maybe about five tables eating here during our visit. Most of the action was happening at the long bar, which was at the end of the long, narrow restaurant. We were greeted promptly, and given one of the nice sized, comfy booths facing the bank of TVs. Our waiter gave us a few minutes to ponder the menu, and this is what we came up with.

It was a very warm night out, and we had a long drive up from South OC, so I definitely felt a drink was in order. Katie opted for her usual designated driver inspired iced tea, so I went for a New Orleans beverage staple, the New Orleans Style Hurricane. At Bourbon Street they make their hurricanes with Myer's Plantation Rum, Myer's Dark Rum, orange juice, cranberry juice, and grenadine. I love rum, and this really hit the spot. It was fruity, but I could still taste the rum in this drink. It brought me back to when I was having one of these at O'Brien's in Cancun. So refreshing.

Checking out the appetizer portion of the menu, a lot of things popped out at us, Bacon Mac and Cheese, Wings, and the Onion Rings, but when it came right down to it, we could not pass up the Louisiana Fries ($12). This heaping mound of fries was topped with pickled vegetables, pulled pork, baked beans, ginger slaw, BBQ sauce, and garlic aioli. This kind of resembled a Philly cheesesteak to me. The fries were crisp, seasoned well, and provided a very sturdy base for this appetizer. The pork was very tender, while the garlic aioli had a great flavor. I was a little skeptical about the pickled veggies used here, but they added a nice tang to the dish. Even though this was a big mound of fries that could have easily fed four, with the absence of cheese here, this was a much lighter appetizer than it would appear to be. Don't make a mistake and leave Bourbon Street without getting this appetizer.

Who could come to a New Orleans style restaurant, and not try their Shrimp Jambalaya ($6)? Not me, that's for sure. This chicken and rice stew, with assorted peppers, and shrimp came out scalding hot. Even with the scorching temperatures outside, I still think I made the right decision to have this jambalaya. It was real solid, with plenty of shrimp in it. I think I counted six good sized shrimp in just this one cup. The spice was spot on. No need asking for hot sauce with this jambalaya, it really brought the heat.

Katie's not much into spicy things, so it was not a surprise to me that she did not try the jambalaya or the gumbo here. She was much more content with the Bourbon Street Salad ($13). This was a very good sized salad, with a whole laundry list of things in it. Starting with mixed greens, then adding Roma tomatoes, red onion, Gorgonzola cheese, candied walnuts, and cranberries. This salad usually comes with a ginger balsamic vinaigrette, but Katie opted for ranch dressing with this salad. She liked all the different textures and flavors of this salad. She liked the crunchiness of the nuts, and the fresh produce here. She would definitely get this salad again.

I usually share Katie's meals first, but I can not wait to share what I got with you. The Black and Bleu Sirloin ($20) was a big hunk of meat. This sirloin was cooked to a prefect medium rare, then had plenty of Gorgonzola cheese in the middle of it, along with plenty of mushrooms, onions, and Cabernet sauce poured on top of it. This steak was big on flavor. The sweetness from the onions counterbalanced the Gorgonzola a bit. I ended up taking a quarter of this home. This steak was also served with veggies and au gratin potatoes. The vegetables here are organic, and come from Melissa's Produce, so you know they are good. I have a love hate relationship with au gratin potatoes, but these were pretty solid. They had plenty of cheese on top of them, and I liked that some of the potatoes were crisp. This was a big plate of food for a person with a large appetite.

When I saw the menu, I had it narrowed down to two things that Katie would get, one of which she eventually did get, the Cajun Penne Pasta ($16). I guess after four and a half years of being together, I should have her figured out by now. This dish not only had penne pasta, but came with chicken, andouille sausage, peppers, mushrooms and onions, with a creamy cayenne sauce. I tried this, and really enjoyed the smokiness of it. Katie was pretty happy that the cayenne sauce did not get to be too spicy. She called this comfort food at its best. The noodles and chicken were cooked well, but she did think that the sausage could have been more prominent in this dish though. She was pretty impressed with the garlic bread that came with this, and even took a slice home for the next day.

We were very full, but we allowed ourselves to be talked into having dessert. They had three choices, which all sounded good, but we went with the one that involved ice cream, the Bananas Foster. This was prepared table side by our waiter Scott. They used three large scoops of ice cream to make this traditional dessert. I always like when the ice cream to banana ratio is in favor of the ice cream. The bananas were good here, and the rum they used was pretty evident. Even though I was full, I ate a good amount of this to cool me down.

As we were sitting here, we could imagine that this place gets pretty crazy for NFL football on Sunday mornings. On the door they advertise this as a Saints bar naturally, but our waiter, Scott, said that a lot of other teams fans come in on Sunday mornings to root on their team. He told us that we were sitting in the Minnesota Vikings booth, so I felt we were in good company, since neither the Vikes, or my beloved Jaguars have any shot of making the Superbowl. Back to Bourbon Street though, they have a pretty solid brunch menu for Sunday mornings, and one item definitely caught my eye, The Big Easy. This breakfast chimichanga is filled with pulled pork, bacon, sausage, eggs, Gouda and cheddar cheeses, pico de gallo, and a chorizo cream sauce. Yeah, this is something I can really get behind. We are really going to have to make Bourbon Street one of our stops during this football season.

We really enjoyed our time at Bourbon Street. Everyone we encountered was very nice, and answered all of our many questions about this restaurant. They even do a lot for the community as well. They are very active raising money for Autism Awareness, with many events held throughout the year. It is always nice when a restaurant not only wants to feed the community, but also wants to give something back to the community. We really look forward to coming back to Bourbon Street again real soon. With the wealth of restaurants in Downtown Fullerton, Bourbon Street should not be missed.

For more information about Bourbon Street, go to their website, which is here: http://bourbonstreetfullerton.com/

Southern Cooking in OC's Most Southern City - CLOSED

Iva Lee's 

555 N. El Camino Real 

San Clemente, CA 92672

If there could be one kind of food genre I think needs to be added to the OC restaurant scene, it would be Southern/Cajun. Yes, there is already a tiny smattering of these kinds of restaurants here. Memphis, Jack Shrimp, and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen come to mind immediately. I want a place where you can get the real thing, an etouffee, a great gumbo, and a jambalaya that will blow the roof off when I eat it. I have never been to New Orleans, but I have seen lots of TV shows showcasing the food from there. It all looks fantastic, and I hope we will someday have Cajun places like that here. I had some hope when I heard about a place in San Clemente called Iva Lee's.

Iva Lee's has been around since 2002 and comes to us from the husband and wife duo Lisa and Eric Wagoner. Lisa has quite the resume. She worked at Splashes at the Surf and Sand Resort, then opened her own restaurant at 24, the critically acclaimed Ramos House Cafe in San Juan Capistrano. During her time at Ramos House, they won numerous awards and were even named the best Orange County restaurant. Of course, all this leads to the question of who Iva Lee is. Iva Lee was Lisa's grandmother, a woman from the south, who fed her family southern meals and classic dishes from New Orleans. This restaurant is a homage to Iva Lee. Let's see if they do her proud.

We got to Iva Lee's at about 7PM on a recent Saturday night. We luckily had reservations, as this place was packed. They even had a wedding reception in the restaurant's backroom. The restaurant is a little on the dark side, and each place setting is decorated with a string of red beads draped across a napkin. I liked this subtle nod towards New Orleans and even saw some customers proudly wearing their beads. They did not even have to flash anyone to get their beads. Katie described the waitress's outfits as "a southern Gothic look, with their lace red corsets. These are some of the best waitress outfits outside of the Tilted Kilt. They have music most nights here, starting at about 7 to 7:30, depending on the day. The night we were here, they had a band performing zydeco music, which helped lend to the restaurant's ambiance. This ambiance was great, but let's see if they have the food to back it up.

Before we get to our order, we were presented with this bread basket. This one included two types of bread, a sourdough mini loaf, and the not-to-be-missed cornbread muffins. I am not too much of a cornbread guy because, most of the time, cornbread is too dry and crumbly. This was different here. The cornbread was moist and sweet, while the outer shell of it had a nice crunch. We ate three baskets of this bread but would probably do it again on future visits to Iva Lee's.

The menu at Iva Lee's had a 3 For 30 promotion, so we took full advantage of this offer. Three course meal for $30. For her first pick, Katie selected the Bourbon French Onion Soup ($7 on the regular menu). Katie was pleased with this soup, calling it "one of the best I have had."  It came out of the kitchen scalding hot. Once it cooled down, we could see that the cheese was plentiful but did not overpower the sweetness of the onions. It was also not as salty as other French onion soups tend to be. I was grateful when she offered me a few bites of this. What a giver.

Since Katie went with the soup, I tried the Pear Salad ($7). I usually call salads with fruit "Mom salads" because every Mom I know, including mine, loves salads with fruit. Along with the pear, this salad also contained crumbled blue cheese, Creole pecans, mixed greens, and a maple vinaigrette. I liked the different flavors and textures thrown together in this salad. Even though the dressing had maple in it, it was tangy. The pecans were candied, while the blue cheese added a pungent but pleasant flavor. The greens were very fresh, and the pear added sweetness and crunch. You could get me a Mother's Day card in May because I liked this Mom salad.

I was slightly surprised by Katie's selection on the 3 for 30 menu when she went with the fish option, the Cajun Seared Red Snapper ($19.50). This snapper was served over some summer vegetables and whipped potatoes. The menu said they were supposed to be sweet potatoes, but they did not taste like them and definitely did not look like sweet potatoes. Nonetheless, Katie was pretty happy with her dinner. The fish was cooked perfectly, tender, and flaky, while the seasoning used here added a little bite to the fish in a nice way. The veggies were good and paired nicely with the fish.

Nothing says New Orleans more to me than Jambalaya ($19.50). This version contained Andouille sausage, rock shrimp, bay scallops, summer vegetables, and rice. I have always liked my jambalayas with rice over noodles. The shrimp and scallops were really on the small side in this dish. The rice was very moist, and the sausage was a highlight. I cranked up the heat by adding some of the hot sauce on the table, which made this jambalaya come alive a bit. I know they have to make this for the masses so they do not get docked by having this come out mellower than I like. When this came out, I thought the serving size was a little puny, but this filled me up quickly.

It's dessert time, and I bet from the picture above, you can tell that this was Katie's choice. The Strawberry Shortcake ($7) came with a nice toasted marshmallow meringue on top. The strawberries were fresh but not overly sweet. Katie also made no mention of the shortcake underneath this, so I can assume it got a little lost here.

This is more my speed; chocolate is a more suitable dessert in my book. This Flourless Chocolate Cake ($7) was joined on the plate with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and port-soaked cherries. This black forest cake take was better than I had expected. The chocolate portion of this was very rich, but the cherries' tartness helped cut it a bit. I love ice cream and will never say no to it, but it seemed unnecessary with this dessert. Yes, I still ate it, though I am not that crazy to pass up ice cream.

I left Iva Lee's pretty happy. Most of the items we tried were very good. They really had what I imagined, the New Orleans/Southern vibe. I wished their menu was even more Cajun or Southern than it is now. They do not even have pecan pie on their dessert menu, and the regular menu lacks hush puppies, fried chicken, and okra. What was on the menu was all very solid and worthy of a return trip. I would like to try one of their Hurricanes or maybe even a Mint Julep on those return trips. The service on this particular Saturday night was excellent. Our server, Allison, did a great job getting us everything we had ordered, ensuring we were fine, and keeping things moving at a relaxed clip. I hope other restaurateurs come to Iva Lee's, see how busy they are, and feel the need to open up Southern/Creole-style restaurants in OC. For now, though, I am happy we have Iva Lee's.

Out of five stars (not because I am getting lazy, but because in 1977, Orange County had a team in the International Volleyball Association, also known as the IVA, and they were called the Orange County Stars), five being best to zero being worst, Iva Lee's gets 3.5 stars.

For more information on Iva Lee's, go to their website here: http://www.ivalees.com/