Are you hungry? I hope so! Last month my husband and I had a weekend away without kids. That’s right, 2 nights away from our children as an early Mother’s Day gift to me. SO ironic! Anyway we stayed at the new Hyatt Regency in New Orleans which has 8 dining options for their guests, one of which happens to be Borgne.
Borgne is part The Besh Restaurant Group (I can’t wait until his restaurant, the iconic Caribbean Room at The Pontchartrain Hotel opens) which I wrote about briefly in our last restaurant roundup.
Located in the CBD, Borgne offers coastal Louisiana cuisine by Executive Chef Brian Landry who grew up fishing on Lake Borgne, as did Chef John Besh. Their menu celebrates local waterways coastal seafood with a touch of Isleño influence, Spanish-speaking Canary Islanders who colonize Louisiana’s wild swamplands.
Knowing that I’m a total food nerd, I researched their menu and scoured online reviews (with photos of course) to get an idea of what my interest my taste buds. Without a doubt, the overwhelming response was ORDER the Duck Poppers and I DID! The duck poppers were made of jalapeño, bacon and what seems to be a creole cream cheese. I honestly could have had 2 orders of duck poppers for dinner and died happy.
In order to save room for dessert, I skipped soups, gumbos and/or salads and dove into the entree. I chose the Black Drum A La Plancha with brown butter, pecans, jumbo lump crab. While my husband chose the Hanger Steak with duck fat fingerlings & mushrooms and sauce vierge which is a is a French sauce made from olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped basil, maybe chives or parsley etc.
I tend to gravitate to red meat or shrimp when dining so my ordering the black drum is a rarity. With so many components, the crunch and toasty-warm aroma of the pecans, sweetness of the brown butter (drool) combined with the crab’s natural sweet flavor left every bite, perfectly at home in my mouth.
For dessert we had Peanut Butter Semifreddo. Since my son has a sensitivity to Peanut Butter, we took advantage of bring “kid’free” that weekend and ordered the Peanut Butter Semifreddo with dark chocolate, caramel, peanuts and enjoyed EVERY bite.
Some tips before making your reservation (which is in itself a great tip), the food is amazing! In order to maximize savings perhaps, I suggest you experience Borgne for lunch or during happy hour. We had reservations for 9:30 p.m which suited us since we were spending the weekend at the Hyatt, but taking advantage of their daily $10 lunch specials or during happy hour will make your pocketbook happy!
The restaurant is in close proximity to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and Smoothie King Center. The hotel does offer valet services but public parking will be a minimum of $10 depending on event pricing. Note: As another source of transportation, the Streetcar stops directly in front of the Hyatt Recency.
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