The Gumbo Shop

We had planned a family vacation to Seaside, Florida and my family decided to stop in New Orleans to spend one night and enjoy the French Quarter and it's food.  Having never been to New Orleans before, I was looking forward to my stay there.  We were only in town for about 16 hours total, so I was only able to sample a couple of places.  I always like getting recommendations from people who have lived in places I am visiting and one of the places that was recommended to me was The Gumbo Shop, which is located just off Jackson Square and was awarded best gumbo by bestofneworleans.com.

Courtyard at The Gumbo Shop

Our waiter recommended that we order the Complete Creole Dinner, which gave diners a choice of one gumbo, one entree, one side, and a dessert.  My wife and I both decided to order this because we wanted a sampling of several items  I started with the Chicken and Andouille Gumbo and I must say that it was very good.  My wife had the Seafood Gumbo and I tried some of hers.  I preferred my gumbo to hers, but she claimed it was some of the best seafood gumbo she has ever had.

Right-Chicken and Andouille Gumbo.  Left-Seafood Gumbo

For my entree and side, I ordered the Creole Combination Plate (Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice) and the Smothered Turnip Greens.  The Shrimp Creole was my favorite of the three items, but I was not overly impressed with the Jambalaya or the Red Beans and Rice.  Both items were rather bland and lacked the heat I was anticipating from "real" Cajun food.  The Smothered Turnip Greens were decent enough, but not what I was expecting.  It was my first time to try the dish and I guess i was anticipating more of a collard greens type of flavor.  The turnip greens actually reminded me more of spinach.  My wife had the Crawfish Etouffee and I thought it was really good and had much more flavor than the trio of items I ordered.

Creole Combination Platter-Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, and Shrimp Creole 

Crawfish Etouffe and Turnip Greens

For my dessert selection I chose the Praline Sunday and my wife chose the Bread Pudding.  My dessert was fantastic and I loved the toppings and the ice cream itself.  My wife's bread pudding was equally good and she claimed it was one of the top three orders of bread pudding that she has ever had.

Praline Sunday and Bread Pudding

The Gumbo Shop does have a kids menu and both of mine seemed to enjoy their grilled cheeses and chips.  The service was impeccable on this visit and we were lucky enough to have a table in the courtyard on a beautiful New Orleans evening.  While the food itself was far from bad, I can't help but wish we had tried some place else that had spicier dishes.  That being said, the trip to the Gumbo Shop did give us a chance to explore beautiul Jackson Square and take a horse drawn carriage historical tour of the French Quarter.

Family Photo at Jackson Square

The Gumbo Shop
http://www.gumboshop.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3