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New Orleans/Biloxi 8/1-8/5 - Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!! (Let the good times roll!!)

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Trip Reports' started by DaiLun, Jul 31, 2018.

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  1. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    My Trip Report

    OK, less than 24 hours until my next trip, New Orleans. This is my 2018 7* retreat, and I am getting $1200 in FP (as airfare reimbursement), plus lots (close to $300 or more) of daily FP at NO and Harrahs Gulf Coast (Biloxi)

    I went there in January but had a bout with gout, which made travel challenging. No such issues to be seen this trip.

    One lunch/dinner will be dedicated to Crayfish and one of Oysters.

    I have already eaten a Cochon, Galatoire's, Commander's Palace and Steak House at Harrahs (when it was Besh Steakhouse), but restaurants missed the last trip include:

    Henri Cafe (Dinner)
    800 Louisa St.
    NOLA 70117
    2.4 miles by car

    Patois Restaurant (Lunch and Dinner)
    6078 Laurel Street
    NOLA
    5 Miles by car.

    Peche (Lunch and Dinner)
    800 Magazine Street
    NOLA

    Drago's
    2 Poydras St.
    Hilton NO Riverside
    NO 70130

    Ruth's Chris (since she got her start here in NO)

    Restaurants/Places to visit

    Gumbo Shop
    630 St. Peter St.

    NOSlimm tells me that it's the end of crayfish season, so I'd better eat them the first night. I'm gonna look for a Viet-Cajun Crayfish place.

    I will pick up a car downtown on Thursday and spend the day in Biloxi

    I have gifts for my host in NO and my host in Biloxi.

    Should be plenty of food porn and hopefully some slot porn.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2018
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  2. rooster42000

    rooster42000 Goat of all Goats , My Hero

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    Go to Brennan's in the french quarter for breakfast its to die for. Excellent AAAAA+++++
     
  3. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    It sounds like you are a foodie so you sure picked good places for that. Have a great time. We will be in Biloxi 5-8 August at the Beau. If you plan a lunch in Biloxi can't go wrong at Half Shell Oyster House straight up the inland road across from the Hard Rock.
     
  4. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    I will also be making a trip to Beau Rivage to give some wedding gifts for the daughters of a woman (lunch waitress at the buffet) that I met a couple of years ago. Probably have lunch there and play $75 in FP.
     
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  5. NolaWave

    NolaWave Tourist

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    Hope you have a great trip! Just an FYI, the first restaurant on your list, Henri Cafe, closed. Highly recommend Peche and if you haven't had Drago's charbroiled oysters, you HAVE to try them., especially because it is right across the street from Harrah's.
     
  6. rgrif57

    rgrif57 VIP Whale

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    @DaiLun have a great trip. We will be heading to Biloxi again, probably the end of February for some gulf time. We were thinking of NOLA but have been there 4x and really want to hangout on the beach. Love them both....hope you have great success.......Rick
     
  7. NewOrleansSlimm

    NewOrleansSlimm VIP Whale

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    the weather is supposed to be rainy all week but so far its just been hot, humid and a sprinkle hear and there...restaurants, havent been to peche yet but hear nothing but good about it, I will get there lol...Dragos, my opinion, the original location in Fat City which is in Metairie is much better than at the Hilton, less wait time also as the Hilton location is small...Ruth Chris, havent has a bad experience yet...

    as for crawfish, only a few places around do the viet-cajun style...I was going to recommend a place for you a short ride across the river since you have a car but I just checked their facebook page and they stopped crawfish for the year last month...
     
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  8. robert m.

    robert m. High-Roller

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    LOVE New Orleans!

    Can’t wait for your report!

    This reminds me of a funny store from about five years ago. My buddy and I were going to a college football game at Tulane. I stayed at the new Harrah’s Hotel on a comp.

    He and I went down to the front desk, and asked for a restaurant recommendation. The friendly lady behind the counter said, “ You must go to the Grand Owl! It is right here on Fulton Street — very close.”

    So he and I walked along the attractive pedestrian promenade on Fulton, looking left and right for a sign with an owl on it. Finally we found the place — the Grand ISLE Restaurant.

    And it was great! I go back there every trip.

    I love to hear the New Orleans accent. Just be aware that OWL means ISLE.
     
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  9. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    OK, so this is the plan for Wednesday night.

    Check in to the hotel and get all of the administrative stuff done. (check-in, gifts to the host, host puts FP on my TR card, collect Wednesday FP).

    Walk to Drago's for (among other things) Charbroiled Oysters.

    Take the streetcar at Poydras Station to the French Quarter (time permitting)

    Thursday I will wake up, whenever and walk or take a cab if I'm really lazy down to Enterprise to pick up my car, and drive to Biloxi.

    Stop at Beau Rivage and have lunch at the buffet, or if it's too early, just drop off the gifts to Mei Ling for her daughters' weddings, play my $75 FP, and leave.

    Head over to Harrahs Gulf Coast and pick up my "gift" a Joy Mangano steamer, and FP. Try to put in 1,000TC there, that will leave 1500TC at New Orleans.

    I was originally planning on dinner at the Harrahs Buffet at Gulf Coast, but considering that it's a $12.99 buffet, and looking at the menu at Magnolia House,

    https://www.caesars.com/content/dam/gbi/Dining/Upscale/Magnolia-House/spring2018menufinal.pdf

    Magnolia House may be the better option. Bon Bons and "the famous Surf and Turf" sound really good right now.

    My 50,000 RCs have already been credited to my account. I now have over 100,000 RCs

    If I can only get through the rest of this day. I have a customer conference call at 1PM, and pick up my ex-wife and son at 6:15.

    Of course, everything is subject to change. I brought $1 chips from my last trip since I didn't have anyone to give the "souvenirs" to., so that's an extra $20
     
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  10. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    Magnolia House opens at 5PM.
     
  11. VegasGroove

    VegasGroove VIP Whale

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    Not a fan of NO, but when I was there for a conference (two consecutive years), I had some of the best meals at:

    The Gumbo Shop
    Acme Oyster House
    Deanie's Seafood (when we couldn't get in Acme)
    Dooky Chase
     
  12. 93 Octane

    93 Octane Chief Bottle Washer

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    Just a heads up, while you're in the Deep South they're crawfish.

    It's like me saying Ne-vah-da instead of Ne-va-da.

    Enjoy the best food in the country!
     
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  13. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    Thank you for the tip.

    You say tom-ah-toe, I say tom-ay-toe.

    Yes, when I am in a "foreign" locality, I try to assimilate the pronunciation. I've always referred to them as "crawdads".

    Like the correct pronunciation of "Bossier City" is "Boze-ier City" and not "Boss-i-ay City", like I was calling it.
     
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  14. McMurphy

    McMurphy Tourist

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    For a really nice traditional Creole meal Uptown, I loved Upperline. The owner JoAnn Clevenger is in her '80s and has some amazing New Orleans stories. Two reasonable options for multicourse tasting menus and the Oysters St. Claude are a must. It's not as stuffy/fancy as Commander's.

    Compere Lapin in the Central Business District is really great Caribbean-Creole fusion. It gets pretty loud in there though. Get some drinks on the patio at Tableau overlooking Jackson Square, and make sure to try the muffaletta from Central Grocery -- it's the original but still the best version I've ever head. My favorite city in the world.
     
  15. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    Its a bit of a hole in the wall. However, if you haven't tried it before, Mother's has the best Po-Boy's in NO. Its very close walking distance also, on Poydras Street.
     
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  16. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    Thank you, I will check it out when I'm driving around. Well, T minus 2.5 hours to board. Everything's packed. I may just go to the airport and sit. I'm packed up with things to do.

    Season 3 of Humans, 4 seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise, Cobra Kai and a whole bunch of movies that I haven't gotten caught up on. :p
     
  17. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    Well, here's a recap of day 1. Got into town, and there must not have been any "small" limos, because ehre's what they sent for me:

    upload_2018-8-2_7-35-9.png
    There was bourbon, vodka, and water, but no soda!!

    Got to Harrahs NO, and they gave me a nice room on the 25th floor.

    upload_2018-8-2_7-36-21.png
    The room is plenty comfy for two, but four might be a little "cramped.
    upload_2018-8-2_7-36-54.png
    The bathrooms are roomy, with a separate tub and shower
    upload_2018-8-2_7-37-45.png
    upload_2018-8-2_7-38-13.png upload_2018-8-2_7-38-44.png
    It was "dinner time", so I went downstairs to put in a "little" time before dinner.

    Nothing too "smashing", here's a little comebacker on a 4 reel Triple Hot Ice
    upload_2018-8-2_7-41-12.png
    At that point, I decided to walk up the street to Drago's at the Hilton. They were busy, but not so much that they couldn't seat me.
    I ordered a half dozen of the house specialtiy "charbroiled oysters"
    upload_2018-8-2_7-42-42.png
    I tried one plain, one with a little lemon, and one in the bun. IMHO, with lemon was the best. If you're an oyster lover, you must try these when you visit NO.

    I am Chinese-American and "bread" was never a "big thing" in my house. We got our starch from rice, so Po-boys, while acceptable, are not high on my list of "must haves".

    I also had crawfish etouffe
    upload_2018-8-2_7-44-33.png
    It was good, but needed Worsterschire and Tabasco to give it some "kick".

    With one bottle of San Pellegrino (I am going to try to drink more water this trip, and lay off the sodas), the bill was $45.00.

    After dinner I took a taxi to Walgreens (yeah, it's only a mile, but it is 85/85 tonight (85 degrees and 85% humidity, or it felt like it) to get a charging cable and a 3 day transit pass. Took the trolley back to Harrahs.

    So, gambling was "meh". Should have taken more pictures, but I was pretty "shagged out" after a long day of travel. I'll try to do better today.

    Since there was a slight change in my host's schedule, I will pick up the car but not leave NO until about 11:30.

    I decided to put in a 2500TC day today, and thanks to a slight comeback, it didn't cost me "too much". One of the Harley Davidson machines is sitting at 86 games at 3X, but these are $4.00 machines a guy "warned" me that one of his friends sat at that machine for 20 hours trying to get it, and I don't Know if that speaks more to:

    1)His friend's perseverance
    2)His friend's idiocy

    Gonna take a shower and go downstairs. Minimal gambling this morning, a more "administrative day". Got the bus schedule to pick up the car.

    I think tonight's dinner will be at Magnolia's in Biloxi.
     

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  18. NewOrleansSlimm

    NewOrleansSlimm VIP Whale

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    yea, Liverly is a pretty busy company and do a lot of work for harrahs so I can see them running low...they usually always have a towncar limo in front of the hotel, you can request them to bring you somewhere if you need, used it a bunch and just tipped the driver

    with the temperature, it has actually cooled off quite a bit from the last few days, lol...still cloudy in my area but havent gotten much of the promised rain
     
  19. TFK

    TFK High-Roller

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    Go to Red Gravy for breakfast. Best breakfast by far in New Orleans. The food is amazing. It's right across Canal Street on Camp Street. Get the meatball omelette. You'll thank me later.


    TFK
     
  20. rooster42000

    rooster42000 Goat of all Goats , My Hero

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    Red Gravy is real good agree with TFK
     
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