PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Arnaud's seems to have the lowest profile of all the classic old New Orleans restaurants, but undeservedly so, since it tops them in quality. You need to try at least one venerable, properly New Orleans atmospheric establishment, and that one should be Arnaud's, which post-Katrina is doing some of the best culinary work it has in years. Apart from the signature appetizer, shrimp Arnaud (boiled shrimp topped with a spicy rémoulade sauce), we love the crabmeat Ravigotte (generous amounts of sweet lump crabmeat tossed with a Creole mustard-based sauce, hearts of palm, and other veggies), and the charbroiled oysters, all smoky and buttery flavor. It's hard to find a better turtle soup. Delicious fish dishes include snapper or trout Pontchartrain (topped with crabmeat), the spicy pompano Duarte, and pompano David and tuna Napoleon, good choices for those watching waistlines. Any filet mignon entree is superb (the meat is often better than what's served in most steakhouses in town), in particular the filet au poivre, while the more daring might want to try the crispy, not gamy, pan-fried sweetbreads. Desserts aren't quite as magnificent, but the bananas Foster are spot on, and one crème brûlée fan said Arnaud's was the best she'd ever had. In addition to the formal (and seriously New Orleans) dining room, there is the more casual jazz bistro, which features lovely lunches (hopefully to return at some point) and brunches that put the other grande-dame establishments to shame, with entertainment (and an extra cover charge) at night. Arnaud's also operates a less formal, less expensive brasserie, Rémoulade, right next door.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New Orleans 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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