Where to eat in New Orleans, Louisiana: Luke Restaurant

It was getting too late for lunch and we were famished. For our first lunch in New Orleans, we walked from the convention center, where the Dr. was the entire morning with other anesthesiologists, to St. Charles Avenue to drink decent Bloody Marys at Lüke Restaurant. And decent they were with the right amount of horseradish garnished with a string bean and a lovely okra. The drink was crisp and rich without you knowing that there’s too much alcohol in it for a mid-afternoon break.

We started with the corn and crab bisque because even though it was sunny in New Orleans, the wind was hitting us beneath the thin jackets we brought from New York. The soup tasted so much like crab and I could see from its brownish color that they’ve included some of the innards that you usually see when you take a crab apart. The fried oysters were light even though they were deep-fried in batter. A romaine salad with bacon and fresh slices of avocados brought the dish together. The Dr. opted for a heavier lunch of venison with two beautifully poached eggs. There’s nothing better than a runny yolk on top of a hot rich stew flavored with wild mushrooms on a brisk day.

We laughed at the crowd in Lüke because it’s our normal demographic when we travel. For some reason or another, we always end up eating with old moneyed white folks. We’d like to think we’re as well-heeled as they are, but most of the time, we just call ourselves old ninnies. But we can always pretend to be whomever we want to be when we’re on vacation, right?

Lüke is at 333 St. Charles Avenue next to the Hilton St. Charles Hotel in the Central Business District of New Orleans. We walked in for a late lunch, but they prefer that you call ahead at 504/378.2840.

Related post/s:
Lüke Restaurant photos on Flickr