Southern hospitality – lifeofacitygal

Oceana Grill

I’m a huge fan of seafood; so it seems only right to indulge in as many seafood dishes as possible when in New Orleans. Oceana definitely made this happen with their menu options. Located in the heart of the historic New Orleans French Quarter, I can’t believe through my many visits to New Orleans I’d never ventured here. I’m so glad I finally did make it.

To start, the barbecue shrimp were delicious. It was about 5 to 6 gulf shrimp sauteed in a barbecue based sauce with lemon butter and pepper. I could literally eat the french bread and use this sauce for dipping as a separate appetizer (hint hint 🙂 ) That’s just how amazing the sauce was. Gumbo is a must when in New Orleans! Although the gumbo was extremely tasty and had just the right blend of spices and flavors, I did wish it had more of the extras. When I think of Nawlins’ gumbo, I think of literally everything imaginably being in this stuff from crab claws, crawfish, okra, beans, rice, etc. Overall the gumbo still got the job done as far as taste and was a nice compliment to my meal. I also shared an order of their famous char-grilled oysters. These were smothered in their zesty garlic and cream herb cajun sauce, topped with a blend of parmesan and romano cheeses. The seafood already speaks for itself but each restaurant seems to have a “secret or special” sauce for their char-grilled oysters that I fall in love with. Oceana nailed it!

For the entree, I went with the Louisiana fried oyster platter served with fries, coleslaw and jalapeno hush puppies. I added a fresh squeeze of lemon to my oysters and boy was I a happy camper. The seafood is so fresh and just cooked to perfection. Not forgetting to mention it was a pleasant 70+ degree day so dining in the outside courtyard area made the experience even better. When near Bourbon, please stop by. You will not regret it!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Just a little Southern Hospitality

You can always find a good barbecue place in NYC. One that happens to be a pretty good choice in my opinion is Southern Hospitality. Part owner, Justin Timberlake, brings his Southern roots to the heart of New York City with Memphis-style ribs, pulled pork, and the southern fried classics. I’ve visited for both brunch and diner and the food is always on point. This particular visit I tried the brisket sandwich topped with fried onions and a sweet BBQ sauce. All sandwiches are accompanied with a pickle and fries but the fries can be substituted of course. To balance it out, I normally try to add I side salad which was a great combination with this sandwich. When someone tags along, I also try whatever they have and this time it was the infamous chicken and waffles. The cornbread waffles were cooked to perfection and the chicken was very flavorful as well. Just the right amount of crisp with each bite. Seeing that I am from the south myself, I love venturing off and finding places like these. Their take on Southern classics here are very good to say the least. If you’re ever in the Times Square area and want to have some authentic Southern bbq with undeniable Southern hospitality, give them a try.

The Juke

Atlanta is the home of a lot of great restaurants. Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint in the heart of downtown happens to be one and I’m so glad I decided to take my family here for an outing on my last visit home. There’s nothing like a good ol’ Southern cooked meal and this place doesn’t disappoint.

To start, we decided to have the crawfish tails, fried green tomatoes and their rendition of bacon and eggs; which happened to be the delectable deviled eggs topped with candied bacon. Unfortunately we tackled the appetizers pretty quickly and I was only able to snag a picture of the deviled eggs. For my entree, I went with the half rack of ribs which were absolutely amazing. In the south, you have to have a good mac and cheese as a side so of course I ordered that for my vegetable along with fried okra.

What I love about the south is that home feeling you get anywhere you go. Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint gives a great vibe and the live band adds a special touch as well. While eating, we often stopped to chime in on classics that the band played including songs by the legendary Earth, Wind and Fire and the Gap Band. You have to chime in on these right? It was definitely a great experience and to see the smiles on my family members faces made it that much better. Check out more pics below.