I’ve been to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States too many times to count. I’ve eaten and cooked more Cajun and Creole food than any other cuisine. I even named my first daughter, Nola, after the city (Louisiana is abbreviated as LA, so New Orleans, Louisiana, is referred to as Nola).
So if you are a foodie in Dubai, I am the person you want reviewing a restaurant called Nola. If you are the proprietor of a restaurant called Nola – and it turns out not to be authentic – I’m the last person you want reviewing it.
Nola Eatery and Social House in Jumeirah Lakes Towers is, as the name suggests, inspired by New Orleans, though the menu says it offers “Southern American food with a healthier, more modern take”. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that this means it serves food from the southern United states – yet among the starters you will find ceviche (Peruvian), empanadas (Latin American) and guacamole (Mexican).
I decide to honour the spirit of the name of the restaurant and stick to Cajun and Creole dishes. Cajun cuisine is named after Acadians who moved to Louisiana from Canada, and Creole has French, Spanish, West African, Amerindian, German and Italian influences.
I start with Louisiana crab cakes (even though crab cakes are mostly associated with mid-Atlantic States, all of which are a plane-ride away from Louisiana).
The two pan-fried cakes are generously packed with crab but the exterior is too soft. It is, appropriately, served with remolouade sauce – a hallmark Creole sauce – but this one is heavy on the hot sauce and too acidic. The cakes are better off without it.
Next up are the bayou shrimp beignets. A beignet is an iconic fried doughnut from New Orleans – it might actually be illegal to visit the city without stuffing your face with these fried, square pastries covered in powdered sugar.
I was half-expecting shrimp-stuffed doughnuts – instead we got four crispy battered shrimp with horseradish sauce. In a respectably innovative twist, the chefs use beignet batter to coat Cajun-seasoned shrimp before frying. It is well-executed. These shrimp are a little sweet, a little savoury and perfectly crispy. This is my favourite taste of the night.
I have concerns about the description of the po’ boy (a trad-itional Louisiana sandwich) as “homemade brioche sliders with slow-cooked pulled beef”, but order it anyway. A po’ boy (short for “poor boy”) most commonly comes with fried seafood (think shrimp, oysters or crayfish), but can have meat (usually roast beef). It is often dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and mayonnaise.
A defining characteristic of the po’ boy is the bread – a French baguette with a crispy crust and soft centre. To my disappointment, this po’ boy comes exactly as described – three beef sliders in brioche buns. I only have myself to blame for doubting the description – do not be fooled by the name, this is not a po’ boy. This sweet, shiny brioche roll would be laughed out of the French Quarter. These plain beef sliders are not terrible, per se – but there is no wow factor either. I wouldn’t order them again.
The seafood jambalaya is a bit closer to the real thing, but still not an authentic version of the classic New Orleans dish. It contains the rice and seafood and sausage you would expect but the flavours are not right. There is surprisingly little seafood, and the beef andouille sausage is tough, dry and inedible. It simply does not look or taste fresh.
The desserts are the highlight of the meal. The banana foster millefeuille is composed of thin, crispy layers of pastry and cream, covered in bananas and caramel. It is richly sweet without going overboard – and I love it.
The Oreo cheesecake, with its crumbled-cookie base, also delivers. Perhaps, we should have started with the dessert.
The restaurant is lively even on a Sunday. The food is affordable and the drink deals excellent. The service is swift and friendly and, though it is too smoky even in the non-smoking section, the vibrant atmosphere is enough to bring people – me included – back.
If you’re looking for an authentic taste of Cajun and Creole cuisine, this is not the place. As a restaurateur, if you bring a lesser-known cuisine from a part of the world many of your diners might never visit, it is your responsibility to do justice to that cuisine.
If these were authentic New Orleans dishes that simply were not executed well, that might be forgivable. But, this is simply an inaccurate representation of what many consider to be the most unique cuisine in the United States.
• Our meal for two at Nola Eatery and Social House, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, cost Dh363. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito. For more information, call 04 399 8155
sjohnson@thenational.ae
