<< back to foods in New Orleans

Poisson meunière

What: A classic French preparation in which a fresh fillet of fish is cooked in browned butter. In New Orleans, you’ll find this served amandine, in which the fillet (traditionally trout) is pan-fried and topped with almond slivers and a rich meunière sauce (browned butter, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice), or sautéed in butter and topped with seafood, like crawfish, crab, or shrimp. One favorite garnish is crabmeat Yvonne: luscious lump crabmeat sautéed with butter, mushroom, artichoke, and onion. All variations are typically served with lemon and herbs.

Where: In the French Quarter, French-Creole Galatoire’s (209 Bourbon St., map) does all of the variations described above, with whatever fish (redfish, trout, pompano, flounder, drum) is available that day.

When: Tues-Sat, 11:30am-10pm; Sun, noon-10pm. Go during the day for a more casual experience; the restaurant’s especially famous for its long and boozy Friday lunches.

Order: The sautéed poisson topped with rich crabmeat Yvonne and/or the poisson meunière amandine. Prices depend upon which fish you choose ($21-$29) plus the cost of the “garnish” ($11.50 for crabmeat Yvonne; $2.50 for meunière amandine). Try the puffy soufflé potatoes as a side.

Alternatively: Some of the other grand dames of New Orleans French-Creole cooking offer these or similar fish dishes, including Arnaud’s (813 Bienville St., map), also in the Quarter. Our favorite divey FQ spot, Coop’s Place (504-525-9053; 1109 Decatur St., map), often has a redfish meunière on its chalkboard-scrawled menu. In Mid-City, locals’ fave Mandina’s (3800 Canal St., map) is a great bet for this too.