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7724 Maple St.
New Orleans, LA
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Pros: Standard Greek & Lebanese dishes done well.
Cons: Not our favorite hummus.
Bottom Line: Delicious flavors that outshine the other Middle Eastern places we’ve tried in the area.
Babylon is a small Middle Eastern restaurant located close to Tulane’s campus. The restaurant works well for its largely collegiate audience. The space is long and narrow, slightly dark, and decorated with colorful Middle Eastern murals on the wall. This creates a cozy and casual atmosphere. The menu here features typical Greek and Lebanese dishes: chicken schwarma and gyro sandwiches in pita bread, the same meats offered in platters, and a few main dish salads and seafood plates. In addition to these standards, Babylon offers a few more options to complete its menu - from shish kabobs with various meat combinations to eggplant sandwiches on freshly baked bread.
After we ordered, the kitchen sent out a complimentary order of hummus with pita bread. This was unexpected and gratefully received. The hummus was average – it had a relatively mild flavor. This is not ideal for garlic lovers or those looking for bold flavors but is nice for those who aren’t huge hummus fans…hummus skeptics may enjoy Babylon’s tame version of the dip.
For our meals, we ordered a chicken shish kabob sandwich on a wheat pita (nice to have that option!) and a gyro platter. The sandwiches here don’t come with sides, so we ordered a salad with feta and olives to go with the sandwich. We expected this to be a typical side salad, especially since the price was only about $5, but this salad was enormous. It was generously topped with loads of feta. The salad was dressed in a simple but delicious oil & vinegar combination and was not saturated with too much oil. This salad tasted great and was large enough that it could have easily been shared between two people as a side dish. The chicken shish kabob sandwich was also delicious. We’re not sure what was in the sauce that dressed this sandwich (it wasn't a Tzatziki sauce), but it was great! The chicken was tender and flavorful. Definitely a good choice.
The gyro platter was another good dish. It comes with a choice of two sides, and we chose hummus and a salad. The salad wasn’t quite up to our expectations, as it didn’t come with olives or feta as is usually the case. However, this is a mild infraction and was easily made up for by the great flavors of the meat, which was moist and well-seasoned.
Babylon is a great option for Middle Eastern food. They do the standard dishes well and offer a few more choices that other restaurants of this type do not. The service and atmosphere create a casual and relaxed place to meet up with friends and enjoy a delicious, reasonably-priced meal.
1337 Gause Blvd.
Slidell, LA
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Pros: One of the only spots around for fresh-made bagels.
Cons: Can be a little slow to get your order and a little pricey.
Bottom Line: If you're in the mood for good coffee and bagels, this is the place to go.
Creole Bagelry is one of the few fresh bagel shops in the Greater New Orleans area, and, therefore, it's become a regular weekend stop for the Hippos. The bagelry is reminiscent of a coffee shop, with counter service, a mix of regular and bar-height tables, and local artwork for sale displayed on the walls. The background music usually does a good job of setting a comfy atmosphere and ranges from oldies to local jazz. The shop also offers lunch, centering around salads, wraps, and bagel sandwiches.
We've visited Creole Bagelry on many occasions. In general, the bagels taste fresh, but they don't constantly bake the bagels all morning - so don't expect to get hot, straight-from-the-oven bagels here. They offer a decent variety of bagel types and cream cheese flavors, with a specialty bagel and cream cheese rotating out every one or two weeks. In the past, we've found their savory cream cheeses to be of better quality than their sweet cream cheeses, which often lack enough flavor. Creole Bagelry also brews their own coffee, with gourmet flavors such as mocha raspberry, english toffee, German chocolate cake, and macadamia nut offered on a rotating basis. These brews are extremely delicious and rival any gourmet coffee shop. We find that the normal coffees here are on the caliber of more expensive specialty lattes and cappuccinos.
On this occasion, we ordered a blueberry bagel with cinnamon roll cream cheese (the specialty cream cheese of the day) and a sesame bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, capers, and tomato (actually sold as one of the lunch sandwiches). The blueberry bagel was good, with a buttery, blueberry flavor running throughout it, but the flavor was not very noticeable when eaten with the cinnamon roll cream cheese. This cream cheese, however, was probably their best sweet cream cheese we have tasted - too bad it was only a special! It had plenty of flavor, mixing cinnamon with the sweet (but not too sweet) taste of cinnamon roll icing. It was exceptional. The only complaint here is that sometimes they don't give you a ton of cream cheese on the bagel - it just depends on who is preparing it. Luckily, they had samples out of the specialty cream cheese with which we could supplement the bagel.
The bagel with smoked salmon was also enjoyable. The lox tasted fresh, and there was a good balance of ingredients. The saltiness of the capers and salmon paired well with the creaminess of the cream cheese and the freshness of the tomato. Looking back, this bagel would have been even better with the scallion cream cheese instead of plain, but as is, it was on par with what one would expect. The only downside is that, since this is sold as a lunch sandwich, it will run you about $8. On the plus side, this price includes a side. We chose the pasta salad. It wasn't bad, but perhaps a bit on the oily side.
If you're a fan of fresh bagels, this is one of your only options in the area. Luckily, Creole Bagelry does a pretty good job at what they do and will satisfy most customers. Their prices do tend to run a little high, but we'll take what we can get. Though the sweet cream cheeses are a bit lacking in flavor, the coffee, bagels, and savory cream cheeses are great and keep us coming back for more.
104 Lake Drive
Covington, LA
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Pros: You can create your own dessert by mixing and matching from a large variety of frozen yogurt flavors and toppings.
Cons: Not all flavors are up to par.
Bottom Line: Fun concept, but the frozen yogurt needs improvement.
Menchie's is a self-serve frozen yogurt franchise that has just opened up a new location off of Hwy 190 in Covington. The store itself has a youthful, modern look and feel. The premise is that you serve your own soft-serve frozen yogurt, choosing from 10 flavors that rotate out from over 40 total, and 25+ toppings. There is only one size cup, and you build your own creation and pay by the ounce at the end.
We are huge fans of frozen yogurt and have tried numerous places over the years, so we were excited to try a another new one. The thought of selecting from a large variety of flavors was appealing. Menchie's allows you to sample the frozen yogurt flavors, which is a definite plus, since there are many from which to choose. You start by picking the only size cup - either with or without a waffle cone. On this night, the yogurt flavors offered were strawberry banana, mocha, vanilla, chocolate, white chocolate macadamia nut, pomegranate tart, Kahlua, root beer float, natural, and Georgia peach. The toppings come in three stations - bins of candy bars (like Snickers), cereals (like Golden Grahams and Cookie Crisps), chocolate chips, and nuts; a cold station including chopped fruit, cookie dough bites, and mochi; and a hot station with hot fudge and caramel sauce. Needless to say, there are an infinite number of combinations you could create, and it's easy to start tacking on the ounces (and therefore, price) when you are in control of serving yourself!
We tried a few of the flavors offered that night. The mocha was, unfortunately, overpowering, tasting almost like straight espresso with no creaminess or sweetness. The Kahlua had a good coffee flavor but also had a slightly unappealing (and unidentifiable) aftertaste. The flavor didn't seem like it was mixed very well because there were a few icy chunks in it - but this was the only flavor like that. The white chocolate macadamia nut was the best flavor we sampled, with strong flavors and the right amount of sweetness. The chocolate was very dark brown in color, and accordingly, was far richer than most chocolate flavors - which makes us wonder what the dark chocolate flavor tastes like. The strawberry banana was enjoyable, with bold fruit flavors. One of us thought that Menchie's yogurts had a slight tangy-ness to them, but the other disagreed, so you'll have to judge for yourself.
The toppings offered were plentiful and delicious, and the variety of cereals was a nice alternative to normal toppings. The only downside is that we were expecting a few more of the standard candy bar toppings - there were no Heath bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, etc. The fruit bar had a very nice selection of fruits, from berries to mangos and kiwi. Being able to select a low-fat yogurt and top it off with fruit and granola provides a healthy dessert option for those interested.
We liked the concept of Menchie's more than the execution. Having a variety of toppings and frozen yogurt flavors to choose from is exciting. Unfortunately, many of the flavors we sampled were sub-par to other frozen yogurt shops we've tried. Maybe we caught the rotation on a bad night, and we are willing to give it another try. But on this particular night, we were somewhat disappointed.
550 Gause Blvd.
Slidell, LA
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| Service: | It was take-out! |
| Atmosphere: | It was take-out! |
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Pros: Good tasting roast beef and barbecue beef po-boys.
Cons: A little pricey for sandwiches.
Bottom Line: Good flavors, but the po-boys don’t travel well.
We’ve heard nothing but good about Bear’s Grill and Spirits, so we decided to give their new location in Slidell a try (the original is in Mandeville). They especially have a reputation for really good roast beef po-boys, and that's what the Hippos were craving. Unfortunately, we weren't feeling well at the time, so we had to go with take-out over dining in. When we ordered, we were told that our food would be ready in 10-15 minutes, but it was coming out of the kitchen by the time we got there 5 minutes later. From our quick glance around, the restaurant itself was exactly what you would expect from a bar and grill – a casual atmosphere with TVs everywhere you look.
We ordered two small po-boys - one classic roast beef and one BBQ beef - both with sweet potato fries. The total came to about $25, which seemed a little steep for a couple of small po-boys and sides...we were expecting a little less than $20, especially since that price didn't include drinks or a tip. (The large po-boys will run you about $11 or $12 and don't include a side of fries.) By the time we got home 10-15 minutes later and opened the sandwiches, they were already soggy from all the juices in the meats. This was disappointing. Maybe we should have known better than to get roast beef po-boys for takeout, but hey, it sounded good at the time! The sweet potato fries were lukewarm, but at least they were not too mushy – they still had a slight bit of a crunch to them. The taste of the fries was good, but nothing too spectacular.
As for the flavors of the sandwiches, the classic roast beef po-boy was delicious. The meat was tender, well-seasoned, and not at all dried out like many roast beef sandwiches can be. Another plus was that po-boy had a very generous amount of meat on it. The soggy bread wasn't ideal, but the sandwich was great despite that.
The BBQ beef sandwich contained the same roast beef as the first sandwich, just with the addition of barbecue sauce. This sandwich, like the first, was loaded with meat. The barbecue sauce had a good flavor and wasn't greasy. There was also the perfect amount of sauce for the sandwich. The beef itself seemed like it may be a little dry, but the barbecue sauce made it difficult to tell and covered up any possible flaws in the meat. Between the soggy bread and the sauce, this sandwich had to be eaten with a fork and knife, which kind of takes the fun out of po-boys.
All in all, Bear’s delivered on flavor. The roast beef lived up to it's "world famous" status (as stated on the menu) and has us excited to try out a real dining-in experience there. We would not, however, recommend Bear's roast beef po-boys for takeout, unless you're into soggy, mushy sandwiches!
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