New Orleans has been well-known for its fresh seafood. Unfortunately, the famed crawfish was out of season during my stay in The Big Easy, but the city still has Peche, located in the Warehouse District in partnership with Donald Link from the Cochon fame. I’m always partial to simple yet well-prepared seafood and Peche really showed how seafood should be done right without much fancy elements.
The level of freshness at the seafood here was amazing. Given that we had a large party of five, we started out with the seafood platter consisting of oysters, shrimps, tuna salad and smoked tuna dip. The oysters and shrimps were absolutely fresh, and the smoked tuna dip was quite pleasant as well. Shrimp toast was also a very nice snack to start the meal. Among the small plates, crab and jalapeno capellini pasta was definitely a winner. I loved the texture of the noodle that worked so harmoniously with crab and jalapeno to create delicious flavor with spicy kick. It would really be one of the best pasta dishes at an above-average Italian restaurant. Louisiana shrimp roll was also solid.
The highlight of the lunch, however, belonged to the whole grilled redfish with salsa verde. This was one of the best whole fish dishes I’ve had in a while. The fish was perfectly cooked for outstanding texture, and I loved that the only distinct seasoning of this dish came from the salsa verde to enhance this texture without overwhelming my palate with too much salt. My dining companions seemed to concur, as the giant fish was gone in like 10 minutes.
The restaurant has a very airy vibe that makes it perfect for a weekend lunch for large parties to share a variety of dishes. Peche has a full bar, and my preferred approach would be to sip a glass of crisp white wine to go along with the seafood. Getting a reservation wasn’t particularly difficult but the restaurant was nearly packed for Saturday lunch. Peche really is a worthy destination to visit if you’re looking to explore what New Orleans has to offer on the seafood department. Yes, I didn’t see the crawfish, but that absolutely didn’t diminish my experience here at all.
KenScale: 8.5/10
- Creativity: 8.0/10
- Execution: 8.5/10
- Ingredients: 9.0/10
- Flavor: 8.0/10
- Texture: 8.5/10
Address: 800 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Telephone: (504) 522-1744
Website: http://www.pecherestaurant.com/
KenScale 