Review: NOLA on The Square

Address:	NOLA on the square 24 Market Square Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Telephone:	412-471-9100
Email:	info@nolaonthesquare.com
Cuisine:	Nouveau Creole

Several weeks ago, my BFF Ron and I decided to check out the newest restaurant on Market Square that we both had heard so much about. It was raining that day, and we thought twice about venturing out in the less than pleasant weather. But, we said “what the heck?” We had nothing better to do, we were both hungry, and within walking distance, so we went. ADVENTURE!!!

We got there at that “odd” time…you know, right after the lunch rush and a couple of hours before dinner. When we walked in the door we noticed that it wasn’t very busy. Let me re-phrase that…it was almost empty - just the two of us, a couple of businessmen at the bar, and the staff.

The place is very attractive, dark wood, great fixtures, interesting artwork hung on the walls (which by the way were a slate-blue, a color that was not conducive to inciting my hunger pangs) and the blues gently piped throughout.

 

We were seated at our table located across from the bar by a quiet, petite woman (whom by the way, made it known that she was still “new” as a disclaimer up front…lol). While seemingly nice (and somewhat nervous), I noticed quite early on that she spoke only to me and not Ron! HAHA! Not quite sure what that was all about, but I digress…on to the food.

We were excited to taste the food, hearing such good things about their “Nouveau Creole” offerings. But FIRST, we ordered something to drink. I ordered coffee as I was embarking on having a headache from not having my daily caffeine fix and Ron had a cocktail - a very unusual one at that. The NOLA Cocktail had bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice and Absinthe. It looked refreshing, but after I tasted it, my palate was not happy with me for allowing that mixture inside my mouth (that’s what she said). Let’s just say that lemon and black licorice was all that stood out, and it was NOT something I wanted in my mouth again! Ron thought the same, but he finished it!

 (Sidenote: It didn’t taste all that great, but it made him really happy later!! Giggle)

After placing our order, our little server asked if we (READ: ME) would like some bread? We thought it was kind of odd that she asked (as opposed to just giving us some), but we both said “Sure!”

Ron and I studied the bread offering with great interest…it appeared to be a cross between a pre-made (perhaps frozen) Italian breadstick with caraway seeds and a pretzel. I say “pretzel” because it was covered in kosher sea salt. And it wasn’t warm. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the meal. (OH! I forgot to mention that the kitchen staff was making what appeared to be stock from a base concentrate outside of the kitchen, in plain view of the diners…I could be wrong, but I’m a culinary student so I know what base and water looks like! LOL)

Our order finally arrived. My appetizer was the “Jamison Farm Lamb Ribs w/ Creole Slaw and Hot Pepper Jam” and for my entrée I had a bowl of the “Crawfish and Sherry” Soup. Ron had the “Gumbo Ya-Ya” and the “Creole Tartiflette”.

Lamb ribs:

I was really excited to try the ribs because I had recently purchased some myself and made them in an attempt to see how they would work on my catering menu. They turned out well, but I was eager to see what NOLA had to offer. They were cold. Well, let’s say “lukewarm.” It was as if they had been cooked the day before and just pulled out of the fridge and thrown on the grill to heat them up to give them some grill marks. The slaw underneath was actually warmer that the meat itself and seemed to be where all the flavor of the dish had migrated.  I loved the flavor of the Hot Pepper Jam… as for the lamb? Cold, dry and flavorless. When I replied to our server asking how was everything, all she said was “Oh, I’m sorry about that, I’ll make sure that your soup is hot when I bring it out.” That’s it (Sigh).

Gumbo Ya-Ya

I took this pic as soon as the server set Ron’s Gumbo Ya-Ya in front of him…notice there is no steam rising from the bowl. LUKEWARM!! I didn’t understand as this place wasn’t busy at all! In fact, we were the only two people eating, so I’m not entirely sure why our food wasn’t hot.  Again…digression.

Ron said that he was quite surprised that it didn’t have the true Creole flavor that he expected it to (He’s been all over the world and back, so I was surprised to hear him say this). All the primary ingredients were present, but outside of the name of the dish – there wasn’t really anything “special” about it….meh.

Crawfish and Sherry

Nowwww we’re getting somewhere!!! THIS is the dish that I fell in LOVE with! It was just a tad bit warmer than the other dishes, but not as hot as you would expect soup to be, but OMG…the FLAVOR…the FLAVOR was just HEAVENLY! It was rich and velvety…started out with the “trinity” (onions/green bell peppers/celery), a brown roux, either a seafood or chicken stock, potatoes, butter, heavy cream, sherry, a hint of garlic, a pinch of cayenne and beautiful pieces of crawfish!! It was DELIGHTFUL!! I could have easily scarfed down another bowl!

Topped with Crème Fraiche, it was absolutely AMAZING!!

Creole Tartiflette

Ron’s main course of our dining experience…this was actually pretty good. I loved the concept of the dish, a French “Country” casserole. Boiled potatoes encased in this sinfully decadent Creole Mustard Cream sauce, the smooth smokiness of the bacon, topped with generous slices of what could only be “Double” or “Triple Cream” Camembert, served piping hot and sizzling (FINALLY) in a cast iron casserole dish. OMG!!!  He loved it, but said it was really “heavy” in his tummy…I really loved how this tasted, the flavors so simple yet “majestic!” However for me, the only drawbacks were that it was quite a heavy dish, and if I were to do a “take” on this dish, I would replace the potatoes with penne and minimize the size of the artichokes. (Which were WHOLE…sans leaves of course) All in all …Nicely done!

So all in all, not bad for the price, or so I thought… Ron graciously paid the bill and apparently it came to $63.00!!  Naturally, he is not going back “ever” to use his words.  Nevertheless, the prices ranged from $7.00-$9.00 for the soups and appetizers and $17.00 for the casserole. Our server did not make eye contact with Ron at all during the meal…we thought that was HI-lar-ious and the hottest thing in NOLA was the Manager, “Josh”, who was tall, dark and extremely handsome!! As far as the whole “Creole” theme, we both agree that if one has never tried this cuisine before, NOLA’s would be an ok place to start. For those of you who appreciate TRUE Creole flavors and food, take a trip to the bayou!