Reviews for Emeril's Delmonico, C&A Seafood

This week, Tom Fitzmorris awards four stars to Emeril's Delmonico (subscription required), calling it "Lagasse’s version of Commander’s Palace." Like Commander's, the restaurant that "brought him to town and fame," the menu at Delmonico "rarely strays far from famous old Creole flavors. The Emeril touch is in using ingredients and techniques that appeal to current tastes." Delmonico, he notes, was first opened in the 19th Century by Emile Commander?the namesake of Commander's Palace?who had worked at the more famous Delmonico in New York.

The Fitz reserves special praise for the steak at Delmonico: "Its prime beef, dry-aged in house, is a rarity, and its New York strip is a strong contender for the best steak in town." After calling the front dining room a "rich space," he notes that "Delmonico never quite recovered from the storm, before which it was one of the two or three best restaurants in town." But even still, between the environment, the steak and the wine list, it's still worth four stars.

And in the Gambit this week, Ian McNulty submits his review of C&A Seafood, a seafood shack and grocer at the corner of Jefferson Davis and Earhart Expressway. Introducing his own term "Viet Orleanian" to describe shops like this that specialize in boiled seafood, cheap po' boys and, often, yakamein, he notes that C&A Seafood stands out from the pack with the recent introduction of spring rolls into its repertoire. While he praises the spring rolls as "fresh, clean-tasting," he saves his highest praise for the end, where he addresses the store's yakamein: "Dark and oily, with lots of green onion and fried onions floating on top, filled with plump shrimp, it's simple but satisfying and restorative. Still, spooning the stuff out of C&A's super-sized take-out containers, I can't help but pine a little for the pho this kitchen could be making alongside it."

· Delmonico Mixes Creole with Experimentation [CityBusiness, subscription required]
· Review: C&A Seafood [Gambit]