Lilette

My boyfriend and I had been dying to try Lilette and so we made last minute Friday dinner reservations a few weeks ago. We had both heard people say they had had some of their best meals at Lilette. Much to our disappointment, half the meal was barely edible, the other half was mediocre - not at all up to par with all the hype. We ordered the gnocchi appetizer and the sizzling shrimp. In fairness, the gnocchi was a good dish, but the shrimp were so overly doused in lemon that we could barely eat it. The appetizer portion was only four small shrimp, which seemed a little ridiculous given the cost of $9. My boyfriend had the sauteed grouper special, which tasted fine, but the portion size was also really small given that it was one small pieces of grouper and some mushrooms and he was still hungry after the meal. I ordered the Hawaiian spearfish after the waitress assured me how wonderful it was. Whatever you do please don't order this dish. It was completely awful. First of all, the presentation was not at all appetizing. The fish was bitter and underseasoned. It came with a puree of sunchoke that I couldn't eat. It had no consistency. It was like a thick soup plopped on the plate. I barely ate half of the dish and I had to force it down since I hadn't eaten anything all day. I complained to the waitress and she apologized and THEN told me that it was new dish and could I tell her what was wrong with it so she could tell the chef. I was a little angry about this considering the fact that she had assured me that it was a great dish before I had ordered it. They didn't even take my entree off of our bill, which I didn't make a big deal about, but expected that they would do considering my complaints and that it was clearly something that should not have been highly recommended by the waitstaff.\r \r If you are looking for an amazing, best meal ever dinner, go to Bistro Daisy. It is hands down consistently the best restaurant we've been to in new orleans. Pros: trendy atmosphere Cons: inedible food, overpriced for what you get. more

Excellent service! For lunch, grilled beet salad, chicken soup, gnocchi and fish of the day. For dinner the... more

Excellent service! For lunch, grilled beet salad, chicken soup, gnocchi and fish of the day. For dinner the sticky beef fingers are addictive, they... more

I had a wonderful lunch there on a recent vaction to NOLA. The food was outstanding, but our waiter was such a snob that it almost spoiled the meal. At one point I asked for ketchup and he informed me ""This is a french restaurant, we don't have ketchup."" This was right after he felt the need to come over the the table and show me how to eat my Alaskin snow crab claws. I have traveled all over the world and I know they have ketchup in France! more

There is only a few choice words that can sum up what an exceptional place Lilette truely is. The ambiance is phenomonal as is the cuisine. John Harris truly is one of the latest up and coming chefs to hit the beat with a chef owned and operated establishment. I have traveled several times to Europe in particular France and John has definately mastered the culinary art of French and Italian cusine. The atmosphere is very swank and is known from time to time to be a restaurant of choice for the seen and to be seen. The black drum entree was sensational. more

Great place. If only all gourmet-style New Orleans food was this stylin'. Pros: friendly, inventive, tasty Cons: loud, cramped, popular more