I have just returned to Herbsaint with my discerning tastebuds prepared for the VERY BEST in New Orleans fine dining, only to discover the cuisine even BETTER than what I remembered from previous visits! The appetisers (chef-made pork terrine with homemade bread-and-butter pickle relish, crisply-battered frog legs, and crunchy, warm, homemade bread and butter) were fantastically tasty; the salad fresh, cold and crisp with perfect dressing; and the entrees were so good that we had to inobtrusively sample from one another's plates! The veal was so tender, it melted in our mouths; I've never had better soft-shelled crab; and the fish and the shrimp were divine! The service was friendly, informative, and lovely. The wine steward came to our table to recommend a wonderful blush wine to start and an excellent red which complimented the food indescribably well! The desserts were incomparable to any other (coconut cream pie that tasted like those made by my Great Aunt Lilly when we visited her in Gulfport when I was a child, Brown Butter Banana Tart that almost melted our souls, and something deep chocolate that just sort of dissolved from the spoon and seeped into all of the ""places that taste"" in our mouths!) I wanted to spend the night and do it all over again in the morning, but that will have to wait until the next time I toddle in from Houston (and THAT trip will be SOONER than I had planned before this most recent Herbsaint visit!) This restaurant is perfect in atmosphere, and it is easily-located----700 block of St. Charles Avenue---and I highly recommend (and often DO recommend) this wonderful restaurant!
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