Food Friday: Brenda's French Soul Food

Brenda's French Soul Food 652 Polk Street
Rating: 2.5-3/5 Stacks

Let me start by saying New Orleans has been on my to-visit list since 2010. It's 2015, and so I think that means I should just book a ticket and go, right? In 2015, I want to be more spontaneous. I want to travel, I want to see things, explore, feel more, and be. I know you guys clicked on this post because you wanted to see some food porn, and instead here you are getting emotional word vomit. So, before I digress any further, let me just say, if you've been to NoLa, please leave a comment and tell me to go - what should I see, eat, do? Okay. Now, here's your food porn.

Y'all are probably wondering why the low stacks for such a hype place, right? Well, I don't wanna be the Debbie Downer and tell you all the things I didn't like, but it wouldn't be very honest of me to tell you otherwise. I visited one Sunday for brunch with my gal pal, Brandy. It was honestly a beautiful day in the city - warm and chill vibes, just how I like it. But, when you're with good company, it's always good vibes, ya feel me? Anyhoo, after arriving at 12:30, we put our names down and the wait was about an hour (not too bad for noon). It was just enough time to snap some pics (seen here) and grab a coffee at Contraband, my favorite coffee shop in the neighborhood (also probably my favorite coffee in the city, if you must know).


We walked back to Brenda's and were able to grab our seats just shortly after getting back, which was nice. The tables were on the small side, so if you're like me and want to wait for all your food to arrive so you can take a bomb ass Instagram shot before you eat... yeah, you can't do that here. HA. We ordered a flight of the famous beignets, which is honestly a must, if you come here. The flight consisted of plain, chocolate, apple, and crawfish beignets. Perfect size for sharing, too, so don't order two flights for you and your boo unless you're feeling mighty hungry. I do have to tell you that I wasn't too terribly hungry, so Brandy took the reigns on ordering the flight, which I appreciated later on. The crawfish and apple were absolutely delicious and basically make the whole 3-Stack rating you see up there.




So what went wrong? Nothing really. Perhaps my expectations were high after wanting to visit Brenda's for so long, but I wasn't wow-ed at all my by meal. I ordered the Eggs Benedict with Fried Chicken and hash. The eggs bene was so-so - nothing too special. The fried chicken wasn't all that tasty (it could have used more seasoning, or more frying, or both). The potatoes also didn't hold a candle to Plow's twice-baked sensation. It was a nice atmosphere, our server was pleasant, and our table mates were friendly, but I don't see myself waiting for over an hour again. I wish so much I could say otherwise, and perhaps I ordered the wrong thing, so I am willing to give it another chance, but my friends, Brenda's gets three stacks (and that's me being nice). Whomp whomp. Here's hoping that NoLa receives the full five.