Café Beignet on Rue Royal
Pecan Pie
Black and Gold Palmier
Praline
Beignets
Considered by some to be the city’s only real competition to Café du Monde, locations on Bourbon Street and Rue Royal both making New Orleans signature fried dough fresh to order, Café Beignet Rue Royal was stop three on an early morning trip West to East from the airport, a nearly twenty-five minute wait particularly off-putting as the restaurant was not particularly busy, but at least acceptable as a chance to recover from all the previous sweets.
Playing clever with slogans like “Beignet there, done that” and proudly displaying a sign from Food Network that proclaims their pillowy Doughnuts as the “Best Thing I Ever Ate” from Alton Brown, it was with a steep $18 exchanged for Beignets, a tiny Tart as well as a Cookie and Praline that I waited…and waited, a few Seahawks fans flirting with girls at the register as a lone sleepy-eyed server brought Breakfast plates from the kitchen in back.
Obviously targeting tourists, and perhaps moreso those who are drunken or hung over, it was with a duet playing Jazz for spare change in the street that first items were tasted, the Pecan Pie sticky with only a few nuts amidst overly-sweet filling on a thick base at the excessive price of six dollars, a Praline fortunately offering up a few more Pecans despite being more chalky than others in the city while a half-dipped Palmier was pretty to look at, though falling far short in terms of crackling texture when placed between teeth.
Hoping wait times would yield a superior product, the queue at Cafe du Monde undoubtedly more expedient in the early morning while New Orleans Coffee & Beignet Co. turns out two different flavors and sizes in 1/5 the time, it would be difficult to echo Alton’s accolades considering the perfection of Beignets more than twice the price offered at Michael Mina’s StripSteak, the three Sugar-coated puffs nonetheless excellent with a soft crunch over airy caverns without a hint of grease.
www.cafebeignet.com
