Saturday, March 1, 2008
Yucka
Posted by Noah Bonaparte Pais on Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 12:24 AM
It’s not often you get the chance to reflect on one of the worst meals you’ve ever had in the Croissant City. Allow me to spare anyone else the experience.
Having worked in a handful of the city’s finer restaurants for four years, perhaps I should’ve known better than to visit Mayas Restaurant & Bar (located on a restaurant-starved strip of Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District) within its first few months of existence. That said, I’m not sure any amount of repetition will cure what ails the fledgling Latin American eatery.
Mayas’ first impressions certainly don’t presage an impending culinary disaster. The shotgun space is clad in eclectic, if somewhat kitschy, decorations: native masks, natural wood and colorful art. The tables are dressed in crisp linens and the flatware feels substantial. Our server couldn’t have been sweeter. And then the food came.
A delicious-sounding appetizer sampler that promised tastes of the restaurant’s signature frito starters — spring rolls, croquetas, soft-shell crab, tostones, et al. — more closely resembled an assortment of freezer-burned relics. (Imagine shelling out $16 for a fossilized Hot Pocket and a year-old box of Jeno's pizza rolls.) They were served with a trio of unidentified dipping ramekins, and while I’m no saucier, I’ll take a stab: Chinese-takeout duck, garlicky vinaigrette and coagulated ranch. As in Hidden Valley.
Despite this flubbed handshake, we were still optimistically onboard awaiting our entrée selections. After all, how can you screw up ropa vieja and paella? Here’s one way: boil your shredded beef until it takes on the texture of the old clothes for which it was named and bog down your butter-drenched arroz with bulk-rate seafood — wedding shrimp, chewy mussels and shriveled clams — that smells like a wetsuit left out in the sun. Then charge $45 for them. (To Mayas' credit, they removed the largely untouched latter from the check.)
We quickly paid the bill and left, in the process forsaking flan and pastel de tres leches, a personal kryptonite. A mile up the road, La Divina’s tongue-numbing gelato beckoned louder.
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
Guess we got lucky. Mojitos were top notch & the app & respective sauses were lovely, Sat outside with our dog watching the pretty people change over to the party people on a Saturday nite.
like
dislike
I have to agree with Aj. I have eaten at Mayas several times now, including sampling the aforementioned dishes. The food has always been impressive.
I have to ask myself if one can actually trust a review where the spelling and grammar are not even correct? Or who refers to New Orleans as "Croissant City." - Anyone who lives here knows that is not its nickname. I have eaten at Mayas several times with clients and it has ALWAYS been excellent. Seems to me that the review is ill-intentioned and apparently as ignorant as its uneducated author.
I agree with AJ and Tony. We had a very nice meal at Maya's and are returning there tonight. Everything was delicious, served attractively, and the wait staff was perfect. The above review is mean spirited.
Noah Bonaparte Pais? Sounds like a very biased and uneducated person wrote this review. If "Food and Drink" paid for this review, they should demand their money back. Does not seem to know the culture or the food. My experience with Maya has been nothing but super.
I have to agree with everyone except Noah Bonaparte. I have eaten at Mayas several times, both lunch and dinner, and have been pleased each time. Perhaps Noah B. has a "Waterloo" to grind.
I have just returned from New Orleans and the highlight of my visit from a culinary perspective, was Maya - what fabulous creative and flavourful food. Amazing service, lovely atmosphere. The first critic either had bad luck, or has no idea about good food.
We just got back from a four day weekend in NOLA. Except for our last evening's meal (at Maya) the food was well prepared, honest and fun. Maya on the other hand, seemed strange by comparision. I started with the soft shell crab appetizer. We were served some "chips" and sauce. The chips were strange, more like fried wonton than tortilla chip while the dip was like an oily version of some sort of duck sauce. The crab was deep fried to a crackly crunch with enough cayenne laced duck sauce to make me wonder if Maya refered to some bad chinese takeout place in Bayone instead of a central American influenced place by the bayou. Then came the shrimp salad, suposedly bbq shrimp over baby spinach. What I got was three large shrimp in cayenne lime and salty salty salty lime sauce. The sauce was torture to the tongue. For a city with such a rep for sea food Maya is a must miss. Too many other worth while options.
Recent Comments
-
Re: Bonnaroo announced its 2012 schedule
This is very good website, St Charles Custom Mirrors
St Charles Custom Mirrors
St Charles…- on May 15, 2012
-
Re: Review: Works by Carlos Estevez and Key-Sook Geum
Love this man's work!!!
- on May 14, 2012
-
Re: The artist's mother
What a hoot! Grandmere was wonderful. I love her uniqueness and blunt statements. I'm sure…
- on May 14, 2012
-
Re: Read this week's Gambit here...
There's a typo in Jeremy Alford's story on state government PR people. The Greenpeace "fish…
- on May 14, 2012
-
Re: Coca-Cola graffiti matter is "resolved," says Clarkson staffer
This vandalism by a corporate sponsor is amazing. I agree with RfrancisR that punishment is…
- on May 13, 2012
-
Re: Interview: Willie Robertson of A&E's Duck Dynasty
Man I really love u guys I use to live in west monroe back in…
-
on May 12, 2012
via mobile
- More »
