Lüke
(a John Besh restaurant at the Hilton St Charles in the CBD)
333 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans (CBD), Louisiana 70130
504-378-2840
Breakfast 7am – 11am M-F
Breakfast buffet 7am – 10am M-F, 7am-11am Sat – Sun
Brunch 7am – 4pm Sat-Sun
Lunch 11am – 4pm
Dinner 4pm – 11pm • Take Out 7am – 11pm
By Jane Feehan
With Old World ambiance – high ceilings, white tiled floors, dark wood – and a menu inspired by the Franco-German brasseries of 19th- and early 20th-century New Orleans, Lüke departs from the predominant Creole theme of Crescent City eateries.
Lüke is not for the faint of appetite. They serve lots of sophisticated, heavy comfort foods: house made bratwurst, slow cooked Berkshire pork skin with creamer potatoes, spätzle and choucroute. Other courses feature German-style recipes of veal, beef, tripe, chicken or pork.
Creole is on the menu with redfish “court-bouillon,” a dish of crab, shrimp and oysters with rice, in addition to gumbo, corn and crab bisque or Louisiana shrimp and grits. For die hard shellfish lovers the raw bar is excellent. I sampled some exceptionally tasty oysters while watching beautiful shellfish platters be readied for table diners.
Brunch was a toss up between buttermilk fried chicken and waffles ($20) or stuffed blue crab cakes with country hash browns, poached eggs and hollandaise ($22). Blue crab cakes won. The cakes (lots of crabmeat) and eggs sat atop potatoes and caramelized onions and proved to be a delicious, savory combination which I couldn’t finish; it was rich.
The full bar offers a variety of domestic and European beers. Reservations advised; Lüke is not a large establishment and gets busy (and a bit noisy) by 1 p.m. Service: good. Short walk from Canal Street and the French Quarter. © 2010 Jane Feehan All rights reserved.
Tags: John Besh, French Quarter, New Orleans restaurants in CBD,
Tags: John Besh, French Quarter, New Orleans restaurants in CBD,
