2016 was definitely a travel-filled year for me. I had the privilege of traveling almost on a monthly basis. I've put a pause on traveling for the time being as I've decided to focus on reflection this year, but made it a personal project to blog about the trip I took in the same month back in 2016. One year ago today, I took a trip to New Orleans...or NOLA. It was nothing short of amazing! Everyone was so friendly there, definitely felt the southern hospitality. The highlight of the trip was definitely all the amazing food we had! Since a lot of my friends seem to have Nola on their itinerary this year, I've decided to put together a food post! Caution: don't read this hungry!! :)

ACME

This was the first place we tried since it had lots of reviews and high ratings! We went around 9pm and it looked like there was a line, but we waited merely 5 minutes before we got seated. We tried a variety of dishes and the one thing that stood out to me was their Chargrilled oysters, must get!!!

Chargrilled oysters! After getting this at pretty much every restaurant we go to, I still think ACME does this best!

Peche Seafood Grill

Peche would definitely be my favorite pick! Every dish was delicious and we even wanted to come back for a second time before we left. Their oysters were so fresh compared to all the other restaurants and the quality of every dish was evidently there. I love tapas-styled restaurants and this place has generous sharing portions!

Cochon

If you're feeling adventurous or like trying exotic food, this would be an ideal spot for you. The menu items range from Alligator bites to Rabbit dumplings. Nola is known for their alligator meat and this place definitely nailed it!

Fried Alligator with chili garlic mayonnaise!

Dat Dog

This was a fun little place near the French Quarters. They make various hot dogs out of alligator meat!

Cafe Du Monde

An inevitable stop as it is one of the most famous "touristy" cafes in Nola. Beignets on beignets!!

MOPHO

We really missed asian food, so we ventured over to this asian fusion restaurant a little outside the city. The pho and rice plates were surprisingly decent, but our favorite was the unique clam entree topped with doughnut sticks!

The ambience here is amazing, especially during Sunset! :)

La Petite Grocery

We came here for brunch during one of the Mardi Gras parades and was skeptical at first due to the emptiness, but left pleasantly fulfilled! This place is a bit pricier, which may explain the lack of people. However, everyone was satisfied with their dish and the service was spectacular! Perfect brunch spot!

Royal House

We didn't plan to come here, but was just in the area and got hungry. This place has a lot of southern food like gumbo and jambalaya. Everything was alright to me, but the bread pudding was to die for!!

Free appetizer if you check in on yelp! :)

Commander's Palace

This was another highly rated place on Yelp that we wanted to try. I recommend making a reservation before going. We decided to wing it on our last day there and waited around 1-2 hours. The place is quite fancy (they have a dress code) and obviously pricey (although they do have 25 cent martinis! Limit 2/person). I definitely liked the experience and the ambience, but thought the food was quite salty and average. The inside is huge and absolutely gorgeous, the staff is also very tentative. I'd only recommend coming here for the experience.

Besides the food, I really enjoyed the Ghost Adventures tour at night! We also got to go on a swamp tour, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to see swamps and baby alligators. It's an hour around the swamps and gets really chilly, so definitely bring an extra jacket if you do go! Enjoy this last picture from the swamp tour! I hope this post will provide some sort of guidance for you foodies out there! P.S. I only had my handy old iPhone with me on this trip, hence the poor quality photos, but hope my purpose carries through anyway! :)