Eggs Louis Benedict at Canefield Tavern uses French bread as a foundation for poached eggs, crispy fried oyster and a light hollandaise. Photos by Collin Richie
Restaurant review: A weekend brunch at Canefield Tavern
WHY REVIEW NOW?The brainchild of the New Orleans restaurant owners behind Vacherie and Eat New Orleans, Canefield Tavern opened last fall in an area of town not exactly known for its brunch options.
WHAT’S A MUST? A bowl of Farmhouse Hash loaded with roasted veggies, rotisserie chicken and poached eggs. And don’t miss out on the self-serve Bloody Mary bar.
Along Nicholson Drive just past Tigerland sits a strip mall that has seen better days. Long a haven for LSU students, the neighborhood has watched many businesses come, go or rebrand. While some of the neighboring establishments are geared more toward the tastes and budgets of the college crowd, Canefield Tavern is a welcome, homey retreat that all can enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner or—in my case—a Saturday brunch.
What’s brunch without a Bloody Mary? Canefield offers a full Bloody Mary bar where you can add your own fixings to the zesty cocktail.
Inside, the large dining room is accented with rustic wood and highlighted by beams of light pouring in through a large wall of windows. I immediately noticed one particularly welcoming feature: a large buffet cabinet with an extensive, self-serve Bloody Mary bar. Simply choose a brand and flavor of vodka from the menu and add either roasted green tomato juice or classic tomato juice as the base. From there you can go nuts with add-ons, which, if one goes far enough off the deep end, could render additional food unnecessary.
Preferring our food on a plate rather than in a glass, my companions and I looked over the menus. While perusing, we overheard someone at a nearby table comment, “This all looks amazing,”and it did. The brunch menu offerings mostly consist of takes on the Benedict, sandwiches and “meat and two” entrees. For those still in the mood for morning fare, the breakfast menu has a variety of options, including hash, omelets, waffles, pain perdu and biscuits with fried chicken or sausage gravy.
I had a hard time making a decision but finally zeroed in on the brunch menu’s Eggs Louis Benedict, while my partner heard the Farmhouse Hash singing a brunch siren song.
The Farmhouse Hash is a brimming bowl of potatoes, peppers, onions, rotisserie chicken, poached eggs and hollandaise.
For starters we had the soup of the day, seafood gumbo, which arrived so steaming hot it needed several minutes to cool. While waiting on the gumbo, we enjoyed an intermezzo of fresh fruit—a simple, healthy start to what promised to be a decidedly unhealthy cornucopia. Once cooled, the gumbo was legit, with an appropriately light roux, tons of shrimp and delicate flakes of crab. A bonus was the well-proportioned rice-to-gumbo ratio.
Our entrées arrived perfectly timed with the completion of our appetizers. The Eggs Louis Benedict is usually served atop French bread, but my requested substitution of grilled tomatoes was happily accommodated. The plating was visually appealing, with eight cornmeal-crusted fried oysters scattered over a bed of fresh spinach. The oysters were crispy, with a sweet/spicy kick. But front and center were two thick tomato slices anchoring poached eggs that were covered in an airy hollandaise. The dish was light yet hearty, only made more so with the addictive griddled potato chunks served alongside.
The Farmhouse Hash was a brimming bowl of potatoes, peppers, onions, rotisserie chicken, poached eggs and an adequate saucing of hollandaise—just enough for enjoyment without being overwhelming. An included biscuit, tangy from the buttermilk, crowned this meat-and-potatoes dish. But the addition of a traditionally flavored smoked sausage, untraditionally split and grilled to caramelized goodness, heightened the texture and flavor of the meat and added an interesting counterpoint to the hash.
With a dearth of breakfast options to choose from in our fair city, Canefield Tavern gives us all another worthy alternative with its delicious variety and satisfying portions. Further eavesdropping on the next table confirmed for us that Canefield is an equally good choice for sopping up those less-than-stellar choices from the night before. Either way, the choice to dine here, especially at brunch, is an easy one.
canefieldtavern.com 5251 Nicholson Drive
367-6150 Breakfast and brunch: Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dinner: until 10 p.m. all week
