Update: This restaurant is now closed.
My dad and I are avid buyers of coupons – from Groupon to Living Social to Sign on San Diego’s Daily Deal – we buy them up and store them for another day. This summer I bought a coupon to Pinnacle Peak but my dad missed out on the deal. Since he missed out on the deal, he proposed a swap with me – he wanted to trade one of his coupons to Chateau Orleans in exchange for mine to Pinnacle Peak’s. His was worth way more than mine. I agreed to the trade.
Laura tagged along with me for a visit to Chateau Orleans, a New Orleans inspired restaurant in Pacific Beach. It had been a few years since I had visited the restaurant but I noticed a few changes. They opened an additional dining room away from the main room where the live music is. The menu’s also been redone to reflect dishes from different regions of the country. The website hasn’t been updated to reflect this change in the menu though – I remember checking out the menu online and being surprised at the change when I was actually at the restaurant.
One thing I knew I wanted to try is their Watermelon Wine. It’s very much like a sangria – which is pretty much the only way I care to drink red wine. It doesn’t really taste very “watermelon-ly” to me, but it’s got a big chunk of watermelon in with the wine which soaks up the flavor and is pretty tasty to munch on after you’ve finished your drink.
We had a good amount of money to spend thanks to the coupon so in addition to getting some wine we also snacked on an appetizer. We got the Gator Bites which is fried and served with a ginger BBQ sauce.
Here’s the inside of the gator. This was a bit chewier than I remember (I had it the other time I was here). It was slightly crisp on the outside and chewy inside. While I did like it, I think I’d opt to choose a different appetizer next time.
For my dinner, I decided to get a pasta. I got the Basin Street Pasta which has a Tasso sauce (it’s a cream based sauce – it was very cheesy and has a bit of a kick to it from the spices, but it isn’t spicy or hot), veggies, sausages, chicken and shrimp. I really liked the tasso cream sauce and the mix of flavors in it. I was not happy to learn that there were a crap ton of bell peppers in the dish though and I methodically took the bell peppers out of my dish. The description of the dish didn’t mention exactly what kind of veggies are in it (there are also delicious mushrooms!) which I think is a shortcoming in the menu. Despite the bell pepper overload though, I really enjoyed the dish. I had a ton of leftovers too and was able to bring it for my lunch the next day.
I took photos of Laura’s meal but they didn’t come out very well. She got a Sea Bass but the chef forgot to put the sauce on her dish and it had to be placed on the dish later so Laura didn’t get to eat all at once like I did.
For dessert we got a dish that’s really associated with New Orleans: Beignets! Beignets are deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar, very similar to a donut. I’ve never had a beignet anywhere else before so I have nothing to compare them to, but they were quite tasty. They remind me of the zeppole I used to get in Horton Plaza back in the day or the fried dough I would get from the street carts in Boston during the warm months. Fried things are just delicious no matter the name I guess.
My only complaints about the restaurant were the insane amount of bell peppers in my food, our service was a bit slow, and they forgot the sauce for Laura’s dish. Otherwise we had quite a lovely time here.
Chateau Orleans features live music Wednesday – Saturday and features a variety of cajun dishes to peak your palette. It’s a nice little place for some food and some live music!
Chateau Orleans
926 Turquoise St
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 488-6744
