Unfortunately, my food adventure in New Orleans wasn’t completely filled with amazing and delicious dishes. I came across two restaurants that I did not find enjoyable. My heart completely breaks every time I think about it, because I despise spending money on food and it turns out to not be good. Before I get into further detail about each restaurant, I’d like to say that these are simply my opinions. Before I went to these restaurants I checked them out online and they both had glowing reviews. So it’s clear that there a lot of individuals that enjoy their food, and maybe you will too. However, I didn’t and I would like to share my story, just in case there is someone out there that enjoys the same things I enjoy in food and would be disappointed if they ate what I ate at these restaurants.

Good Karma Cafe

Good Karma Cafe is a vegan restaurant on Canal Street in NOLA that serves breakfast, veggie bowls, burgers, smoothies, and coffee. Also, on the weekends you can indulge in a vegan brunch between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM. I ordered food from Good Karma Cafe through DoorDash because I did not feel like going out to eat that day. I decided to go with the Fire Burger. This consisted of a house made burger, lettuce, tomato, chipotle sauce, avocado mash, Serrano, house made fire sauce, and basil aoili on a whole grain bun.

Initially, I was beyond excited for the food to arrive because I’ve been having nothing but delicious vegan food so far. However, after the first bite, the first thing I noticed was how thick and dry the burger was. If I didn’t have a drink on hand I would’ve definitely had issues trying to swallow that burger. Now, I’m not sure if I caught them at a bad time or what, but the burger was not enjoyable. In terms of flavor, it was not lacking in that area. It was well seasoned and I could only imagine how savory it would’ve been if it didn’t feel like I was chocking on a Popeye’s biscuit after every bite.

It should be noted that I would give Good Karma Cafe another try whenever I visit New Orleans again, because I feel like their food would be great on a better day.

Gumbo Shop

After eating mostly vegan dishes on this trip, I was ready to see what New Orleans had to offer when it came to seafood. The restaurant of choice was Gumbo Shop. I’ve walked pass this restaurant a few times while strolling through the French Quarter, and on all occasions it was packed, so I figured it was safe to assume that the food was going to be amazing. Gumbo Shop is known for providing authentic creole cuisines, and apparently it is approved by locals.

This was another time that I didn’t feel like leaving the hotel, and again, I ordered delivery through DoorDash. To sample as much creole cuisine as I could in one order, I opted for the sauteed shrimp po’boy, shrimp creole, and crawfish etouffee. First I tried the sauteed shrimp po’boy. After hearing constant talk about the po’boys in NOLA I was ready to see what the hype was about. I took the first bite and out poured my disappointment. I thought the shrimp and the sauce it was in was lacking in seasoning and the shrimp tasted odd, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

I wasn’t ready to give up just yet, so I went for the shrimp creole next. This time I felt like throwing up. Again, I found myself sitting there wondering “why does the shrimp taste so weird?” I brushed it off and tried the crawfish etouffee hoping this would be the winner, but no! I couldn’t even finish the first bite.

After being hit with disappointment after disappointment, I sat on the edge of the bed asking myself “what did I do to deserve this bad food karma? Where did I go wrong in life to end up here? Why me?” I was truly confused.

After some major thinking I realized that what wasn’t sitting well with me was the taste of the shrimp and crawfish, and the seasoning that was used. Both the shrimp and the crawfish smelt and tasted like dirty river water. Which in turn made the sauce they were cooked in taste like that too. And I simply did not find that appetizing. For the life of me I couldn’t get used to it. It just wasn’t for me.

If either one of these restaurants are one of your favorites then by all means go ahead and continue to enjoy their food! If you’re visiting New Orleans and you’re contemplating whether you should try these restaurants out, I say do it. You might end up having a better experience than I did and actually enjoy the food. This was just a lesson for me on the fact that everything is definitely not for everyone.