There’s a new street in the Oro!

A WEEK ago, my fiancé Kris and I decided to have coffee after her 3-11 shift at the E.R. It was a good chance to roam around the city at night. We landed at Figaro’s, seated far back to a vacant table, surprisingly there were quite a handful of people that time. Maybe because of the rotating brownouts, people don’t stay at home that much these days. Outside was the arcade of restaurants and bars, then we noticed something different – what?! No more P’Joes?! We were intrigued with the closed venue covered like it was being renovated. So I said, “maybe they’re just renovating”, Kris said: “I think that’s a new restaurant”. We left it at that. Enjoyed the rest of our coffee – it’s Figaro’s. 

Then this week, again after Kris’s 3-11 shift, we got hungry. Went to Ket Kai again, then it hit us – there was a new street in the city! It isn’t named after any politician or hero. The new street is called “Rue Bourbon”. It’s French; it literally means Bourbon Street, named after a famous and historic street of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is known for its amazing restaurants and bars.  

 

Alright, it’s not literally a new street like my headline suggests. Bourbon St. Bistro is a New Orleans style Creole restaurant. Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originated in the Greater New Orleans are in Louisiana which is a melting pot cuisine that blends French, Spanish, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Deep Southern American, Indian and African influences.  

Kris and I went straight inside the Bistro, not noticing the chefs outside with their friends and perhaps costumers. The friendly staff greeted us with a warm hello, even if it was really late into the night, the whole staff was still eager to serve. We sat down and immediately I noticed the paper table mats, I read it through while waiting for the food. Then the second paragraph read: “Chef Owners Drew Mills and Nikki Mills studied classic culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute in New York City… trained in some of the finest restaurants in New York for over 8 years…” 

Then, it hit me. I said to myself, “Why do these names sound familiar?”  It was as if I have one of the names on my facebook friends list. I disregarded the thought for a couple of moments to place our orders. I can remember a blooper moment in that scenario. I said: “does this pork chop order come with rice?”, the waitress politely replied: “yes sir, that includes the Jambalaya, that’s prepared with chicken and herbs” , I replied back: “Ah! So Jambalaya is a rice pala?” hahaha! This is what you get when you’re taste buds are hotwired for fast food where your order are always fried chicken, fries, and coke.  

Basically, Kris and I were just talking and waiting for the food. Then one of the chefs, Chef Nikki, went inside to check on things. I had a glance at her and so did she. That’s why the name Nikki Mills sounded familiar – She was classmate at Corpus Christi High School. Chef Nikki went to our table to have a little chitchat; the usual introduce the fiancé – that sort of stuff. I asked her, “so you really came home, huh?” then Chef Nikki told me in passing how the Bourbon St. Bistro came into reality – “we heard P’Joes was closing down, and we thought the location is ‘sayang’ , so we went back to the states, packed-up our bags and opened Bourbon St. Bistro here”. I must say this is a great decision they made. 

Our orders were served while we were still having a conversation, so basically we got cut-off. I noticed the look on Chef Nikki’s face when the orders were being served, carefully observing how the food was presented and served. She’s really making sure everything is done properly. Chef Nikki then said to us: “Enjoy the food, while it’s still hot, I’ll be back later”.  

Eager to taste it, Kris and I dig in. The first thing I tasted was the Jambalaya – WOW! The food is great; it’s something I’ve never tasted before. I can still recall the spices clinging inside my mouth. I won’t go into details of how it tastes, it is best that you go to Bourbon St. Bistro and taste the food yourselves. Kris and I have always been food critics, we’d somehow come up with our own rating system. Hahaha. After we ate, I said: “I have to give this a ten! (ten being the top of our list)”, Kris agreed.

I’ll leave it here for now, but please do keep this in mind, there’s a new street in the Oro – Rue Bourbon! Live Life, EAT UP! 

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I’d love to hear from you, email me at: shaun_alejandrae_uy@yahoo.com