Po Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We coasted into town and quickly went looking for some PO-boys. A po-boy is the ultimate form of a sub sandwich, surpassing even the bahn-mi (though I've heard establishments in East New Orleans [the Vietamise area] offer a hybrid of the two) A po-boy can be nearly any kind of sandwich but common ones include roast beef w/gravy, smoked sausage, and fried oysters or shrimp. Be sure to get one dressed; meaning w/ lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickle. 


My favorite hidden gem, a storefront with no sign where rampart turns into St. Claude was either closed or done for the day so we headed out to Rocky and Carlos where according to their cups "Ladies Invited".  Some very good mac n cheese was consumed. The po-boys were respectable but did  not translate into a transcendent experience because they missed the key ingredient of a spectacular po boy...


The key is bread from the Ledienheimer Bakery. This bread is no normal French bread, it is perfectly chewy but has a nice give on the crust. It's like if Cuban bread and French bread had a love child.  We had some po boys at Domilise's just as the Ledienheimer delivery truck pulled up.  We ordered a smoked sausage po boy dressed and with creole mustard (a slightly spicy form of brown mustard) and oh yes with gravy. We also had an oyster po-boy dressed and with hot sauce.  All washed down with two ice cold goblets of Miller High Life, the only champagne I can endorse.

 The oysters were fried perfectly, soft and salty in the middle and wonderfully crisp on the outside. The crunch is a wonderful complement to the bread. The sausage po boy was a thing of beauty. The sausages were smoky and spicy and had an incredible snap. They were short and lined up in a row forming pews in the church of the Ledienheimer loaf.  Further testament to this breads greatness, the sandwich was manageable to handle despite containing the sinful combination of mayonnaise and roast beef gravy. 

These sandwiches  and this establishment epitomized all that is so wonderful about po-boys. The food is casual, the flavor is sophisticated and bright, the ingredients are excessive and delicious.




* Some pics appearing courtesy roadfood.com