I didn’t really enjoy my dinner here. The creoles that make me so happy at louisiana express are absent, and the jambalayas take a back seat to the rest of the food at this location- and it shows. When I say that, what I mean is: I greatly suspected a microwave had been instrumental in my food’s preparation for the table.

The restaurant was distractingly cold, though we sat away from the door. The waitress serving the rest of the dining room seemed cheerful and competant, which was no help to me- we were stuck with a waiter who regularly forgot drinks, avoided our table, and mixed up the orders (and the corrections to the orders).

Enh.

If you’re in Germantown and craving Louisiana Express, you don’t have to drive to Bethesda.

The front of the menu proclaims “Home of New Orleans, Louisiana Cuisine”, just in case you might have mistaken it for some other New Orleans. But don’t come here looking for authenticity; it’s more on the order of Cajun-inspired comfort food.

You can’t eat here and not find yourself comparing it to Bethesda’s Louisiana Express. And so I wasn’t terribly surprised to discover that they’re owned by the same people. And yet, perhaps because it’s a clean slate, the French Quarter Cafe’ lands off a notch higher.

The first impression is that it’s an unusual space. Directly in front of the entrance is a long counter that serves as a takeout window. Behind it is a curiously large kitchen, which appears to occupy nearly half of the facility. The dining room is unusually roomy, with vast amounts of empty floor surrounding the ebony and dark-stained wood furnishings. From the signs in the window, they appear to be working on establishing a beverage license and a delivery service.

The menu has many similarities to that of Louisiana Express, but there are no creoles offered, and no straight veggie versions of the jambalaya or etouffee. Fries can be found on the list of sides, but I didn’t notice if they offered spicy fries. Instead, there are a number of new beef choices from burgers to blackened ribeye steak, and a stir fry selection. Boudin blanc is also on the appetizer list. I didn’t see any evidence of a daily specials board, nor of a breakfast menu.

I started with their catfish “beignets”, morsels dredged in seasoned cornmeal and perfectly deep-fried. My only disappointment here is that the remoulade is _still_ served in those little clear plastic lidded condiment cups, which seemed entirely out-of-place with the rest of the decor. They really should consider using a tiny prep bowl instead. The seafood gumbo was assembled by adding the meats to the base gumbo (as one might expect) but I’d have to say that the shrimp in particular seemed to be plumper and better prepared than at Express. The beignets were very fresh, but the batter probably could have rested a bit longer...they were more hollow than airy, and therefore not as tender as I’d like.

On the whole, the French Quarter Cafe gives the impression of being a more upscale, more ambitious version of Louisiana Express, and that’s handy to have around.