I have visited Orleans on a few occasions – mainly for their Waffles with Fried Chicken and Maple Chili Syrup (a special lunch deal on Wednesdays, which, by the way, is awesome) and at night when they have live jazz music. You can also sit at their bar and have cocktails and small plates, or go there for a delicious Southern meal, complete with dessert. Orleans, located on Customs Street East in Britomart, does all this and more.

A few weekend’s ago, I met a friend for drinks and small plates – we were there to check out Orleans’ new menu and were super excited to try some different dishes, as opposed to just ordering fried chicken and waffles. 

Firstly, the drinks. Orleans serve an extensive range of drinks – they have an excellent cocktail menu, plus serve bourbon cocktails, Hardshakes (milkshakes with liquor), wines by the glass, bubbles and a few beers. On the night my friend and I dined at Orleans, they had a special cocktail of the week – ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2‘. I love this film, so could not go past without ordering one. My friend also ordered a wine, and me, another cocktail… their St Louis Sour with Absolut Citron vodka, rhubarb, raspberry and lemon. It was an absolute dream to drink… plus it is my favourite colour, it is sweet and sour and had a delicious foam on top.  

For small plates, we ordered the Curly Fries, Orleans Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Cornbread Grilled Cheese and Spiced Roast Pumpkin Salad.  

Our favourites were the Curly Fries and Cornbread Grilled Cheese. Both were great snacks to our cocktails and were gone in a flash. The Orleans Buttermilk Fried Chicken was tasty, however the serving size small (compared to the Fried Chicken at say, Mexico). The Spiced Roast Pumpkin Salad was okay, but nothing special, and the serving size was huge! I felt quite ill after eating all that pumpkin. Looking back, maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, although the waitresses thought they were great choices. 

Curly Fries with creole salt, chipotle mayo

Cornbread Grilled Cheese with bacon butter and onions

Orleans Buttermilk Fried Chicken with ranch, scallions and fermented chili

Spiced Roasted Pumpkin with burnt cauliflower, whipped feta, maple pecans, rocket, marinated onions and puffed rice

Unfortunately, we did not have any room for dessert (I blame the pumpkin!). Orleans only serve one thing, and that is PIE. There are four flavours to choose from, including Cherry, Coffee and Bacon, Chocolate, and Pecan – I have heard they are pretty good.

Overall, there are a few things I like about Orleans, and a few things I dislike. While the drinks and service were great, some of the food was a bit of a let down. However, I will definitely go back and give them another chance. Next time, I will go all out, and order the ribs, wings, and waffle stack and all things meaty and Southern. Oh and some pie. I think that is what Orleans is all about. 

I was sent a voucher to dine at Orleans, however all opinions are (and always will be) my own.

Orleans
Roukai Lane, 48 Custom Street East, Auckland CBD / Website / Instagram / Facebook