New Orleans food and flare in Old Town, Lansing

For Mommy birthday brunch my girlfriend picked Creole Coffee, the new restaurant in Old Town.  It is a double treat.  By day, it is a tasty brunch and coffee joint, by night the space next door is a hip, jazzy restaurant, Creole.  

Two of us arrived early and we were glad we did!  The place was packed!  It is usually seat yourself but with the amount of people the wait staff was helping to get everyone seated.  While we waited, we got a chance to check things out.  The place is very cool with antique metal advertisements and art on the walls.                        

There is a coffee bar in the back with the selection written, in impeccable handwriting, on a chalkboard.  The large windows in the front make the small area appear more spacious.  

Luckily, we were sat just as the rest of our party arrived.  The menu is fantastic, a mixture of southern goodness and French deliciousness. You can choose from crepes, eggs benedict, and quiche, but also shrimp and grits, and pain Perdue (French toast).  Even the drinks are awesome!  None of us drink coffee, ironic for a visit to a "coffee Company" but they have tea and honey steamers.  

The tea comes in it's own seeping pot with an hourglass timer.  I love this!!!  

My girlfriend got the honey steamer with was infused with rosemary.  It was both yummy and pretty to look at.  The china cup and saucer helped!   

The breakfast items tasted as good as the descriptions suggested.  The beignets were warm, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  Oh My Goodness, yummy!!!! 

 The quiche had a flaky buttery crust with fresh veggies and fluffy eggs.  I wanted the egg benedict with the crab cake base, but it was so popular that they were out by the time we ordered.  No worries the Tasso ham and spinach eggs benedict didn't disappoint!!!  Spicy and gooey with fresh spinach...yum!!!  The hollandaise sauce is rich, but not so rich that it overtakes the whole dish. Perfect!  
Finally, they serve crepes, but not just crepes, bananas foster crepes!!!  Wow!!!

That is just the brunch!!

The restaurant space, next door ,looked so cool and I spied a cask beer tap, so a few weeks later, when it was Daddy Daughter dance night,  I took my favorite son to dinner.  He has a great palate so I knew he would appreciate Creole. 

Like the cafe side the restaurant is full of character.  The bricks are exposed and the pipes are visible with wooden chairs and tables you feel like you are transported to the Big Easy.   They had four types of beer on tap.  Two local, and two imports, one of which was an ESB!!!  That is the only way to get me to order a non-Michigan craft beer.  Offer an English cask beer!  

Word of warning...they do not have kid friendly drinks such as root beer.  but they serve water in beautiful glass bottles.  
With our drinks our waitress offered fresh corn bread.  Nice!!!

Of course, my son wanted to start with gumbo, so I ordered the lobster bisque.  They were served in the adorable little pots, just the right size for an appetizer.
We wanted to order everything on the menu but needed to narrow it down.  My son asked what pork belly was and once he heard it was like bacon he was set.  We both are huge fans of crab cakes so that was a given and thankfully he likes Brussels sprouts because I was psyched to try them here.  

The pork shank was cooked to perfection, not too greasy as it can be with that much fat but not dried out in the process.  It was served with savory bread pudding that, like savory kugel, translates well from its sweet cousin.

The crab cake was served with a mango tomatillo gastrique that paired really well.   I was glad there was an ample amount on the plate because I did a lot of dipping. 

But my favorite dish was the Brussels sprouts.  Easily a dish in itself for a vegetarian, they were served in a sweet cranberry sauce with pumpkin seeds and crisp flaky kale.   The sweetness of the sauce was a perfect match for the tang of the sprouts.  Yummy!!!  

We almost licked the plates clean.  Of course, we ordered dessert!!!  Having not been with us for the brunch, my son ordered the beignets (I didn't argue, wanting to have them again) and I ordered the bread pudding.  It is served chilled unlike many other places and it works!!!  This makes it less gooey and easy and more like a cake.  The bourbon caramel sauce was amazing!!!  And again I was grateful for the abundance of sauce!  

We left with full bellies and more than happy with our meal.  You will be too.  Happy eating at Creole!