Mat and Naddie's

I went Dining Out For Life with a couple of friends tonight and we tried someplace new to us - Mat and Naddie's over in the Riverbend. With a very eclectic menu, there were plenty of choices for all of us.

The cocktails were quite good - I had the French 75 which was quite tasty but Charlotte had something with gin, St. Germain, vermouth and sour cherry syrup which was amazingly good. It tasted like more so she ordered a second and I helped her drink it.

She and Thomas started with the Poisson Cru, a tuna ceviche with coconut milk. I'm not a fan generally of ceviche but the coconut milk was a nice touch and muted the usually overly strong lime flavor.

I am a sucker for fried chicken, especially for fried chicken with waffles. While the chicken could have used a little more flavor, it was juicy and tender with a nice crust. The pecan wild rice waffles were a little scant (and one was hidden under the pile of greens) with an interesting texture but the maple sauce was very good.

Charlotte had the mushroom and gruyere roulade which was a very interesting presentation. Usually a roulade is meat rolled around a filing and cooked. This had the cheese as the roll but flavor was deep and delicious.

Thomas had the lamb chops with chakchouka (egg poached in crouton and served with squash and eggplant). I quite liked the lamp popsicles that were nice and tender.

We ended with some very good desserts. Thomas had the creole flan (Maple Creme Caramel), I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake and Charlotte went for the Chocolate Truffle Cake with a raspberry coulis. All were very good to the very last bite.

I always like to promote places that give back to the community. That they participate in Dining Out For Life where they donate 25% of the bill  to the NO/AIDS Task Force to help people living with HIV/AIDS is a definite plus in my books. I totally see why so many people have recommended this restaurant to me in the past. Good food and open hearts make for a lovely time.