Happy Hour at Toulouse Petit

Toulouse Petit in Queen Ann has one of the best Happy Hours in the nation.  Now I know why.  My husband and I ate there with my brother and his wife and the four of us had a delicious meal, filled with small plates and yummy cocktails.  Because of the Happy Hour pricing, we were able to try a bunch of unique foods.  Toulouse Petit is a restaurant specializing in Creole and Cajun food.  This was my first time trying Creole so I was excited to introduce my palette to some new things I've never tasted.  I loved all the spices and various textures.  Fried Green Tomatoes and Tuna Tartare were my favorite plates and now I can say I've eaten them.    

 My sister-in law and I adored the votive candles on the walls.  We also liked the warm colors and feel of the restaurant. 

 The four of us started off with drinks before we even looked at the food menu.  Happy Hour started at four so we wanted to relax and spend a couple of hours tasting different items.  I started with a Toulouse Sangria that had Tequila.  I was so refreshing and fruity.  The Tequila gave the cocktail more a Margarita taste.  It was delicious so I sipped it slowly and the drink paired well with my food.

My husband drank a Sazarac.  It had rye whisky, absinthe, bitters and sugar.  The drink was super strong and it took him a while to knock it back.  Absinthe was something we'd heard about what never tried. 

Their Happy Hour menu is quite large and it took us a while to decide what to order.  So we got whatever sounded good and when the four of us polished that off, we would order more.  There's over fifty items on the menu, with nothing priced over eight bucks. 

We started with a couple of salads.  This one has yellow beets and haricots verts with toasted walnuts, olives and stilton bleu cheese. 

The other salad had bibb lettuce and arugula. 

Next, we ordered the beef sliders with pomme frites and aioli. 

Then it was time to try some true Cajun dishes.  This is the Classic Shrimp Creole.  It had a lot of spices and the shrimp was juicy and tender.

We also ordered the Tombo Tuna Tartare with a Horseradish-Truffle Vinaigrette.  It came to the table with a tiny quail's egg on top of the tuna tartare that was interesting.  I liked the salty flavors with the soft texture of the tartare.  I was really good spread on the bread. 

The Tuna Tartare with the egg out of the shell.  Definitely an interesting dish and yes, I'd eat it again.

 Then it was time to try some fresh oysters so we got the Lucky Pierre Oysters Three Ways. 

The Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade.  I loved these and always wondered how they'd taste.   Green tomatoes have a light, salty flavor and in my opinion, anything fried is good. 



We also tried something new, the Savory Crawfish Beignets.  They had a hot pepper jelly and spicy 'louis' sauce that added a ton of flavor. 

One more view of the Fried Green Tomatoes.  Take a bite!

Then it was time for dessert.  With all of us just trying a bite here and there of each plate, we actually still had room!  The dessert menu was great looking and it took us a while to make up our mind.  We ended up all sharing the Ice Cream and Valhrona Brownie Sundae with pear caramel, carmalized bananas and candied pecans. 

We all loved our dessert.  The vanilla ice cream was very smooth and creamy and there was two kinds of rich caramel.  We each got just several bites, but they were perfect bites.  What a way to end an incredible meal.