I went to Saffron last night, which is the hip new place in New Orleans, and though I try to go to a place a couple times before forming complete thoughts, I'll skip that this time because it's unlikely I'm going to return in the immediate future.

Not because the food wasn't good. Because I had to get a reservation a couple weeks in advance, for an early seating. And it wasn't that good.

I was looking forward to it in large part because I've been putzing around with indian food a lot more at home, and New Orleans hasn't had any high-end indian joints, to my knowledge, since I moved here quite a while ago.

The food was good. Not great, but good. The prices were all about 30% higher than they should have been. $12 for a brownie and a little scoop of ice cream? $18 for three slices o' eggplant filled with a paneer / zucchini schmear and topped with yogurt? Come on now.

I was hoping it was Indian food with a New Orleans flair. But except for some mustard greens, there wasn't a ton of New Orleans going on. So I'm left with a high-end Indian restaurant where the defining characteristic is a decent amount of the spices are . . . toned down. Dal was good. Naan was not good-not-great (but the existence of truffle naan is, IMO, a little inexcusable). Lamb chops were good, though I wish they would have asked for a temp.

Ultimately - and this could be old-man-yelling-at-cloud territory - I just don't quite understand the hubbub. It's good! It's new! I'll go back.