Lengua Madre

If I could give more stars , I would!! Fantastic experience at Lengua Madre in New Orleans.
Owned by Chef Ana Castro, she brings generations of delicious dishes to her restaurant. It is a Chef's Table style restaurant. Reservations are required. Seating is limited in this intimate setting. The dinner is a 5 course meal, with an optional wine pairing for an additional fee.
Our menu was a showcase for their housemade masa. The menu changes seasonally and is not made known in advance. I will tell you however, that everything is interesting on your palate and delicious!!
The service is impeccable...each dish explained fully. Dishes delivered and removed with elegant precision. Careful attention is paid to allergies and dietary needs.
If you are looking for an upscale dining adventure, look no further!
$$$$. Street parking.

My husband made a reservation for Lengua Madre. We are both vegetarian and they were able to modify the menu to cater to our dietary preferences. We sat at the bar and Justin C served us. He was really nice, explained the flavors of each dish, recommended pairings, checked in on us and was really fun to conversate with. I usually don't sit at the bar but it was really fun being by all the chefs and the kitchen.

We started with a small soup refresher (not featured) that was delicious and flavorful. Followed by a really tasty tomatillo soup,flautas, make your own seared trumpet mushroom tacos, watermelon refresher and a delicious meyer lemon dessert with salted lemon cream. The savory dishes wer outstanding and i was impressed with how creative they were with the ingredients. All the flavors were unreal, presentation was great, service was excellent and the ambiance was dark and romantic. It's a small space so i definitely recommend reserving a table. We hope to come back and try some new items next time we're in the big easy!

Awesome experience-you need to go before they close at the end of the year!
I've been wanting to try Lengua Madre forever and other things kept getting in the way but I finally made it!!! Michael was our server and he was fantastic! He was so detailed with explaining each course! Even thinking about it today, I'm having a hard time picking my favorite course!! The wine pairings were awesome-I had several wines that I would typically avoid (like a moscato) that blew me away! Lengua Madre is also very conscientious of dietary accommodations/restrictions. I wish I was eating all of this again right now!!

Authentic yes... flavorful no. It was a good high end Mexican food experience. However nothing had spice or seasoning. Even the atroz con leche had no texture and lacked Cinnamon. The food was just too dumbed down and extremely expensive
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Lovely meal at a lovely place. A place with no signage. Thank you for making my trip to NOLA memorable. Loved !

I'll start by saying that coming to a "set menu" restaurant means that I'm trusting the chef to take me on a wild journey of flavors. & really me, with no chef experience, would be thrilled to have that power in my hands!

I basically got shrimp soup, tuna ceviche, crab tostada, truffle tamale, build your own beef taco, & orange chocolate dessert.

I enjoyed the crab tostada because you can't go wrong with fresh crab & mayo on something crispy. I liked the truffle tamale because, duh, truffle. Also, the tamale wasn't doughy or gritty. It was a good mix of savory and sweet.

The wagyu beef cheek completely threw me off. It was wasn't tender, soft, or seasoned. More like gelatinous and bland? The mouth feel was not for me & to call it wagyu is just wrong.

I am disappointed that Lengua Madre wasn't creative with the possibility of what could be done. This is New Orleans where we over season everything !

Had a wonderful experience with my boyfriend. From the minimalist (but funky) decor to the mocktail they crafted for me, everything was on point. I've visited NOLA my entire life and somehow have missed this lil spot. Everything was incredible. Can't wait for our next visit. Definitely recommend putting this on any foodie list :)

Hidden gem, fancy Mexican restaurant with 5 courses tasting. They ask if you have any food allergies or special diet before they personalize a menu for you. Food was definitely delicious and very traditional but I wished they served at least 7 courses, favorite ones; Caldito Shrimp Lime Juice, Epazote Tamal Tomato Bottarga, Porcelet Carnitas Rainier Cherries Memela & Chocoflan Coffee Caramel Cacao Nib. Bartender had some awesome ideas for non alcoholic "mocktails", my favorite was "Watermelon Tepache". Great atmosphere and bartender was very knowledgeable.

For me, I really like corn.

Do you also? Then you'll love this place!!!

First of all, it's corn. A big lump with nobs.
It has the juice. Corn juice, specifically. The morado cocktail with purple CORN whiskey was quite amazing. The coconut Negroni was really cool and surprising too, but no corn unfortunately.

I can't imagine a more beautiful thing... Lengua Madre did a really good job with every course. I think all but 1 had corn ITS CORN incorporated into it. From the colorful dried lumps on the lagniappe broth plate to the tres leches with kettle corn... so much corn. I think they prefer masa but I have the song in my head.

It's corn. I can tell you ALLLL about it. I mean, look at this thing.
When I tried it with butter, everything changed. Specifically the best dish is the corn gnocchi with mushroom, crab, more corn, and the butter. This dish was truly a game changer. I did attempt to order another of this course lol but I was full.
The best part about corn is the grease.

The corn break can restore your energy
You really appreciate the hard work when you love something and you can tell how thoughtful the restaurant was incorporating corn into each dish.

If you or anyone loves corn, if you come to me, I can tell you all about it. All about my experience at Lengua Madre.

If I was surrounded by corn, I would eat all of it.. thankfully a mile separates me from this restaurant so I can't eat it all. But I would. Especially the corn gnocchi with the butter juice.

It's got the juice!

This place was a huge disappointment for us. It was recommended by a few people, so we were all excited to try it, as we have been to Mexico several times and know the flavors. We have also eaten various Mexican cuisines around the USA.

Service: I would have given this place another star, but our server was so unfriendly and unwelcoming. She appeared as if she hated her job. And it was paining her to serve us. The gentleman who came around once was much friendlier. We were celebrating a big milestone birthday. We wrote about it on the reservation, which was made weeks ago. Nothing was acknowledged. We went to several other restaurants in NOLA and they all acknowledged the milestone- this place should take notes from Commanders on that aspect!

Ambience: It's cute but nothing special or memorable. The restroom had the lowest water pressure and no toilet paper refills. The pink lights are gimmicky.

Food: They did ask us our dietary restrictions, so that was nice. The majority of the food was underwhelming and muddled flavors. The presentation of the plates looked upscale, but the food was quite lackluster in flavors. 2 of the 5 courses were a bit better than others, but dessert was the worst of them all. It was an icy lemon popsicle that smelled like a stale, wet towel. Inedible.



Bottom line: The value is not worth it in my opinion. Many better restaurants in NOLA! Save your money and dine at another establishment which will give you a much better global experience. We left bitter and hungry.