Grilled Crostini from Roosterfish

I have a general rule when reviewing a restaurant that I dine there at least three times. But I’m willing to make an exception for pop-up restaurants since the menu changes weekly.

You gotta love social media. Without it, it would have taken me much longer to find Roosterfish — New Orleans’ latest pop-up place by chefs Evan Benson and Cory Bourgeois.

It just so happened a friend of mine on Facebook liked the Roosterfish page last night. Me being the nosy foodie I am checked it out, salivated over the menu, texted a friend, hopped in the car and headed over.

Roosterfish pops up in the Tartine kitchen located at 7217 Perrier St. They’re popping up every Tuesday starting at 6 p.m. with a menu featuring seafood that’s expected to change weekly.

Last night’s experience is a great sign of things to come.My friend and I ordered six small plates to split.

Octopus Ceviche from Roosterfish

First up was the Grilled Crostini with Lima puree, leek onion compote, buratta and truffled honey. Honestly, this dish had me at truffled honey and buratta. While I wish the bread were a little more crisp, all the flavors worked great together. Especially the truffled honey I had such high expectations for. The buratta was top notch as well.

Next up was the Octopus Ceviche with cilantro, watermelon and ginger soy citronette. This is by far the best ceviche I’ve had in New Orleans. It’s always surprised me with all the fresh seafood available that more restaurants aren’t doing spectacular ceviche in this city, but Roosterfish got it 100% right. It was vibrant on the plate, composed well flavorwise and had just the right amount of sweetness, saltiness and acidity.

Shrimp Dumplings from Roosterfish

Following the ceviche, the next plate was the Mussels with smoked tomato, chorizo, chilis and roasted garlic. I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of mussels. I find them to be too much work for too little flavor, but these were good. I would have to mark this dish not applicable since I don’t have enough experience with mussels to know good from great.

Following that dish was my favorite dish of the night: Shrimp Dumplings with corn coconut soup, ancho bubbles and cilantro oil. Wow! I was ready to lick the bowl clean. The corn coconut soup made my eyes roll back. The shrimp dumpling was also one of the best I’ve ever had. To me, it was the perfect homage to dim sum just prepared in an updated way. I’m gonna do my best to recreate that corn coconut soup. Two major thumbs up on this entire dish.

Next was the Seared Gulf Fish (Drum) with brussel leaves, truffled cauliflower and beurre noisette. This dish, for me, was the low point of the whole experience. The cut of my fish was too thick so I didn’t get the crispiness I was hoping for. Additionally, the brussel leaves were a little overpowering for the subtlety of the drum. That said, the truffled cauliflower was a winner in my book. Notice a pattern with the truffles?

The final dish was the Lump Crab Gnocchi with smoked mushrooms, sage and sweet pea puree. A great finish to the savory portion of the meal. The gnocchi was light and pillowy, but the crab meat could have used a little seasoning especially combined with the pea puree. Still a good dish all around.

I should have been stuffed by this point, but how was I going to resist a slice of Lemon Icebox Pie? It’s just not in my nature. And I made the right choice. The pie had one of the best homemade graham cracker crusts I’ve ever had and the lemon filling was the perfect consistency. I didn’t want it to end.

Mussels from Roosterfish

Overall, I’m extremely glad I got the urge to go to Roosterfish. It won’t be my last time. I’m very excited to see this place continue and succeed because it’s that good. Do yourself a favor and mark your calendar for the next Tuesday you can and make the trip over.

Roosterfish is located at 7217 Perrier StS and open on Tuesday for dinner from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Be sure to like the Roosterfish Facebook page or follow @Roosterfishnola to stay update on their menu and news.