Along Jones Creek Rd you’ll find a variety of different places to grab a quick lunch or settle in for a nice dinner. Among them, in a fairly busy shopping center, you’ll find Jasmine’s on the Bayou. Open for business in the late 2000s, Jasmine’s prides themselves on serving up Cajun/creole cuisine with a true New Orleans flare. We’ve visited Jasmine’s many times over the years and have had a mix of experiences. So, what is our typical visit like?
THE FOOD:
True, we’ve had a few bad experiences here and there. But most of the time we leave pretty happy. The food is usually cooked well, never over or under seasoned. On some occasions we have received cold food, but I can only imagine the cause being more of the service side (more on that later). I will say that, on my most recent visit, my catfish was a little under done and slightly fishy. But overall, the food at Jasmine’s is normally close to exceptional. I find that many south Louisiana restaurants try too hard to be cajun or creole and the resulting is food is way over seasoned, burned black, or a mix of both. For Jasmine’s, they are unmistakably Cajun/creole. They seem to nail down the creole flavors without making a big fuss about it. The menu is simple yet diverse… offering a variety of fare, even a pretty good Cuban sandwich. While we haven’t tried many of the desserts, the few we have tried are “ok” at best. Kind of reminiscent of other places that buy premade desserts from bakers or food suppliers. Overall, the food gets a 9/10.
THE SERVICE:
Upon entering, you are normally greeted and seated pretty quickly. They are quick to take your drink order and (in most cases) your food order shortly after. The problem usually starts after you’ve place your food order. It seems that the food takes an excessive amount of time to finally arrive at your table. I used to think it was due to a slow kitchen. But the fact that the food is usually cold after taking a long time to arrive points more to the server staff than the kitchen. Personally, I find that they are understaffed during peak lunch and dinner service, so it’s not so much the fault of the servers (they usually do a bang-up job), it speaks more to the fact that they run a little lean. And I get it… it’s hard to anticipate the peaks and lulls of a typical dinner service. But when it affects the quality of the food, it is worth the time to reevaluate. All in all, the service gets a 8/10.
THE PLACE:
As mentioned before, Jasmine’s doesn’t try to be creole, they just are. The dining room is simple and clean. Without a lot of “over-influence” it gives off a true New Orleans vibe. The music is never too loud and you aren’t distracted by screens on every square-foot of wall space. The chairs are comfy. The space is open and airy. My only gripe would be that the space can be a bit noisy at times. There is not a lot of sound absorption so busy rushes can get quite loud. With that said, we give the ambiance a score of 8/10.’
THE VALUE:
After all that, is it worth what you pay? I can honestly say that the menu prices are pretty reasonable for the quality and quantity of food you receive. Their pricing structure seems to follow suite with that of similar establishments, albeit a little on the higher side on some items. But a small family can have a relatively inexpensive night out for not much more that what you would pay to cook an equivalent meal at home. Value gets a score of 9/10
All that being said, Jasmine’s on the Bayou gets a 1-5 rating of 4.25 (stars, table legs, whatever). This is our humble opinion, presented to you for discussion. We do this not for fame or funding, only for fun. We love to dine out, and we know you do too.