Fodor's Expert Review Pascal's Manale

Barbecue shrimp is an addictive regional specialty that involves neither a barbecue nor barbecue sauce, and Pascal's is considered the dish's birthplace. The original recipe, introduced a half century ago, remains unchanged: jumbo shrimp, still in the shell, are cooked in a buttery pool enhanced with just the right amount of Creole spice and pepper. The rest of the menu here is taken up with generally unexciting regional seafood and Italian-style creations, although the turtle soup and the fried eggplant are good starters, and the upper-crust scene always amuses (particularly because most diners don bibs). Most important, the atmospheric old bar might be the best place in the city to slurp raw oysters.