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From the dimpled dishes of oysters rockefeller flying round the room, you wouldn't guess this was a Monday night in a pub in Angel. All bivalves are half price tonight (tasty too) — something worth bearing in mind if you're seeking early week cheap eats around here.
Plaquemine Lock is like a north London boozer that went on holiday in New Orleans, and came back obsessed. Paddle steamers wend down the Mississippi, and hungry-looking gators gurn from wall murals. The oysters are followed by plates of blackened chicken with rice and peas, gumbo and po boys — comfort food, cajun and creole style.
This isn't a mere gimmick; founder Jacob Kenedy has bona fide Louisiana heritage (his great grandparents Carrie B Schwing & Jacob Hortenstein’s are celebrated in the decor), and the dishes are extremely worthy — if not quite on a par with what you'll find in the Big Easy and its surrounds.
The beer selection is solid (local cask from the likes of Hammerton, plus fridge cans from St Louis, Hawaii and NOLA itself). We'd encourage you to push the (steam)boat out and get a cocktail. Again, the theme is Louisiana; think Hurricanes (less sickly, more rum-addled than the originals they serve at Pat O' Brien's), and a foaming Ramos gin fizz, which you might contentedly slurp in place of dessert.
A place like this risks falling into the bracket of 'try-it-once-novelty'. But — as if imbued with the spirit of NOLA itself — Plaquemine Lock is live and kicking on a Monday; some appear to be locals popping in for a pint and a couple of oysters, others are newbies, here to get stuck into the full works.
