Mrs. King and I split a tuna salad sandwich this morning. It is a rare thing to find in New Orleans.
Never before has so much attention been lavished on recollecting a tuna sandwich. Shall we begin?
It is almost impossible to order to tunafish sandwich in New Orleans. Tuna salad is not Creole. We are not in New Jersey. This is New Orleans.
Apropos of nothing, Mrs. King suggested we go to the Tremé Coffee House. It is in Tremé. We had never been but, being the kind of fellow who loves an é with an accent, I assented with gusto.
We went.
The shop was full of schoolchildren. There is a school across the street.
A lady who rides her bicycle past our house every morning is a teacher there. She was just pulling up to the school when Mrs. King and I arrived. It is always nice to see her. Today, we got to see her twice.
The lady behind the counter took our coffee order and asked if we wanted anything else. I shook my head in the negative. Mrs. King said, impishly, “They have a tuna sandwich.”
I changed my mind. “Yes,” I said. The lady behind the counter laughed at my change in demeanor. It is almost impossible to get a tuna salad sandwich in New Orleans.
This was a good one.
There was ample tuna salad on this sandwich it was light on the mayonnaise, just enough to bind the ingredients without being overly gloppy. Tremé Coffee House does not skimp on its sandwiches. This was a meal. Mrs. King and I split it. It only cost $8.00.
The same sandwich at Flour Moon Bagels would cost $14.00 and they do not have tuna salad. They do have whitefish salad at Flower Moon, but that is not the same. Also, while not stingy, Flour Moon is not as generous with their whitefish as Tremé Coffee House is with their tunafish.
As with most things, I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to tuna salad. I have no quibble with onion and celery, and, let me tell you, the onion in this tuna was minced and the celery was diced to perfection.
I am not complaining. In fact, I am complimenting the chef. This tuna salad had halved grapes in it. Big, juicy purple grapes—the kind you pick off the vine. It was a very nice touch. As I say, I dislike novelty, I have to admit, I liked this tuna salad.
It is served on a croissant, which I would also normally turn my nose up at.
It is almost impossible to find a good tuna salad sandwich in New Orleans. At Tremé Coffee House, I think I have found the best. You should go for breakfast. The tuna sandwich is ample enough for two people to split, which is what Mrs. King and I did.
We both agreed that sandwich is a winner.
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I love a good tuna sandwich, and I've heard theirs are great. When I was laid up with covid last fall, I was craving one and some folks raved about the one at Treme' Coffeehouse. I'll give it a try when I'm there. I hear Stein's Deli does a good one, too.