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Best po' boys in the city

By Ryan Chatelain | ryan.chatelain@am-ny.com

2:59 PM EDT, September 5, 2007

This New Orleanian-turned-Brooklynite gets homesick every now and then. And one way I try to cure my ills is by visiting restaurants that serve the dishes I grew up devouring.

I began my hunt for an authentic New Orleans po¹boy -- similar to a sub, commonly filled with fried seafood or roast beef. The most important ingredient in a po¹boy, however, is the bread --crispy outside, soft and airy in the center. I¹ve repeatedly been told that New Orleans French bread cannot be found outside Louisiana, but that didn¹t deter me from looking.

Jacques-Imo's Of all the po¹boys I¹ve sampled in New York, Jacques-Imo¹s is the undisputed champ. An offshoot of a popular New Orleans restaurant, Imo's conducted an exhaustive search of local bakeries to find bread similar to New Orleans French bread; they found it. Po¹boy choices include fried shrimp, fried oyster, the peacemaker (half shrimp and half oyster), blackened redfish and blackened chicken. Po¹boys are available only for Saturday and Sunday brunch, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (366 Columbus Ave.; 212-799-0150; www.jacquesimosnyc.com; $11.95)

The Delta Grill Gregory Tatis trained with famed chef Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans and then brought his knowledge of New Orleans cuisine to The Delta Grill. Although it hasn¹t solved the dilemma of finding the perfect bread, the restaurant does everything right in between and includes the best selection of po¹boys in New York: fried shrimp, fried oysters, half-and-half (shrimp and oysters), popcorn crawfish, catfish, barbecue chicken and barbecue pork. (700 9th Ave.; 212-956-0934; www.thedeltagrill.com; $10-$14)

NoNO Kitchen Tatis¹ latest venture is NoNO, short for north of New Orleans. As expected, the po¹boys are on par with what you would find at The Delta Grill, but with more limited choices: fried shrimp, fried oyster and pulled pork. Try your po¹boy with a side of gumbo; the chicken-and-andouille version is stellar. (293 7th Ave, Park Slope; 718-369-8348; $9-$11)

Great Jones Café Great Jones doesn¹t try to recreate the New Orleans po¹boy. Instead, it does its own thing -- and does it quite well. The blackened catfish po¹boy on Italian bread is delcious. Great Jones also serves a lamb sausage po¹boy -- unheard of in the Big Easy. This cozy NoHo eatery only offers po¹boys during weekday lunch hours. (54 Great Jones St.; 212-674-9304; www.greatjones.com; $9-$10)