Clementine Dining & Spirits

The food is pretty good but not worth the price they charge. The service was very slow the few times that we dined here. After three tries I won’t be back.

I’ll start with the positive: the food, once we finally got it, was delicious. The crab fingers were probably the best I ever had, and the shrimp pasta was pretty amazing too. The negative: everything else. It took forever to get the waitress to even take our drink order. They didn’t have a wine list, and the waitress had no idea what wines were available. She was also generally clueless as to what any of the menu items entailed. The biggest problem by far, though, was
The wait. We were in the restaurant for over two hours (we left right after eating), even though there weren’t very many people there and the menu only had 5 entrees. To make matters worse it’s generally overpriced, especially the drinks ($ 8 for a tiny glass of house Chardonnay). We’ll never be back.

Giving 1 star is a push. We are here because we looked at the menu on line and it looked good. The new menu has 5 entrees, 4 appetizers, 4 soups and 4 soups. The service is the worst I have ever seen and I have been in the business over 35 years. We had wine and are leaving. Can’t seem to get a check for that. I would NEVER go in this place again. This place needs some serious help. They have candles on the table that don’t work and a postcard promoting someone’s art work. This place is a piece of trash

Guaranteed the worst dining experience of my life. Asked for a wine list and was told it didn’t match what they had. Every course took at least 30 minutes to arrive. Half the table got entrees while the other half waited another 30 minutes for there food to arrive. Waitress at one point wiped the wine on her hip to stop the dripping. The website shows a number of menu choices that are non existent once you get there. Do not waste your time and money at this restaurant.

Big disappointment! The food was so so, service was poor but the price was high. Can do way better for less.

Came here on the Tabasco tasting tour for the last stop, dessert. Bread pudding. Light and tasty, with jellied meringue on top. Excellent.

Traveling on business I have the opportunity to try many restaurants around the country.
Some good, some bad and some just ordinary. Clementine is none of these. It is amazing. The wait staff greeted me when I came in. The drinks came out quickly and the ambiance of the restaurant is great. Now the food. I had the beef tours axis for an appetizer and they were incredible.
For the main course I asked the chef to cook what she is happiest with and wow… just wow! She called it a bonnebell, crab cake wrapped in puff pastry with a seafood sauce on top. If you eat here ask very nicely and maybe she will make it for you! It’s not on the menu but it is awesome.
I love this place and I. Ant wait until work brings me back.
Highest recommendation.

Crawfish boudin wontons is a misnomer. Fortunately the waiter explained that to me before I committed to the order. Sad though, because what was delivered was not a Cajun, lagniappe-​defining wonton but a rather small and extra-​crispy fried wonton with flavor reminiscent of crawfish rather than spilling boudin. Order something different.
My crisply catfish with étouffée was excellent. The potato salad side was the perfect blend of smooth and chunky with just enough mustard to make it tangy. Rarely do I mention potato salad, but this was GOOD.
Service is S. LA all the way. The manager has a big, welcoming smile for everyone. My waiter was not experienced but honest and hard-​working. The ambiance is very interesting with the paintings mentioned by other reviewers.

Food was good. Service totally sucked. Waiter was friendly, but disappeared for 30 minutes at a time. Took over 2 hours to get served and eat… and we were never even asked if we wanted dessert. Ran out of time and patience, anyway.
The interesting thing is we told them it was our anniversary, and they acted like they were going to make sure we got extra special treatment. Not even close. Drinks never refilled. Not once. And I’m talking water and iced tea. How hard can it be?
Too bad, though, because we would have made the effort to go back. Not anymore.

The atmosphere is so unique – we loved the art pieces all over the restaurant! Our server Joel was great and so funny, and made our experience enjoyable. The food took a little long to come out, but was all very good and the french bread and speciality butter was delicious and kept us happy while we waited. The crawfish and catfish special was very delicious – would recommend! The crayons on the table added extra fun as well!

This is the second time this year that I have been to New Iberia and Clementine’s. Both experiences were brilliant, the first time around I had the bison steak and this time I had the seared ahi tuna, chicken sausage gumbo and the dry rub rib-​eye. I blacked out twice eating the rib-​eye, the spinach and sweet potato complimented steak very well. the I had a decent malbec to accompany the meal. The specialty butter with the french bread was a Mediterranean butter with spices and with a hint of sugar. The staff is on point and there was a live music to make the ambiance a place where you want to return to enjoy a meal.

Definitely did not expect to find a steak this good in new Iberia, LA… no offense intended.
Had the Filet with loaded baked potato. Filet was cooked just as ordered and was very flavorful. I would compare to a Flemings on scale of quality.

I think their scallops wrapped in bacon are some of the best I’ve had – anywhere. Just perfect, though the sauce seems sort of unnecessary. Other items on the main menu are a little inconsistent, but I’ve been really happy with everything I’ve ordered despite getting not quite what I expected on a couple occasions.
Also, you’ll have to trust me on this because it sounds really awful, but you have to try the fried Oreos on the dessert menu. They are INSANE. In the best way. :)

After reading all the reviews here and also getting a local recommendation I headed to Clementine for dinner a little late (8:00pm).
I opted to sit down in the bar area that seemed to be busier than the dinning room on a Wednesday. Service was excellent, the place is nice enough, a little casual on the bar side. They had an interesting wine menu and full bar and a food menu that somehow lacked a little Louisiana flair.
Yes I was a little disappointed not to see lots off Cajun food choices but I managed to find a couple and since Cajun is not part of my regular diet, I indulged. I started with the Cajun Boudin Wontons — arguably I thought that would be the most «questionable» choice — and then went with the Cajun Tuna for my entrée.
The Wontons were awesome, I mean really! What a surprise, nice spicy flavor, great dipping sauce, I was truly impressed and figured this should definitely get better, right?
Not so much… The Tuna steak was cooked as requested, medium rare, and came covered with a crawfish smothered in Cajun seasoning. The first problem was the extreme saltiness… The crawfish Cajun dressing was just too salty, so much so it was hard to eat it. It reminded me of the canned Cajun seasoning… When you put enough to season the meat it ends up too salty since the ratio of salt to spice seems too high…
As far as the tuna steak, well although it’s supposed to be sushi grade, the steak had veins running through it — the stringy type of vein, that you definitely wouldn’t see in sushi much less a good quality cut of tuna.
I was let down… I didn’t quite finish my tuna, it was underwhelming…
Overall, I guess this place has potential? But not for Cajun tuna… And we’re in the heart of Louisiana? Epic fail.

I visit New Iberia 6 – 7 weeks out of the year. Every week I am in town, I make it a point to eat at Clementine’s. Not only that, but I get the same dish every time (yea, one of those people). The 8oz. Filet with Blue Cheese Sauce and Tabasco Onion Strings. YUM!
Every time I have gone, they serve the bread with regular butter and then a specialty butter. I think I have had a chocolate butter, an apple butter, and a spicy butter. All very uniquie, but good at the same time.
Sometimes the service is a little slow, but the food makes up for it. I will continue to go back as long as I travel to New Iberia.

What a lovely find in New Iberia. Really groovy place. The antique wood bar is worth going in for just a drink, but the food was great, the service was exceptional (really friendly) and having the crayons to draw on the paper atop the tablecloth was fun.
Loved the french bread stick being served warm and in a long white paper bag, the specialty butter was delicious.
Recommend trying the oreo beignets for dessert!
Would definitely eat here again.

I eat here once a month when work takes me to this area and I make it a point to eat here. The food is always top-​notch. The service is excellent and always one step ahead of us. The space itself is beautiful with a large open dining room.
They have a seafood gumbo and a chicken and sausage gumbo here. The chicken and sausage is the better of the two. I love gumbo and their chicken and sausage gumbo is pretty darn good! The red snapper comes with mushrooms and spinach and is drizzled all over with this brown butter (divine)!! The chicken parmesan is delicious and always hits the spot. The steak farci is my favorite dish here though. It is ground chuck (which all burger lovers would enjoy) stuffed with jalapenos and monterey jack cheese then topped with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and bellpeppers… all this yummy goodness for only $ 10 :)
Other standouts on the menu: The cajun wontons (stuffed with crawfish boudin sausage), the blackened shrimp pasta, the osso bucco, the George burger (ground chuck of course), and the fried green tomatoes.
I also love how they pay homage to the late artist Clementine Hunter by the way they place the silverware. A fork is placed over the spoon and knife to look like Clementine’s trademark CH. Of course the restaurant is also named after her.
I think Clementine is the best dining destination in New Iberia! HANDS-​DOWN!

This was truly fine dining in the Bayou! turns out the chef is from New Orleans… it was a fairly sophisticated menu and I highly recommend the fried green tomatos topped with lump crab meat! I enjoyed a steak for dinner and my mother had the lecan encrusted gulf fish! it was rich and delicious. While the food was good, the real highlight was the staff! Our waiter and waitress (we had 2 folks keeping up with us). They were friendly, informative, generous, and delightful! I would definitely go back.

Excellent Tuna
Excellent Red Snapper
Excellent service
What more needs to be said.

A few co-​workers and I dined at Clemetine yesterday for lunch while «out in the field». The restaurant was quaint and the items on the menu were delicious. We started off sharing two appetizers:
The Stuffed Mushrooms which is described as a blend of artichokes, prosciutto ham, spinach, and cheese stuffed into mushroom caps and topped with Alfredo sauce and baked until golden brown — -DeLicious!
And the Bite Size Natchitoches Meat Pies which were served with a zesty Mustard sauce. If those two items indicated what the entrée’s were going to be like, then we were in for an awesome lunch. Not to mention the complimentary hot french bread .we had 2 loaves!
The entrees were very unique and tasty. I suggest Margarita Chicken (panned breast topped with a citrus lime beurre blanc) and the Melrose Avocado Chicken Salad. Let’s just say we left happy plates at the end of lunch. I will definitely go back to Clementine’s next time in New Iberia.