Since I am an exhausted senior that doesn’t always have time to look for new restaurants, recently I’ve taken to looking to those around me for ideas for this column. Typically, I don’t involve my boyfriend in my restaurant reviews. However, I was recently struck with an idea while talking with him. For pretty much the entirety of the three years that we’ve been together, he’s continually mentioned the restaurant Cajun King. He and his friends go there a lot to hang out, and he seems to have a deep respect and sense of nostalgia for the place. So, in a stroke of genius I asked him to take me along. He seemed somewhat shocked at my suggestion, but nevertheless he agreed to take me.
First things first, I’ll give credit where credit is due. I think this is the first ever Cajun restaurant that I’ve been to where the staff was actually speaking French Creole to each other and it genuinely took me by surprise. It was almost like hearing Italian spoken at an Olive Garden. But, overall, I took it as a good sign that the food would hopefully be pretty authentic and, therefore, tasty.
Cajun King’s atmosphere and decor were interesting, to say the least. The place was decorated with several mardi gras beads that were stapled to the ceiling. There were also several paper masks thrown onto the walls, the type you would get at Party City. I also noticed several stains on the ceiling.
Since I have yet to get sick from a buffet, I am typically the biggest defender of buffets. However, some of the food at the buffet looked really dried out, so I’m not sure how long it was sitting there. It is also worth noting that my boyfriend and I went at around six o’clock in the evening, prime dinner hours, and there was only one other customer there.
A few weeks ago I talked about the impressive labelling at Taj Cuisine of India and how they went out of their way to point out things such as which dishes were vegan. Cajun King was the opposite of that. A lot of the food options had little cards next to them which said what each dish was. But there was no mention of the ingredients for allergens in each dish. Furthermore, the staff mostly stayed in the back kitchen, so they really weren’t available to answer questions about ingredients. Since I do try to avoid meat, this made things kind of difficult. Some dishes, like blackened catfish and fried chicken, I obviously avoided. However, with others I was totally left in the dark. There were many sides such as the green beans, where I couldn’t tell if they were made with meat or not. I also noticed there were some dishes missing from the buffet despite there being a space and a label for it, such as mac and cheese and hush puppies. This made me kind of sad, because those few extra vegetarian dishes would have really made a difference for me. I ended up eating like four things that I was pretty sure were meat-free, such as cornbread and bread pudding. But if you have severe food allergies or if you adhere to a stricter diet, such as veganism, then I would just recommend avoiding this place entirely.
The food that I did have actually wasn’t half bad. Most of the corn bread that I get at restaurants tends to be way too dry. However, this was actually pretty moist and nice. The rice and the potatoes were also well-seasoned. The bread pudding’s texture kind of weirded me out at first; it was almost gelatinous. But, overall, it tasted pretty good, especially when accompanied by the caramel sauce they had made for it.
About halfway through the meal, the server brought out a fresh basket of fried catfish to our table, which I thought was a nice touch. I did not eat any, but my boyfriend did, and he said it was pretty good. He also said they typically bring a basket of fresh beignets to each table. However, we were never brought any while we were there.
Overall, Cajun King reminded me of the beginning of an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsey would have way too much fun picking apart the party store decor and the possible safety hazards. The food was, for the most part, decent, so I think there may be hope for this place. But as of right now, Cajun King is still a little rough around the edges. If the idea of an unlimited cajun food buffet really appeals to you then I would say sure, go ahead and go here. Otherwise, if you’re just looking for a good buffet then I would recommend Taj Cuisine of India. And if you’re just looking for cajun food then I would recommend the new Cajun Corner that recently opened on 23rd street.
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