Cajun Kitchen, Viet-Cajun Seafood with Live Crawfish Year-Round in Chinatown

[Josh]

Crawfish season is just getting underway here in Houston, and today's visit to Cajun Kitchen marked our first batch.  We opted for the "Fatass Number 1" combination.  3 pounds of crawfish (still pretty small this early in the season), a half-pound of head-on shrimp, and a generous section of snow crab legs, plus some potatoes and corn.  Market price was $56 today, including the $2 upcharge for the "Kitchen Special" spicing on the boil (which appears to include orange slices, generous amounts of garlic and ginger, onions and peppers.  Totally fair, I think, given the amount of seafood you get, but YMMV.  We got "medium" spice on the boil, planning to share with the boys, but be forewarned that "medium" is pretty damn spicy.  The shrimp and crab are clearly added after the crawfish are tossed in the spice, and were mild enough to share with kids. 

Aside from the boiled seafood, the garlic noodles and Viet-spiced chicken wings were winners with the whole table.  The noodles are fairly thick, tossed in a garlic sauce, and topped with ample amounts of sweet lump blue crab meat and crispy fried shallots.  The wings veer toward the sweet side, with a nice backbone of funky fish sauce.  There are big screen TVs all around the dining room, and cheap domestic beers available...This could be a great place to spend an afternoon watching a baseball game come Spring.

[DonRocks]

Sep 27, 2018 - "Top 100 Houston Restaurant: Cajun Kitchen" by Alison Cook on houstonchronicle.com