Go the Cajun way for seafood

Tucked away in Windward City Shopping Center, Cajun King is quite an unusual catch. You just have to know where to look: It’s right next to Genki Sushi (where Joyful Garden used to be).

When you arrive, you’ll be greeted with what co-owner and vice president Tony Siakkhasone Lai describes as fresh seafood with Cajun flavors and local flair.

“We take Cajun flavors and alter it to the local taste,” he explains. “And the sauce, I’d say, is more local than authentic Cajun. The sauce is our specialty — it’s homemade. The (flavors) we chose accommodate more to local taste buds.”

Although Cajun fare may be unfamiliar to some people in the Islands, Cajun King has found that local audiences have quite the appetite for it. After opening its first location in Aiea, the eatery expanded to Kaneohe in September.

The appeal? “Half the fun is the good food,” Siakkhasone Lai says. “The other half is enjoying the experience of the food.”

That experience is a hands-on one — that can get messy.

The menu allows diners to choose their choice of seafood (from lobster, Dungeness crab, snow crab legs, clams and more), select a seasoning to pair with it and a desired spice level.

Siakkhasone Lai suggests Half A Dozen Raw Oysters ($14) as a complement to any meal. The dish features fresh, raw oysters with hints of ponzu, tobiko and green onion.

If you’re not sure where to go from there, Cajun King recommends the ever-popular combo meals.

“They have a little bit of everything,” Siakkhasone Lai says.

The combo meals include Combo #1 ($48), which features a whole lobster, craw-fish, mussels, shrimp and clams. The combo — as all combo meals do — includes potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage and rice.

While you may want to hoard the zesty seafood all to yourself, Siakkhasone Lai says that the portion size typically is enough to feed two or three people.

Cajun King also offers Two Choice Lunch Combo for $12.99, which gives patrons a choice of two seafood options. One possible lunch special, for example, is as pictured: Salt & Pepper Half Lobster and Salt & Pepper Shrimp with Fried Rice.

Go Cajun or go home!

Cajun King

Windward City Shopping Center
45-480 Kaneohe Bay Drive, Kaneohe
(Additional location at Waimalu Shopping Center in Aiea)
744-1882
Daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.