It All Boils Down to Good Eats at Cajun King

As a big-time seafood lover, I have to say seafood boils are one of the best creations to ever come out of the kitchen. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water — that heaping pile of shrimp, crab, lobster, clams and any other seafood you desire, cooked with flavorful seasonings and spices, along with the seafood boil usuals, such as potatoes, corn and sausages.

It’s definitely a dining experience like no other and with seafood involved, a very hands-on experience. So, if you’re craving seafood, and a lot of it, you’ll want to stop in at Cajun King, which opened in June at Waimalu Shopping Center in Aiea. Known for its fresh seafood and affordable prices, the Cajun seafood boil-style restaurant also offers local flair to its menu with ingredients such as black bean sauce.

Among the customer favorites are Asian-style Dungeness Crab ($33) prepared with your choice of ginger and green onion, salt and pepper or black bean sauce; and Cajun King Combo No. 1 ($48) featuring lobster, crawfish, mussels, shrimp and clams, red potatoes, two corn on the cobs, four Portuguese sausages and rice.

For the seafood boils, customers can choose the level of spiciness as well as the sauce — cajun, garlic butter, cajun and garlic butter, plain and simple, lemon garlic butter or black bean sauce.

“One of our owners, Jay Chen, is a seafood supplier, so our prices are very competitive because we cut out the middle man,” says manager Tony Siakkhasone Lai, noting that Cajun King is a sister restaurant to Lobster King. “All of our seafood comes in daily. We try to provide great quality food, great service and affordable prices.

Lai adds that the Raw Oysters also is very popular. Priced at $14 for half a dozen or $28 for a dozen, the oysters are brought in from Vancouver and prepared raw with ponzu, tobiko and green onion.

And, of course, seafood boils are often enjoyed with beer, which Cajun King serves for just $1.99 (domestic beers) and $2.99 (imported). There also is a special promotion going on: For every Cajun King Combo purchased, receive two free drinks (soda or domestic beer).

The spacious restaurant also has a room in the back, perfect for parties of up to 36 people, and there’s plenty of free parking. Reservations are recommended for parties of five or more.

Cajun King

Waimalu Shopping Center
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy., Aiea
484-2221 Call for holiday hours
11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily
cajunking808.com