“It’s Hammer Time”
The first seafood boil bag concept to open in Singapore at the discreet Jalan Riang near Serangoon, many competitors soon followed this interesting and well-received concept.
The Cajun Kings serves French Acadienne or a Louisiana style of cooking, which uses a lot of powerful Cajun flavours; rich, buttery and spicy.
The interior I would say is homey hut-like and no frills for a rustic dining experience. Tables are lined with huge plastic placemats, which is a hint to what comes next. The wooden chairs make quite an uncomfortable seat, and would probably prompt you to rush through the meal.
The Cajun Kings gets pretty crowded especially over the weekends, so I definitely recommend calling for reservations. In fact the whole stretch of Jalan Riang gets pretty packed.
The menu is simple and just one paged. I like it.
You can order individual items which they will boil together in sauce of your choice, or just get the combo if you’re lazy to decide like me. The Dungeness crab ($90) is one of the highlights here, but a little too pricey for me.
Cajun Fries ($6). Shoestring fries that come with Jalapeno and Mayo sauce. Pretty ordinary in my opinion, good to fill yourself up affordably. Also comes as part of the TCK combo.
Buttermilk Frog Legs ($15). I really liked these fried frog legs which had a crispy exterior and a soft, tender interior. They were huge and meaty too.
If you ordered the Maine lobster or Dungeness Crab, you’ll also get to play with the mallet hammer to crack open the shells. Beware of your neighbors who ordered these crustacean dishes though, as their shell-smashing can send bits and pieces flying towards you which you’ll have to dodge like Neo in the Matrix.
Oh yes, even without the crab, I’d recommend you wear the plastic bip provided as sauces tend to relocate to your clothing magically while peeling and eating with your hands.
The seafood is boiled in spices before hand, then poured into this bag and served. Quite an usual style, like how Singapore puts kopi in plastic bags.
The Cajun Kings Combo ($65). Comes with Red sea prawns, manila clams, sausages, corn and cajun fries. Simply boiled, the seafood was perfectly timed. Prawns and clams still retained their natural sweetness, not to mention being plump and meaty. The clams especially, were enormous. Sausage was average I guess, not a fan as it was a tad tough and didn’t have much taste.
The sauce was spicy, lemony, buttery and just overall a strong powerful flavour profile coating all the ingredients. I got mild spicy, which was already quite spicy for my cowardice tongue. Any higher in the spicy level and you won’t taste much of anything else. It is actually rather filling for 2 people as the portions were pretty generous.
There are no utensils here. Its full on hands and finger-licking dining. The messy experience is pretty refreshing from the usual fine-dining decorum. Don’t bring a date who has OCD neatness though.
Of course, after all the messy shell peeling there’s a luxurious wash basin waiting for you at the back.
A casual, fun hands-on experience at The Cajun Kings. Amazing, robust sauces with a fiery spice. Prices can be a bit steep though, but its seafood yea. They also serve craft beers like the Hitachino, one of my favorites. Recommended to try out this seafood boil.
Expected Damage: $40- $60 per pax
The Cajun Kings: 15 Jalan Riang, Singapore 358987 | Tel: 6284 4426 | Facebook
*Closed on Mondays, recommend reservations.
