Kickin' Kajun, a new Louisiana crawfish and seafood boil restaurant

Above: Combo #2 with crawfish, shrimp, clams and lobster. Don't do what we did and dump all the shellfish out of the bag and onto the table. Sauce and juices will go everywhere (even more than usual).

There is carnage. We have torn through four pounds of crawfish, clams, shrimp and lobster. There are shellfish juices on our hands, on our plastic bibs, and for one us, in her hair. We have not been allowed to be this messy in a restaurant since we were two. We are happy.

I love Kickin' Kajun, but it's not because of the food itself.

Kickin' Kajun approximates a Louisiana crawfish and seafood boil. Tables are wrapped in butcher paper and you're given a plastic bib, which will not protect you any more than a cocktail umbrella will keep you dry in a deluge. Were there utensils? I don't remember, because I didn't use any.

You order a "creature" (choices include crawfish, clams, shrimp, Maine lobster, Dungeness crab) and a seasoning (Louisiana style and the House Special garlic butter were favorites), and your shellfish comes to you in bags with potatoes, corn and sausage. And then you have at it—pinch the tail and suck the heads of the crawfish, peel shrimp, crack the lobster, and dredge all the meat in the flavorful juices in the bag.

You have to work for your food here.

It's not the best seafood in the world—it's all slightly overcooked and the restaurant gets the crawfish pre-cooked (rather than deal with the hassle of shipping live crawfish) so it doesn't really soak up enough of the seasoning in the boil.

But it is fun.

$12 to "market price" per pound of shellfish, combo dinners include four types of seafood, from $40 to $60.
1518 Makaloa St., 946-2789