LRP Redux*installment 11: Casian Seafood (CLOSED)

Update January 2024: This place is now closed. Google says the closure is temporary, but it is likely permanent (trying to check).

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Casian opened a little over a year ago in the spot most recently occupied by Mon Cherie (and before that by several other restaurants) on the southwest corner of Public Road and Baseline. We went last Thursday evening, when it was warm enough to sit outside. The east-facing patio is in shade in the evenings, which will be nice when the weather gets hot. We went early and were the first customers of the evening, but by the time we left, there were several other groups on the patio and a few inside as well. Maria Nguyen, one of the owners, told us that they’ve had a boost in business since being named a James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category this year, but she said it ebbs and flows, and they notice it more on weekends.

Maria was our server, and her husband, Dau Xiong, is the chef. They have been running the restaurant mostly by themselves ever since it opened, but she said they hope to add more staff soon and to expand their Tuesday-Thursday hours (currently 3-9 Tu-Thu and 11-9 Fri-Sun). They live in Lafayette and both grew up in this area. The menu features Louisiana Cajun cuisine and Hmong dishes, which makes for some interesting options.   

We started with an order of house-made Hmong-style egg rolls (ground pork belly with vermicelli glass noodles, shredded cabbage, and house seasonings), which came with a side of fish sauce for dipping). We thought these were amazing; in fact, G said they were “as good as they could be,” which is high praise from him.

I wanted to try the house specialty, a seafood boil, partly because I found this page of the menu a bit daunting. We figured we’d get totally outside our comfort zone by ordering crayfish, as neither of us had eaten it before (though I had a larger version in Central America many years ago). The other options are shrimp, mussels, clams, and a seafood medley (clams, shrimp, calamari, scallops, and mussels). After you select your seafood, you pick one of five sauce options; we chose the Spicy Casian. A boil comes with potatoes, corn, and slices of andouille sausage, and you can add various “enhancers”—we chose bread from the enhancers menu, and it was great for soaking up the sauce.

Maria showed us how to pull the tails off the crayfish. We quickly figured out how to get the tail meat, but neither of us was very good at sucking the heads out of the shells. However, we learned that we could crack the shells open (carefully, as they have sharp edges) to get to that part. The crayfish had a very mild flavor, but they were tasty—especially in combination with the star of the show, the sauce! The sauce was so good that G ended up eating the last of it out of the bowl with a spoon. The crayfish, corn, potatoes and sausage all come in a bowl with a generous portion of the spicy sauce, which I would rate as a medium-high spice level (it was in my comfort range, but just barely). I would definitely order the boil again, but next time I want to try it with the seafood medley or the shrimp and maybe a different sauce, not because I didn’t love this one but because I want to know if the others are as good.

With the appetizer, the single boil order (with a lb. of crayfish) was plenty for both of us, and we decided to try a dessert too. Maria recommended another house specialty—breaded fried ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauce. This was also delicious.

I had been to Casian once before—I met a friend there for lunch back when it first opened and had a fried fish po’boy that I thought was excellent. There are plenty of other things on the menu we’d like to try, so we’ll be back!

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

On the patio at Casian

Seafood boil with crayfish, potatoes, corn, and andouille sausage in Spicy Casian sauce, plus a side of bread for dunking

Breaded fried ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauces

LRP Redux* installment 10: Las Americas Taqueria (CLOSED)

Las Americas closed in, I believe, 2023 and has been replaced by a new taqueria.

I was gone for all of March, and then I was sick for a week after I got back, so I’m just now getting back to the restaurant project. I’m not actually sure how long this taqueria has been here, but it only started showing up on my map app in the last year or two. It is at 11 S. Public Rd., just north of Las Montañas market at S. Public Rd. and Cleveland St., and there are entrances both from the street side and from inside the market. There is a tortilleria in the market, and we often buy fresh corn tortillas there when we want some at home, but we had not ever eaten at the taqueria until this past week. We ended up trying it three times within five days, partly because we were out of groceries and partly because it is one of the closest restaurants to our house in Old Town.

On Monday night, G picked up takeout for dinner. I wanted to try the gorditas because I have always been a fan of those, so I chose one desebrada (shredded spiced beef) and one rajas con queso (roasted poblano peppers with cheese). The woman at the counter told G she thought it might take three to make a meal, so he added one chicharron (pork belly/rinds). He ordered a smothered burrito with desebrada, and we got sides of rice and beans to share. This was all very good, except that we decided that chicharron is an acquired taste that we have not acquired. The gorditas came with a spicy green salsa, and the rajas con queso filling was medium spicy as well.

We got takeout again a couple of nights later, and this time I tried the sopes (a thicker masa cake than the one used for a gordita with stuff piled on it instead of stuffed inside): one with pollo (shredded chicken) and one with barbacoa (pork). G got four tacos: asada, pastor, barbacoa, and pollo, and again we got sides of beans and rice plus a side of guacamole and several salsas. We both liked these even better than our first meal.

I wanted to try the breakfast burritos too, so on Friday my friend Deb met me at the taqueria, and we each got one to eat there: hers with bacon and mine with chorizo. These are smaller than breakfast burritos at some other local places but also inexpensive ($3.50), and we liked that they had both beans and potatoes in them as well as eggs, cheese, and our selected meat. We got a squeeze bottle of green salsa to top them with. The woman working behind the counter brought us a small bowl of chips with salsa too. We thought the chips might be house made, as they seemed very fresh. I ran out of time to ask her about it because I had to get to an appointment.

There are certainly plenty of other things to try there, so we’ll be back. It’s hard to find a menu online except for some on menu photo sites, so I’ll post photos of the takeout menu here. The one behind the counter in the taqueria has prices. 

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

The taqueria has both indoor and outdoor seating

Smothered burrito desebrada (top) and gorditas with sides

Gorditas: chicharron, top right; rajas con queso, bottom right; and desebrada, bottom left 

Sopes (barbacoa and pollo), left; tacos, sides, and sopes, top right; tacos (asada, pastor, barbaco, and pollo), bottom right 

Breakfast burritos with chorizo (mine) and bacon (Deb's), plus chips and salsa

Inside the restaurant and market

Takeout menu, outside

Takeout menu, inside