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.
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| On the patio at Casian |
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| Seafood boil with crayfish, potatoes, corn, and andouille sausage in Spicy Casian sauce, plus a side of bread for dunking |
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| Breaded fried ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauces |
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