Estimated by Melinda Nuguen, King Cajun Clawfish generally sells more than £1,000 per week during the prime season, from March to May.
It also makes sense that National Crayfish Day fell midway on April 17th.
At the time, the family-owned business will delight customers who have been boiling pots since the door opened in 2010, offering the popular “Buy £5 and get one free”.
They built it through word of mouth that has become a cult-level favorite in Orlando from their first quiet week on Mills Avenue, but it has come a long way. The Nguyens, like many others, came to the city as refugees.
But it was their second time in this unique story.
In 1979, 15-year-old Nguyen and his 11-year-old sister, Judy, left Hanoi, Vietnam, and left their family as part of an estimated 800,000 “boat people” who fled from a war-torn nation. Judy Nuguen spent a year living in camps on a small Malaysian island, eventually heading to the United States, where they settled in Biloxi, Mississippi.
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Vietnam and the Gulf Coast of America say Melinda’s daughter-in-law, Kristen Nguyen, enjoys the comfortable overlap.
“The weather is familiar,” she tells me.
Over time, when America became home, they opened businesses in Biloxi and Laurel, Mississippi, and later opened in the Louisiana town of Bogalusa. Melinda learned from the locals and mastered local favourites such as gumbo, poboy and crayfish.
According to her stepdaughter, the overlap makes sense as Cajun food, like Vietnam, enjoys French influence.
“Because of the French colonization in Vietnam,” she says, describing the French bread connection between Po Boy and Van Mann as “there are a lot of connections and connections.”
The business spanning two states flourished, but in 2005 Hurricane Katrina wiped them out.
Melinda’s house was also lost in the storm.
With the Orlando family, they packed plans to rebuild. The rest is, of course, part of the beautiful city’s garlic Bet Kajun cuisine history.
“I love cooking!” says Melinda, who still oversees the kitchen operations, but now there’s a team to support them. Her love of hospitality was part of why they chose the restaurant route instead of the models they started in Mississippi. “When we opened, there weren’t any really betkajuns in Orlando.”
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This is a brand that developed primarily in Texas (Houston is now famous for its immigrant fusion), and once weaved the Vietnamese community into a new local tapestry.
Many years ago, Louisiana staples of red beans and rice and roast beef poboy were part of the menu, but these were less popular than seafood boils. Along with snow crabs, Zarifish is the most popular item on the menu.
Melinda still visits the airport every day, and can see the water running by hand after rinsing repeatedly after a hauling that jumps from Louisiana into the Cajun Kitchen King’s kitchen. The boiled trays cooked to order feature all the vegetables and spices that are common to Cajun Classic.
“It’s a mix of Southern style and Vietnamese influence,” says Kristen. “But in the South, they don’t put garlic butter on crayfish. (Viet-Cajun) is a modern fusion.”
They also don’t have Melinda’s secret sauce. Melinda’s secret sauce blends local flavours and allows customers to take it home. Many local chefs are among the fans. Team Market Group executive chef Jason Campbell (Primrose Lanes, Nuri’s Tavern, etc.) goes there. “Literally, from the day they opened,” he says. “The crayfish were $4.99 per pound.”
The buffalo sauce in Primrose was inspired by King Cajun’s “shaban” sauce, a combination of all the flavors that make it the most popular choices (traditional lemon pepper, rajun ‘Cajun, garlic butter).
“(Food from the Gulf Coast) was one of my first loves of cooking,” says Campbell. “If I did that with crayfish and seafood, I never looked back.”
Campbell cites King Cajun as a plausible diet option if he goes on death row. But until that happens, it is a monthly stop for his family, and he cleans up 5-6 pounds of crayfish on every visit – he always has a small snow crab and French bread.
“You have to eat crayfish on top of butter bread. That’s your last bite,” he says. “It’s covered in all goodness. It’s heaven.”
Over the years, Nguyen tells me they added new items to the mix – clams, mussels, king crabs, etc. – but crayfish are still at the top. Most customers know how to “pinch the tail and suck on the head,” but she says, they are happy to teach beginners a lesson if they need it. Of course, those who are not very enthusiastic will welcome samples of the traditional menu. Jambalaya, assorted fried fish, etc.
In 2010, there was no social media to brand-build. Things were slow at first, Kristen says.
“Basically, we were just saying it was good to each other. ‘I went to this new place and you should give it a try.’ We were popular.
There are now additional locations, and now even franchise opportunities are available (first to open soon in Seattle, Washington) the family has honed their offerings.
“We sell everything we sell,” says Melinda, who saw the business grow from day one.
But not so many, just like the humble mud chunks of this local empire was built on.
Do you want to reach out to me? Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @Amydroo or the Osfoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. Join Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook Group for more foodie fun.
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King Cajun Crayfish: 924 N. Mills Avenue, Mills Avenue, Orlando, 407-704-8863 and 7637 Orlando, 407-723-8870; Kingcajuncrawfish.com
