Update Sept 1st, 2021: No longer a buffet.
Last week we all wanted something different for dinner. After shooting down several suggestions, my husband said that he wanted to try Cajun King at NW 63rd and MacArthur. I’m not a big fan of Cajun food, so I really wasn’t crazy about this idea and even complained about it as we pulled in the parking lot.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, right in the middle of a strip mall but we were greeted by a friendly gentleman with a thick Cajun accent. The restaurant is set up buffet style, so while my husband paid, me and Mae grabbed some plates and started filling up. On my first trip I had some fried shrimp, crab balls, potatoes au gratin, and a biscuit. It was all good, the biscuit was light and buttery, the fried shrimp and crab balls were really good, and the potatoes were so good that I had another big helping on my second trip. Mae and my husband had some of the same things that I had but they got the macaroni and cheese instead of potatoes.
So while they were raving about that, our Cajun server brought a big plate full of fried catfish almondine to the table and wanted us to try it. I have no problem telling people that I hate catfish (even if my dad loved it). My grandmother used to fry it up every so often and even though she could cook anything, I hated that catfish. So keep it in mind that I haven’t eaten catfish since I was 9 and when he put that plate in front of me, I tried to be nice but knew I wasn’t going to eat it. My husband, who will eat just about anything, tried the catfish first, “Hey, this is pretty good. Try some.” While I was giving him the stink eye for the suggestion, Mae grabbed a piece and started eating. “Yeah, this is pretty good. I like it.” If they both like it I might as well try it, so with that I tried a piece as well and guess what, it was good. It came with a honey type dipping sauce the chef calls “tiger sauce” and for the first time in my life I liked catfish. So the three of us catfish haters finished off the plate of it in no time.
After all we ate on the buffet and the big pile of catfish, we were stuffed but still had our beignets. Every meal comes with the catfish almondine and beignets. I had never tried these either, but they were good as well. Deep-fried fritters with lots of powdered sugar on top. None of us really had any room left but no one was going to leave those wonderful treats sitting. But just a side note, don’t let your kids wear black when they eat these, the powdered sugar gets everywhere (and yes, Mae had on black). As we were leaving, our server asked if we had tried the bread pudding. No, we hadn’t tried it. Once again I’m not a big fan and I was too full anyway. He didn’t like that answer, so he went over, got a to-go box and filled it with bread pudding. He handed it to me and said to try it, I would love it. So the next day we did and it was just as good as everything else. Next time I go I’ll try everything because the owners proved me wrong twice. Food was great and the service was awesome so I give it five strips of bacon.
Address: 5816 NW 63rd Street, Oklahoma City. Southeast corner just east of MacArthur on NW 63rd.
The Fat Okie 