I was heading down Route 50 from Arlington Landromat picking up my $1/pound Wash-and-Fold, and thinking I’d find some Pho. Instead, I turned right into what I believe is Willston Center (please PM me if I’m wrong), thinking I’d find something Latino (posole) or Vietnamese (Pho) for a medium-heavy, late lunch after a workout. I saw New Orleans Cajun Seafood (in the same general area as Mark’s Duck House, and figured, well, why not?)
This is a stark operation, dominated by an extremely long counter, and a loquacious, friendly order-taker who seemed as excited about this business as she could possibly be. She explained to me that Orlando customers come up and give her hugs when they find out this is in Seven Corners, and that they serve the best Cajun food in Orlando – this being their second outlet (I’m not sure if it’s a branch or a franchise, but it might not really matter).Â
I asked her what’s best, and she named about five things … oysters, shrimp, po boys, jambalaya, and a couple of others – this was enough for me: I combined two of them and ordered a Shrimp Po Boy ($8.50) and a Diet Coke ($1.00). I could tell the service is extremely anxious to get “the word” out, and my kind server was going out of her way to show me where everything was – the setup station, the hot sauces, the coffees for sale (which I may buy and try – how *is* Cafe du Monde?). When my sandwich arrived, she carried the foil-wrapped sub over to the setup station, grabbed me a fork and plate, and came over and served me. She could not have been more enthusiastic and wonderful – showing genuine excitement over this foray into Falls Church from Orlando. If only everyone in the industry was this enthusiastic!
The po boy was large, and cut in half for manageability. After one bite, I could see it needed hot sauce (the choices are Louisiana Hot Sauce and Sriracha), and I went with the former which woke up the sandwich quite a bit, previously consisting of surprisingly good French bread, frozen deep-fried shrimp, mayo, lettuce, decent tomato, onions, and pickle. While eating the second half of the sandwich, I noticed something was missing, and it’s because I forgot to add the Louisiana Hot Sauce, so there you have it.
I finished every crumb, and the bill, with tip and tax, came to exactly $10.00. I left happy, sated, but not necessarily ready to race back. However, in the local Cajun trend, New Orleans Cajun Seafood is holding its own, and I suspect it would benefit from some bulk weekend orders in order to survive this fickle market.
How was the po boy? It was a very good shrimp sub. It will be interesting to see if this place can survive, and if it does, I suspect they’ll be doing a great deal of on-the-go lunch and also bulk orders (there are lots of bulk options – blue crabs, clams, shrimp, etc.). I wish them well – they certainly are friendly.
Has anyone eaten at the original Orlando location? Prices seem to be about 5-10% lower there, but that’s of course to be expected. Would I come here again? Sure.