Crawfish King is a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City that is known for serving the best seafood in town. But it's now even more popular for introducing American Cajun into its menu and adding Vietnamese influence to the dish to make it locally authentic.

Nguyen Minh Khoi is the owner of Crawfish King Restaurant. He is an avid food enthusiast which is why he got into the business in the first place. But he is also accomplished in several fields, like being the editor-in chief of a famous sports magazine and owning a number of bars in Ho Chi Minh City, which is also why it seemed natural and easy for him to venture into the food business.

Khoi got the name of his restaurant during a gathering with his friends. He designed the diner with “family-friendly” decorations like the one he saw in a bar in Louisiana in one of his travels to make it comfortably inviting especially to the young customers. This youthful design is composed of wooden planks and colored pencils on every table so that clients can write or draw while waiting for their food. Fishing nets with floats hang from the ceiling and white paper is used to cover the tables.

Khoi travelled to Europe and the Southern United States, but it was in Louisiana where he found his “good food,” the best cajun he has ever tasted. Moreover, it is also where he met his wife who shared the same love for food as he. Seafood is her favorite, and Cajun is her particular fixation. Khoi himself is addicted to Cajun but he opened a restaurant especially to satisfy his wife's craving. Moreover, Cajun is hard to find in Ho Chi Minh City so he knew the business would work.

Crawfish (Tom Hum dat) is a freshwater shellfish which is considered a delicacy in Louisiana. It is said to represent the “Cajun culture” of Louisiana. They are small like prawns, look like lobsters, but are more tender and have a distinctive taste. It takes a little patience and dedication though in getting the flesh out of the shell, so the truly crawfish lovers are the only ones who can appreciate the effort in eating the dish.

Crawfish King Restaurant, although injecting some Vietnamese culture into the diner like serving the dishes in China plates instead of disposable ones like in its American counterpart, tries to replicate everything else as in Louisiana. That is, customers wear a bib and gloves to prevent from getting dirty from eating the crawfish. Shellfish is bought by the weight with choices of clam, mussels, crawfish, shrimp and mantis shrimp. They come in four flavors: Garlic Butter; Cajun; Lemon Pepper; and All in One. The level of spice can also be selected among Mild, Medium, Spicy and “Spicy Spicy.”

For first time crawfish eaters, the owner himself teaches the customers how to eat the meat. This involves pinching the tail and sucking the head of the seafood. The head of the crawfish holds a significant amount of juice when cooked so it is especially sumptuous. The tail needs to be pinched because the flesh in turn is found there.

Other selections in the menu include: carbonara at VND79,000; American chicken wings with Cajun sauce at VND109,000; baked oyster with cheese at VND119,000; house garden salad at VND95,000; and fruit beers at VND79,000.

Crawfish and spices at the restaurant are imported from Louisiana. The chefs are especially skilled, preparing and serving the dishes in truly inviting and delicious ways. The fruit beers are another of Crawfish King Restaurant's specialties because they are designed to complement with the seafood. The restaurant also offers different promotions every month, Khoi's specific intention to give his customers a chance to try every specialty and dish in the menu and to give the utmost service and satisfaction.