Cajun Feast

Let me preface this review by saying I didn't order any of the cajun food (on the left side of the menus?). Therefore, my critique of them will be excluded from this review. I eventually plan on returning to try their cajun food and update this review or make a new one altogether.

This place opened up in early January 2020 next to the wildly popular iTea in Davis. Based on the name of the restaurant, I thought it would be a strictly cajun-based restaurant but was surprised to see that they offer Asian dishes as well. Based on the reviews written before this one, I didn't know what to expect. Based on my recollection of the menu, they offer cajun dishes, "chef choices" (I think all Chinese-Asian dishes?), and a build-your-own dish option.

I ordered one of the "chef choices" dishes to-go: Mapo Tofu with rice (see attached photo). Mapo tofu is traditionally (I think) made with tofu, ground beef, chili oil, doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns, and scallions for the garnish.

The restaurant's version of mapo tofu covered most if not all of the bases with a few additions: jalapeños and peas/carrots for the garnish. As expected, the dish was spicy and the tofu was very silky. For those worried about the spiciness, the spiciness is transient and fleeting which helps make the dish more enjoyable. I'm not sure as to how I feel about the jalapeños addition because the spiciness was mostly from the chili oil and the doubanjiang. My only complaints about the dish are as follows:

1) There didn't seem to be enough peppercorns as I barely tasted them when I ate the dish. The spiciness from Mapo tofu is generated from the chili oil (provides a "scorched" taste bud sensation) and the peppercorns (provides a numbing effect). Upon closer inspection of the dish, I could barely see any traces of the peppercorns.
2) I would've preferred if the dish was more saucy. There didn't seem to be enough sauce to generously coat the tofu cubes and the rice.

Despite these flaws, this restaurant is new (at the time of this review) and the chef(s) will probably be tweaking the menus in the upcoming months. For a college town restaurant, the dish was really good and I got my "bang for the buck" (the portion size for mapo tofu is generous and fills you up).

I definitely will eventually return to this restaurant to try their other food options.

This place is amazing! I was outside looking at their menu trying to decide what type of seafood I wanted. Apparently the owner saw me because she came outside, said to come in and sit down, and then proceeded to give me a free cup of tea. She had one of the younger staff members help me decide on what to get and after i was done ordering he gave me a complimentary bowl of soup! And its not like its a fancy place. Theyre just incredibly generous. Everyone there was super friendly and the whole vibe is really inviting. The food was delicious and the sauce they serve with the fry fish is perfect for the type of batter they use. Best $20 i spent in a long time. Im going back for sure!

I've only been once so far, but the service was good, the food tasty and the tea excellent. It's reasonably priced and has a lot of food I haven't seen elsewhere in Davis.