Mudbugs & Po' Boys: Blazin' Cajun (Duluth)

Toddler Foodie Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Gummy Bears if you and your littles like Cajun food

:) = Lots of free parking.  Life-sized dinosaurs in the parking lot... yes, dinosaurs.  Good-sized dining area with a casual atmosphere and noise level that's perfect for kids.  Staff and other diners don't seem to mind kids one bit.  Counter shaped like a ship, alligators and fish décor, and flat screen TVs to keep little ones entertained.  Tasty Cajun delights, including boiled crawfish, blue crabs, snow crab legs, and shrimp; a variety of po' boys; gumbo; and boudin balls.  Chicken wings in non-spicy flavors for sensitive palates.  Large portions - be ready to take home leftovers.  Quick service flavored with Southern hospitality.  Take-out available.
 
:( = Even if you order your seafood mild, it's going to have a kick to it.  Check out our Chili Pepper ratings in the captions below (1 Chili Pepper = cool as a cucumber; 5 Chili Peppers = third degree burns imminent).  And, let's be real, seafood is messy and requires effort - multiply the mess and effort by 5 if you're dining with small children. 

Deal Alert!  Scout Mob's mobile app has a 50% off deal for dinner at Blazin' Cajun.  Get it while it's still in season! 

"Say hello to my little friend!"

When you're a toddler, there's only one appropriate way to celebrate Mardi Gras - and that's by eating some yummy Cajun food.  We are big fans of all Cajun food, but we're especially fond of boiled crawfish.  Daddy is somewhat of an addict and can put away over five pounds of crawfish in one sitting.  And Mommy likes to joke that we were born to eat crawfish because she was allergic to crawfish until she gave birth to both of us.     

Since we're devoted crawfish lovers, we've already visited many of the Cajun seafood restaurants in Atlanta.  So you can imagine how excited we were to hear about the opening of a brand new Cajun seafood spot in Duluth - Blazin' Cajun.  Blazin' Cajun is located in the same plaza as Rustic Couch, the quaint little café we reviewed a few posts back, which means... there are dinosaurs in the parking lot.  Yes, dinosaurs.  We were happy campers from the moment we arrived.

We got a warm greeting and immediate attention upon our arrival.  Our charming young server, who made Mommy blush when he called her "ma'am," even brought us a high chair and to-go cups of water quickly.  In the spirit of Mardi Gras, we ordered an unusually large feast.  We started with  Fried Gator Bites (yes, as in alligator) and Gumbeaux (a/k/a gumbo).  The Gator Bites had a nice cayenne pepper bite and were crisp on the outside but tender on the inside - definitely not overcooked.  They were served with a spicy remoulade sauce.  The Gumbeaux was delightful.  It was little soupier than other gumbos we've tasted, but its slightly watery consistency by no means took away from the dish.  The broth was full of flavor and teeming with chunks of whole crawfish tails, shrimp, okra, peppers, and other goodies.   

Gator Bites
Chili Pepper Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Chili Peppers
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Gumbeaux
Chili Pepper Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Chili Peppers

For our main course, we ordered an oyster po' boy, 8 BBQ chicken wings for us kids to munch on when we could no longer handle the spice, 3 pounds of "mild" garlic butter crawfish, and 2 lbs. of "mild" snow crab legs.  We took no issues with the po' boy - the oysters were fried well (not soggy or overcooked) and the French bread was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside (as it should be).  The sandwich was served with a generous portion of Cajun fries.  The wings were tasty and not spicy at all.  They helped cool off our little mouths and fill up our little tummies. 

Oyster po' boy.
Chili Pepper Rating:  1.5 out of 5 Chili Peppers

"These BBQ chicken wings get 1 out of 5 Chili Peppers!"

The crawfish and snow crab legs were served together in a metal bowl.  The crawfish were smothered in a thick, aromatic sauce infused with garlic cloves and bay leaves that made this dish quite different from - and messier than - other crawfish boils we've had around town.  (We noted that other diners opted to eat the crawfish with gloves.)  The mess was definitely worthwhile.  The crawfish and crab were cooked just right and the sauce was as tasty as it smelled.  There's no denying that crawfish is in season right now, and some excellent hauls are coming out of the waters 'round the bayou.



Garlic Butter Crawfish & Snow Crab Legs
Chili Pepper Rating:  3 out of 5 Chili Peppers when ordered "mild"
Gloves optional

We really enjoyed our meal at Blazin' Cajun and look forward to going back to try the other boiled seafood offerings, boudin balls, different types of po' boys, fried seafood platters...  okay, we pretty much want to try everything on the menu.  Maybe, if we're good, Mardi Gras will happen more than once this year.