Nauti Cajun in Metuchen [NJ]

[ed_cetron]

Saw an ad masquerading as an article for a new Cajun Boil 0lace in the city… But when I did, I noticed a similar recent restaurant closer here in Metuchen called Nauti Cajan Crab. Being from the south, and my wife from New Orleans, we are always up for Cajun and Creole cooking…

So we went…the next day even… And it was quite worth it. We were very pleased with the service, the atmosphere, and the food.

We started with a full set of appetizers including the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and Bang Sauce was nice and spicy. But it was not overpowering and made the entire taco work by allowing the shrimp to shine.

We also had the wings… Honey BBQ was recommended by the waiter and he was spot on. Crispy but not crunchy which is the way I like it. They were coated completely in sauce, but again not over dressed. Super wonderful. Some of the best I have had lately.

And finally, as an appetizer / side dish, a plate of Garlic Pasta. Wow. How they made a creamy garlic sauce that just meshed into the pasta in a delightful manner I will never know. The pasta was cooked right were it needed to be and it was a perfect foil to the ultimate boil bucket…

We started with the Sea Lovers Bucket… Their menu says it best

This combo is for 2 people. You get 1 cluster of Dungeness and 1 cluster of Snow crab legs. Our popular garlic noodles, 1 appetizer, 2 choices of (shrimp, clam, crawfish or mussels). 2 Lemonade, and 2 corns and 2 potatoes

We were able to slide our wings and noodles right in… Stunningly easy… Then we chose shrimp and Crawfish in their Nauti Cajun sauce and they sub’ed in the wife’s Diet Coke. And then we added King Crab legs in Galice Butter and Andouille Sausage.

We took the offer of both gloves and bibs… And went to town. Damn fine stuff… All cooked correctly, spiced at medium it was more than hot enough to enjoy the slow burn without being too much for the seafood.

All in all. Deliciously succelent. Definitely a keeper… Very authentic and very GOOD… 4.8 on my scale… 5 if it was free… Lol…

[eleeper (Evelyn C. Leeper)]

And how much was this, particularly the main course, since Nauti doesn’t see fit to put a price for it on their menu page.

[Metsfan86 (Mr met)]

Looks and sounds fantastic. Great to have a place like that around in NJ

[jsfein]

This place has been on my radar. Thanks for the report. Will check it out.

[ed_cetron]

Sorry it took so long to dig up the receipt. The Sea Lovers was $75 for two and included the Garlic Noodles, the wings, and the drinks. We added the Andouille for $4.50 and the King Crab (1 lb) for $35 and the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos for $10. So the whole meal for two, and almost three was $124.50 which I considered very reasonable.

[gracieggg]

We came here over the weekend. I had a bit of an opposite take on it. We ordered the next size up which was $150 (or so, I didn’t pay) and was a boil for 3-4 people. I found everything to be a bit over cooked. It was fun to eat with your hands and all and the place is nicely renovated. A major issue for us was the sound level. There is nothing to absorb the sound and there was a very loud party near us. It is BYOB but we noticed several tables with hard alcohol which I thought was a no no? Service was fine. No issues there. We likely won’t return. I was really looking forward to really good crab and it was a bit of a letdown.

[ed_cetron]

Sorry it was not as great as I had… We missed the loudness as we were seated in a sort of bump out over the sidewalk so the noise was muffled by the alcove walls.

Not sure about the byob policy.

And the fact the food was overcooked is really sad… Ours was spot on. Maybe we just got lucky… Will have to go back and see what happens the third time… The place is a bit pricey so anything less than perfect is a big loss.

[gracieggg]

Would love to hear your take if you go again!