The Best Viet-Cajun Restaurants in Houston That Go Far Beyond Crawfish
Houston’s Viet-Cajun scene is brimming with spicy noodle dishes, signature crawfish dishes and seafood covered in Cajun and Vietnamese spices, and creative cuisine mash-ups like banh mi-po’ boy hybrids
“Viet-Cajun” may just be the best mash-up since brunch. Though mostly associated with crawfish boils, this distinct fusion extends beyond mudbugs. When Vietnamese immigrants fled to Louisiana in the 1970s, settling into their new home, they married elements of the Creole and Cajun cuisines with the flavors of Vietnam. From there, recipes that combined fresh seafood and Cajun seasonings with the balance of Asian spices like lemongrass and basil took on a life of its own.
People now flock to Houston’s Viet-Cajun restaurants during crawfish season for the spicy, butter garlic-soaked crawfish, but there are plenty of other dishes that keep places packed year-round. And with the city’s crawfish season just getting started, it’s a perfect time to explore the many other offerings that Viet-Cajun yields. Craving gumbo but also want a banh mi, or longing for fried catfish with a side of Vietnamese egg rolls? These places slinging Viet-Cajun dishes in the Houston area have you covered.
