Kickin' Inn, Canley Heights

Who loves seafood? Who loves kajun flavours? Combine the two and you have Kickin' Inn, a restaurant which specialises in kajun Seafood. Kickin' Inn is located in Petersham and Canley Heights. 
I visit the Canley Heights venue on this occasion. All the tables are lined with a plastic sheet because the style of this cuisine is all about getting hands on - eat your food without plates, cutlery or a care in the world. It's a load of fun.  This style of food and eating is derived from New Orleans and is now in Sydney!! 

I am at Kickin' Inn with a group of foodies. We kick off the meal with a Kickin Shrimp cocktail ($29.95, 15 pieces) which has crumbed prawn cutlets on a bed of hot chips and salad. This is a great dish to share and to kick off the meal as it warms up the tastebuds. The prawn cutlets are coated in a thick coating and has a sweet and sour sauce. I snack on the hot chips and a few prawn cutlets.

Kickin' Inn has this great option which is called the Mixed Bag ($89) and has a mixture of seafood which has been marinated in that cajun sauce! You can choose your sauce and we opt for the original Kajun however if you like it spicier then you can get some advice from the staff.

The choice of sauces include: 

• Kajun: a variety of herbs for the authentic taste
• Garlic Kajun: Kajun with crushed garlic
• Garlic Butter
• Lemon Pepper
• Sha-bang: a mix of all the sauces!

The level of heat is as follows

• Original
• Mild
• Spicy
• Inferno
• 000
• 000+ seriously hot

I put on some gloves and adjust to this new way of eating. It's been some time since I've actively used my hands to eat without plates or cutlery.

Kickin' Inn mixed bag has prawns, crab claws, baby octopus, chorizo, scampi, morton bay bugs and there's also potato and corn in the bag as well. You can order these as additional to enhance the meal. This mixed bag would easily satisfy 3-4 people. The original cajun sauce is quite flavoursome and mild in heat. I really like how well all the seafood has absorbed the Kajun flavours - it's really delicious.  I have a lot of fun eating all the seafood and in particular enjoy eating the morton bay bugs and the crab claws.

Mr Weekend Food Escapes is allergic to shell fish so he enjoys this grilled fish with salad with kajun sauce. It's hard for him to appreciate the experience so perhaps best to leave allergic friends and family at home. You could also order garlic bread to dip the kajun sauce in - or there's rice to also absorb all those flavours. Yumm!

Summary: Overall, I really enjoyed this unique experience of Kajun seafood. It's a fun dining experience in a group setting and the kajun sauce is really tasty. Why not check it out? They are opening up in Zetland soon.

I've been told there's a huge line at dinner on the weekend so your best bet is to go at lunch time or get there early at dinner time!!

Price: Approx $40-50 pp

Location: 209 Canley Vale Rd, Canley Heights

Opening Hours: 
Open Daily
Sunday, Monday to Thursday 12pm to 10pm
Friday and Saturday 12pm to 11pm 

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.