Boardwalk in Soho

18 Greek St, London W1V 5LF

Following an intensive 3 day Cajun Crawfish Festival in September, Cajun specialist Kenny Miller has been persuaded to join the Soho eatery on a full time basis. We at FoodWorld can confirm that the food is totally authentic (we took a Southern Belle along as our guest!), and the place is a real bargain with lunches, for example, priced from a fiver for main course and a starter. The Boardwalk has been around for about nine years and has always been a popular venue, having hosted some high profile parties and having been featured in television shows such as "The Jump", and at least one movie.

Miller has published a couple of books on the subject of Cajun cuisine, and although his two restaurants failed due to business issues beyond his control, he is set to cook up a storm down on Greek Street. The place is fronted by a long friendly and cool looking bar area, with the restaurant area set further the back. This may not be the place to go if you have to rush back to the office, as the service is extremely friendly, laid back and unhurried.

Miller has completely refurbished the menu with a selection of dishes that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere in London. For a start I went for Cajun Angels in Devils Blankets at £6.95, three large tiger prawns in smoked bacon, blackened and served over a saffron cream sauce. This particular goodie turned out to be a very sweet and absolutely delicious dish even though the sauce was rather domineering. My lunch guest was from New Orleans, and she could vouch for the authenticity of her Louisiana Lump Meat Crabcakes with Jalapeno Jelly. The meat was mixed with onion, chillies, mustard and mayo, and was topped off with a spicy sweet relish.

This was an excellent start which was maintained by our main courses - a generous Jambalaya at £8.95, and Pecan Crusted Mississipi Catfish at the still exceptional price of £11.95. Ambitious stuff indeed, and they were both delicious examples of what the Boardwalk is all about. The portions of both courses were more than ample, and the rich tomato broth was seasoned just right to complement the Chicken, Shrimp and spicy sausage. The Catfish is dipped in a honey batter and coated with diced pecans, deep fried and served over a crawfish-cream-cognac sauce. There are plenty of other choices such as Gumbo, Blackened Rib Eye Steak and Crawfish to choose from, and I am sure that Kenny will be adding new items all the time to the already exotic menu. There are several packages available like the finger buffet menu priced with a choice of three options up to £25.00, and the Cajun Feast at £23.00 which includes a half bottle of very good house wine.

After all this festivity, the desserts looked decidedly less interesting compared to the rest of the menu. But given the exceptional value and high standard of what went before, we'd recommend that you check out the Boardwalk for yourselves before the word really gets out. (Which it has now, I suppose!)

Tel: 0171-287-2051
Fax: 0171-434-2088
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square

A 12.5% service charge is added to each bill.
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This article reprinted from Dine Online