Cajun Pacific

If you walk along Irving Street far enough, you may notice that houses come in differing shades of butter yellow and cream white, and you can’t find your way home with a satellite, because everything looks the same.

You may notice a break in the ghostly color scheme: a small storefront the color of wisteria, or of grape bubble gums. You might even hear music. If so, then you’ve found Cajun Pacific, the newest, if not the only Cajun restaurant in the Sunset, where Po’boys are the house specialty. And spicy salvation is at hand. The place is small and colorful with strands of beads, masks, and posters. Mardi Gras programs and maps lie under the glass tabletops.

If you order the Veggie Po’boy, you’ll get a grilled vegetable sandwich on a crisp- not hard- French roll, dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a spicy sauce that lets the whole sandwich collapse in your fingers, making a big yummy mess. If you desire something with more calories for the dollar, Cajun Pacific offers many variations on the Southern sandwich. A catfish Po’boy lets you choose between grilled or fried fish, and again drips with that spicy thick roulade.

There are a variety of dishes to choose from, and the red beans and rice, as well as the gumbo come with or without Andouille sausage. You will get sweet cornbread to eat while waiting that is clunky with corn kernels and peppers. All the glasses hold a good wet pint.

Your dessert options reflect a wealth of mom-food recipes: sweet potato pie, peach and berry cobbler among others, buried in foamy chantilly crème. One serving can feed three of you, not that you’ll want to share, the cobbler’s so moist and full of sweet fresh fruit. The guys running the place are friendly and stay open till ten, and on slow Sunday nights they may ask customers if anyone minds them watching the X-Files. Comfort food, Mulder and Scully, sitting about four blocks from the beach. You just follow Irving Street on down….

Cajun Pacific: 4145 Irving between 44^th and 45^th Avenue. Wed.-Sun. 12-10pm, Tues. 5-10pm. Closed Mondays.

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