When in New Orleans, cajun cuisine came up and it was great to see a Cajun-Vietnamese restaurant there. I found it unusual that a fusion place would be in a building smack in the middle of a shopping strip carpark, but I suppose that's a more normal place to frequent in the USA.
Our American Asian waitress was inquisitive about our accents. I was inquisitive about the food. The menu certainly reads interestingly, with not only Vietnamese but Burmese and Laotian influence. The Hangover pho certainly looked the most unusual (reminiscent of the breakfast ramen from the now closed Melbourne location (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hammer-and-tong-melbourne-11-2015) and what she recommended as the most popular.
- Crispy drumsticks (nuoc mam caramel, lemongrass, ginger, Thai chili) USD10 - chicken was cooked ok but not that succulent. Skin was thin and crisp at least. But the coating of sugar, fish sauce, fresh ginger and spring onion was deliciously excellent;
- The Veggie Pho (veggie broth with Ms. Le's tofu, mushrooms, braised greens, roasted eggplant) USD12 - vegetable broth, lightly spiced with some odd eggplant that was firm (grilled maybe?), served with tofu and kale;
- The Hangover Part II Pho (beef broth with Burmese pork, meatballs, double smoked bacon, mushrooms, slow poached egg, jalapeño American cheese) USD17 - beef broth was spiced but not standard pho. It was still nice. There was strong flavours from the meaty balls and pork strands and fatty bacon, and some simpler mushrooms. It was quite odd to have poached runny egg in pho, and the cheese was even more bizarre. I think it ruined the broth by making it too cheesy.
The pho came with a very small (considering it was for 2?) plate of beanshoots, Thai basil, coriander, jalapeno and lime. This is just the right combination of additives that I'm familiar with (although usually bird's eye chilli rather than jalapeño).
We definitely couldn't fit in dessert after these American-sized servings, but the banana brulee with fish sauce icecream, caramel sauce and coconut shavings sounded really good.
I'd definitely try this place again, but maybe target it on a day where a special I wanted was on - like Thursday for the BBH. And the fried chicken for that combination with the sauce again. I'm not that familiar with Cajun, but the restaurant seemed to be more of a modern take on Viet rather than Cajun I think.