Gator's Cajun Kitchen — Restaurant in Iwakuni

I don't know where to start.. lol but tonight was just our second time here so we haven't tried their other dishes YET. The place is clean and relaxing. Food comes out fast and so hot that i had to let mine cool down a bit first. I'm new to this kind of food so my boyfriend who's from Michigan lol suggested to get a Gumbo and so i asked for just a small seafood Gumbo for a try out. It looked really good so i thought it'll be a "wow" factor. But i realized it just looks like a typical Japanese Curry and it also tastes like it. So i was kinda disappointed on my first meal. The rice or whatever they call that just looks like a normal Japanese fried rice and the taste is OK. Seasoning on everything tastes the same. So me and my boyfriend said, this is a Japanese style "Gator's Cajun" not a U.S. style lol. Fries are good ofc who doesn't like fries?! lol. Selection of dipping sauce is good. We LOVED the Fish and chips that i also ordered a small one for try out. I told my boyfriend, "i already know what i'm getting next time we come back here! this Fish and Chips but i'll get a "Regular" size! lol". And that's exactly what we did tonight and he ordered the same thing!. But tonight my boyfriend tried the Fried pickles?! i think that's what you call it, as our appetizer but it came with mixed fries, onion, i think sweet potato and the pickles aren't even crispy. We were expecting it will be because it looked like it is crispy. But sadly, it wasn't. Again, the seasoning are the same with other dishes we got. I think it's because it's "Cajun" right?! but i just expected MORE like i'd be like, "Mm! wow! this is smackin good babe! try it!". But nah... everything is just OK. Not saying it's bad. It's just our second dinner here so we don't know if they have other dishes that we will really like a lot. So next time we'll try other meals. And we hope they'll change the seasoning on different dishes. But really the Fish and chips is the best, i'm recommending that. Won't work for people who doesn't like fish or seafood! so you'll miss out on the best dish they have! lol.

Oh! also, the first time i called for reservation (it's better to get a reservation on weekends) i didn't like that they said "oh sorry tomorrow is busy but we have a table for two but for only like 30-40 minutes available, after that you will have to leave because it's already reserved. Would you still want that?" So obviously i said "heck NO! so nevermind then!". The next 2 times i called, they just kept saying "oh sorry we're closed tomorrow" so i was like, "jeez when are you open?! damn it's so hard to make a reservation here...". But the staffs can speak english so that's useful! lol.

But give it a try guys, there's nothing wrong with trying! lol. Then it's your turn to give a review or judge...

When you want American food in Iwakuni your options are not plentiful, but definitely a lot better than other cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Gator's was once in the small tourist town of Miyajima, but has recently relocated to Iwakuni.

The newly renovated space is very clean and designed in a fairly sparse, but modern way. Kindly, the owner did not include a glut of New Orleans decorations and the space for dining is more than generous(by Japanese standards)than before. I think relief for most American guests will come in the form of the menu and ordering. Both of which can be accomplished in English.

The menu itself is somewhat plain, utilizing the same core ingredients cooked and served in different ways. Like catfish? You can get catfish and chips, catfish po'boys, or catfish bites. This is fine and probably acts as a benefit to both the customer and cooks in the kitchen. The menu is comprised of starters, po'boys, and mains. The starters are simple and delicious. My group ordered both the regular french fries and the Cajun fries, both of which were good, if not slightly plain. The po'boys are very good, with a good spread of both protein and seafood options. The mains are basically the aforementioned catfish and chips, gumbo and jambalaya. It would be cost prohibitive to import long grain rice from NoLa, so the Japanese short grain rice is acceptable in the jambalaya. But if you have tried the real deal you might be disappointed, although it will scratch that itch. The real sleeper is the gumbo. I had the seafood gumbo and it was very good. I would have liked the consistency to be a little thicker, but the flavors were on point. My gumbo had oysters, catfish, and shrimp. Maybe there was okra, but if it was absent, it wasn't missed, same with file powder.

The personal highlight of eating at Gator's is their selection of hot sauce. There are a plethora of options for the customer available up at the bar area. I have not had the chance to have Louisiana Hot Sauce since I have been in Japan and it was greatly welcomed by my taste buds(I may have used a quarter of the bottle).

If I can say anything critical, it would be more options on the menu. I love etoufee and shrimp creole, both of which would be a welcome edition to the menu. Maybe some banana pudding? A man can dream. It is also surprising to see no crayfish on a Cajun restaurant's menu, but knowing the Japanese aversion to "zarigani" maybe it's not such a surprise. I will end my review by praising the waitstaff. They are professional and very kind. I was in a group of Japanese and Westerners, and the staff took orders in both Japanese and English with no issues. It is a warm and kind hearted team they have assembled at Gator's Cajun Kitchen. I will definitely be back...

This is a great place to satisfy any cravings for deep southern flavors and spices. The restaurant had a clean and modern atmosphere and the staff were friendly, kind, and spoke English. It was also great for our 4 small children, and the menu was very reasonably priced.

We enjoyed the shrimp Étouffée, jambalaya, shrimp po' boy, catfish po' boy, Cajun fries, Fried oysters, and fried pickles. The drinks were good too, the sweet iced tea was the perfect pairing for the spicy dishes. I went in expecting it to be mildly spicy but it was noticeably spicy which I don't often see, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Only gripes were: some food was slightly over-salted, and there was only one option for the kids' plate (they still devoured it all, though). Other than that, there's no designated parking, but given the location, there's a lot of options for paid lots.

I definitely recommend and will be back to try other...