JNC Cajun Steak and Seafood — Restaurant in Saint Paul

This place serves MASSIVE portions. When I first ordered I was wondering why I was spending so much money but then the food started coming out. I mean I wanted to taste all the dishes they had. So just keep that in mind when ordering. We ordered lemonade, the Korean Shirt ribs, the teriyaki salmon dish, the head on shrimp black mussel and scallop boil. All of the seafood was cooked well besides the head on shrimp, however they replaced it with tail on shrimp which was cooked well. The flavors of this place were delicious. My brother in law who doesn't particularly eat seafood, demolished the seafood here. To my taste I prefer the Vietnamese seafood boils the most but this spice was a familiar spice for me and it was enjoyable. The salmon dish was interesting. When you first receive the dish you see it is smothered in sauce. However when you rip into the dish and eat it you can definitely tell the salmon is a bit overcooked. The balance between the cook and the amount of sauce worked surprisingly well. Then the Korean Short Ribs were much more savory than what I deem normal for Korean Short Ribs. The usual marinade I am used to is a bit sweeter. The cook was not that great as well. The meat was stuck to the bone and soft. This is probably because it was cooked on a flat top or a pan where the juices soak into the meat making it soft. It must have also been over cooked because the meat stuck to the bone really tightly not allowing me to enjoy the tendons. Lastly what I think was the best part of eating outside on a hot day, the lemonade. I ordered the mango and peach lemonade and my brother in law had the Lime-ade. These lemonade did not taste very artificial and they weren't too sweet as well. One gripe is that they put this huge ice block in the cup that blocks the straw,, however I prefer this ice block to the standard ice method. I was trying to figure out a way to fix this problem but eventually just finished my lemonade and left. Overall I definitely enjoyed this place and it's atmosphere. Maybe some live performances or music could liven up the dining area. One more thing is that they have very poor sign placement, so the only way we knew this place was here is because we drove back and forth on Selby over the course of the day and decided to stop by.. I would move their sign from behind the tree. There is more food to try and I will be back for...

If I can give this place a “0” for rating I would. We call to reserve a table for our family since it will be a party of 13. We want to try a new place since my niece graduated high school. When we walk in, we were told that we need to order & pay first before seating.The restaurant is small so 10 adults and 3 small children standing while deciding what to order all while people was coming in and out. Then we ask the white guy which I believe is the owner if some of our people can go sit and was told no we have to “pay first”.

Once order & pay for...we were seated. (I hate complaining about every little thing but I have to put down my thoughts so the next person wouldn’t be surprise like my family and I.) I realized that they serve us with freaking “plastic cups” for our water, lol. Like seriously cmon! What’s funny was my brother-in-law want ice and the server went through the restroom door and out, lol. Seriously, that doesn’t look too appetite. I understand the quote, “you get what you pay for” buttttt each dish was so freaking expensive (over priced!) we spent $250 there and WAS highly expected more. The shrimp taste like those already cooked shrimp in a package from Walmart. The steak that my niece order taste so weird. On top of that, my rice was mushy and had some hard rice mix in it like they microwave old rice. I’m so upset that we spent $250 there for some shitty ass food! Could’ve gone to red lobster!

So finally the food came out and boy did my blood pressure went up! The food was so salty and oily as hell. I order a shrimp teriyaki and my sauce for my dish looks like the Cajun seafood one, oh matter of fact, all 11dish we order....looks the same, same sauce lol. Anyways, if you like salty and oily food, then go there. I should’ve trust my instincts and pick somewhere else. I do not recommend this place for anyone & we will...

First time I went, I got the cajun fried rice with salmon. Based on this, I thought I was gonna become a lifelong regular. Second time, got the cabin spaghetti with shrimp. It was kinda weird (served with a microwaved everything bagel, peas and green beans), but I thought it was quirky and was still on board. The third, and likely final, time I got a roasted pork 'banh mi' and teriyaki salmon. The sandwich was as confusing as it was delicious. It contained at least one bone in Cajun pork chop, maybe slightly overcooked. I'm place of carrots, cilantro, jalapeno etc, it had spring mix and caramelized onions. On place of paté and fish sauce mayo, it had Cajun Mayo. It was a delicious, drippy mess.

Just so we're clear, I don't ever write typical 'bad' reviews. I think it's a petty waste of time. But since I reported the good, here's the bad. My salmon teriyaki came in a typical clamshell to go container. This was primarily filled on one side with stir fried, unseasoned green beans and what appeared to be roasted red peppers from a jar. On the other side was a mound of white rice. The rice was of several different vintages. There was the dried out rice from the day before. There was the overcooked, mushy dough like rice, also probably from the previous day. Then there was the freshest: piping hot undercooked rice straight from the cooker. Atop these fraternal twin peaks, were three or four small, lukewarm pieces of salmon. Then the entire container was filled to the broom with watered down Sysco brand teriyaki sauce.

I hope this helps someone out, ideally the owners of they see this because I'm a creature of habit and I was all but ready for this to be my spot. Then I ended up feeling...