Canje Reviews

Fantastic Caribbean/Guyana food. Innovative flavor combinations and the best Jerk Chicken ever. Great cocktails and excellent service make this place worth a detour to Austin-which we did.

Excellent ambiance, fabulous food and super staff!! I plan to return to Canje when I return to visit Austin, later this year. It's a must to experience, during a visit to Austin, for all.

I'm writing this review almost a year later, but that's how long this meal has stuck with me. I was giving recommendations to a friend of where to go in Austin, and I told him this is a can't miss restaurant. The food is creative and the atmosphere is fun. I didn't know what to expect with every dish, but everything was fantastic. You will not be disappointed by going here.

Oh my goodness this place was so amazing!! We couldn't believe how flabourful everything was and the restaurant itself was beautiful too. Can't wait to go again!!

Canje delivered a great night out for me and my wife. The food was great - jerk chicken, wild boar pepper pot, roti, braised texas greens, and plantain chips. The jerk chicken was very spicy, but not spicy for spicy sake, it was very flavorful and the chicken was moist and fell off the bone. The pepper pot and roti is a great combination, but one negative of the food was the lack of meat in the pepper pot, which I suspect was due to the kitchen not having made enough for the entire evening so those of us dining 8pm or later got less meat so they could stretch it throughout the night. The plantain chips sound “meh”, but they’re worth it and a great starter. And those greens are surprisingly tasty, too. The drinks were creative and very good. We had the Quittin’ Thyme and First Dance. Our waiter, Luis A, was fantastic! When we return I will ask for him specifically. He’s personable, knowledgeable and very efficient. The restaurant was slammed but Luis never made us feel rushed and was very attentive and tackled all our newbie questions. My wife asked for a taste of the Sauvignon Blanc, and he brought that taste plus a taste of the Chenin Blanc as a backup option in case she didn’t like the Sauvignon Blanc. Simply brilliant… it’s a small action, but a huge differentiator in terms of service and really shapes the personality and our impression of Canje. This is a noisy restaurant, my only complaint. I don’t need nor want quiet necessarily, but this is another architectural fail with poured concrete floors and no sound buffering to speak of in the restaurant. It continues to baffle me as to why people pay architects for bad advice, but just be aware that this restaurant is loud because it’s a) fantastic and lively, and b) by design. We will be back… Canje is a great addition to Austin’s restaurant scene.

We wanted a new experience for my husband's birthday, so I made reservations a month ahead. The restaurant vibe was fun, and we were seated in the back dining room close to the bar. It was fabulous, a smaller quieter venue where conversation could be enjoyed without yelling at each other or hearing everyone around you. The cocktails were wonderful, my husband craved a Pisco Sour and although many places say that they can make it - Canje made the best Pisco Sour since our trip to Peru!! Their inhouse cocktails were very creative and delicious. The ceviche, jerk chicken, wild boar pepper pot, roti, plantain chips and desserts were all fabulous. The jerk chicken was really enough for 2 - it was a huge portion and provided yummy leftovers for home. Finally the service was wonderful, they team serve and each person who arrived at our table was not only professional but personal enough to make us feel so comfortable!! We will be back - again and again!

Wow! So many things I could say. This place is a true gem. They are serving up Guyanese delicacies. I had the pleasure of dining her with my best friend, with Guyanese roots and she was moved to tears eating pepper pot. I savored a West Indies style beef curry. The broth only was amazing 🤩! The meat tender. Not to mention we felt like royalty by the staff! I am planning to bring my husband here for our anniversary and I’m counting down the days!

It was nice to try one of NYT’s rated restaurants for Austin. The staff were friendly and helpful. The menu was creative and tasty. We had the smoked avocado, pork chop, grouper, roti, and sweet plantain. The sweet plantain was a bit too sweet. Everything else was good.

Wow!!! A must!!! One of the best restaurants that we have ever been to….so many flavors in all the dishes. Loved the ceviche, the jerk chicken, the sea bass, the plantain chips, curry wagu, and the drinks! All fabulous! Service was friendly and pretty decor. We suggest going a little early as the service gets a little slow as it gets busy. We will go back!!!

Canje is different! Very nice place, food and drinks are very creative. Loved the Hog pepperpot and the jerk chicken (it's spicy hot!). Certainly a chic place (food, ambience and prices). Nadeem did a great job of explaining the menu and drinks and was very attentive! If you are near Canje it's a place to go more than once. I live in the burbs so it's a bit far but still worth the try!

Good, interesting food, but so loud I thought my head was going to actually implode. Inside is a no-go zone. I've been in loud places but this place is the worst, ever.

Over rated and expensive. Very unusual and pretentious menu with nothing I found satisfying. Also very, very loud and had difficulty having a normal conversation. Service was lacking. Had to ask to have our table cleared by someone other than our server. She disappeared after serving us.

Wholly unpretentious atmosphere with excellent food. Patio was perfect in the evening. Every dish was complex, balanced, worth the time to discover all the layered flavors and ingredients. We couldn't get enough! We shared these items and would order each of them time and again. Smoked Avocado Escabeche, Ceviche, Shrimp and Octopus, Curry Wagyu Beef, Wild Boar Pepperpot, Jerk Chicken, Guyanese Style Roti, Trinidadian Pepper Rice, Cassareep Ice Cream, Rum Punch Sorbet

Best meal I have ever had. Flavors were innovative and unexpected. Everything was tops. The Ox tail was slightly boring, but that's compared to the other amazing offerings.

Went to Canje with friends, nice ambiance, good service, food was flavorful and very good, but…if your going to say the dishes are for sharing then give me more food! Really small portions, the appetizers are 1 small bite per person if there are 4 of you. The Halibut was so small we all got a bite the size of my thumb nail, the Boar was fatty and barely visible in the pot and the 1/2 jerked chicken was the size of a quail. Another Austin restaurant that is way way way over priced. Another 1 and done restaurant. Park on the side or back, the spots in front are for valet parking only, no signs anywhere and the parking attendant was extremely rude. 10 empty spots in front and he made me move without telling me free parking was 10 feet away.

Every dish we ordered at this restaurant shined with interesting and creative flavors. We had the bacalaito (salt fish fritter), a large, crisp fish and potato pancake served with a delicious sauce; the albacore ceviche, tender pieces of tuna in a light and refreshing orange broth with sweet peppers and peanuts, served with taro chips; pink pineapple, a fruit salad that also included guava and passion fruit with basil and a lemongrass sauce; acorn squash with black beans and coconut with a lime aioli; and grouper in a tamarind sauce with grilled mango. Merely listing the dishes doesn’t convey how truly extraordinary this food is. The ingredients are prepared expertly and each dish we had was served with a flavorful and well-balanced sauce or broth with surprising flavors that perfectly complimented these ingredients. The staff is fantastic - they are knowledgeable about the food, attentive, and work smoothly together. We arrived for our reservation and were told that the party at our table had just ordered dessert but we could be seated at a bar table and get started with drinks and appetizers. While we waited, one of the front staff explained the menu to us and gave us several recommendations (I wish I knew her name, she was so warm and gracious). Nick, who took our order once we were seated at our table, guided us on dishes that worked with our food allergies and preferences, and along with other staff, did a great job of taking care of us throughout the meal. The meal was perfectly paced, with courses coming out slowly enough to each get our full attention but with no lag time. Although we only waited 10 minutes or so for our table, the staff apologized about the wait and ended up comping us two of our appetizers. A delight of a meal.

Canje has a fun, lively vibe. The cocktails and food are delicious. We sat at the bar and had an awesome bartender who made us great cocktails, and even tried out a new one on us that wasn't on the menu yet. The roti and pepper rice were good sides, and the curry dish was a standout for the mains. You get a good amount of food for your money.

Canje was already a top 10 fav restaurant in Austin, but after hearing stories about some of the recipes and special ingredients in incredible dishes from the executive chef (who was brining out dishes himself) and the owner, this is now hands down top 3. It’s evident that the owner and chefs are passionate about what they do, which make the already delicious food taste exceptional. Well done!

This is our new favorite date place - it's in a fun part of town and the food is special. We're not total foodies, but we do appreciate an excellent meal with interesting flavors. The service was good - highly recommend the fish and next time, we will get the jerk chicken. Can't wait!

After reading several reviews about Canje being the best new Austin restaurant, we made a reservation a month in advance and brought the family here over the holidays. We were ushered to the back room which has none of the fun vibe of the front, despite having our reservation well in advance. I enjoyed my thyme infused drink. We ordered 3 appetizers to share. The dinners were ok - I got the jerk chicken which was very spicy but good. The service was good. The food was very average. Nothing to write home about. I'm so tired of these supposed "sharing" restaurants who give you tiny portions and then tell you to order 5 things per person with each item being regular priced and tiny. Won't go back.

Phenomenal meal. Pricey but worth it. One of the best meals I've had in ages. Albacore ceviche was a standout as was the tres leches dessert. The jerk chicken was wonderful but so spicy I only made it through one piece - they mean it when they say spicy!

My friend & I had a great experience at this fab restaurant. The staff from the hostess to the servers were excellent! The portions were not huge but the quality was excellent and we were both full at the end of our meal. Best starter: the Smoked Avocado appetizer is a must! and the grouper was outstanding. A great find in Austin! We found the restaurant on the top 50 new restaurants in the country.

Dinner here last night was lovely. The food was amazing! Plantains chips were so thin and crisp and were great with the mango sauce. I loved the smoked avocado dish, and he said the beef patties were light and fluffy - and some of the best he's had. I really enjoyed the pepper fish, and he likes his curry. The guyanese roti was so good!!! Tres leches for dessert was one of the best I think we've had - mainly because of the light fluffy topping and flavor. I am not a trees leches fan, so the fact that I liked it says a lot. We had several people bringing food to our table and clearing plates. I believe Vincent was supposed to be our waiter as he introduced himself and took our order. Then he focused on other tables and didn't reappear at ours until much later. The only lesson to ask us if we were enjoying our food was a buser/expeditor... he was lovely, and I wished I had asked his name to give him a shout out here. When we were paying our check, Vincent had one last chance to ask anything about the food or our visit - he only asked where we were going next. So, minus 1 pt for service.