The Maryland Lump Crab Cakes are comprised of two cakes served with Old Bay butter compote, smashed red potatoes and seasonal vegetables (in our case, it was asparagus). Also available is their petite crab cakes appetizer, as well as a sandwich. The sandwich comes broiled and served on a kaiser roll with lettuce and tomato. Both are served with Old Bay tartar sauce. Only the sandwich indicates a cooking style. The platter appeared to be fried when served.
The lump crab meat was not as sweet as it could be, but gave off a little bit of flavor. The cake itself is definitely Maryland style, which is typically heavy on the breadcrumbs. But this one was overly bready. With as much crab is in the cake, the predominate texture and flavor is breadcrumbs. And while only there for texture and color, the parsley was overkill. The Old Bay butter compote was nice, although a tad bit heavy on the onion. (The term compote here is a bit confusing, as it is typically a fruit dessert. Maybe calling it an aioli is too passé?)
With the over-abundence of parsley and bread crumbs, the crab cakes were very dry. Not even the juice from the lemon was enough to rehydrate these cakes. Having the compote as the only source of moisture on the plate is off-putting and shouldn't be the source of flavor in a proper crab cake. The Old Bay flavor was a bit heavy in places, which was either from the way the crab cakes were mixed, or from trying to rehydrate the cakes through the compote. One cake was warm, but not overly hot. The other was a bit cold in the center. The dryness extended to the potatoes and vegetables -- not much moisture in the mashed potatoes, and the asparagus could have used some olive oil or butter.
Have you tried 17 Light's Maryland Lump Crab Cakes? Let us know in the comments!
