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Worst Crab Cake Ever? Here's My Vote...Bistro Moderne, Houston
Spent the bulk of my Monday flying from SBP to HOU, and by the time I had checked into my hotel (The Hotel Derek) I opted to stay on-property for my dinner. Walked down to Bistro Moderne and settled on a light dinner...Gazpacho to start, and their "Blue Crab Cake" entrée.
If you ever find yourself at Bistro Moderne and find yourself in the mood for a crab cake, let me offer one word of advice: "Don't!"
You would think that a crab cake would at least contain a very high percentage of crab. Not at Bistro Moderne. This entrée could be better described on the menu as "bread flakes with a suggestion of crab, deep fried in a truly rancid oil". I actually found myself playing a little game while I took another bite: try to find some crabmeat. What little crab there was in this meal exhibited signs that it was recently revived from a long freeze, and lacked consistency, taste and any visual clue that it was once crab.
The cake (more like a hockey puck than a crab cake) was accompanied by spaghetti squash sautéed with green and red bell peppers. This dish looked and tasted like it was prepared days ago, and had the consistency of mush. As a matter of fact the entire plate could be featured as an 'early bird special' for folks with bad dentures...if not for the fact that the crab cake was breaded and fried in a manner which resulted in a very hard crust.
Tired and defeated, I grabbed my open bottle of rosé and headed back up to my room. A memorable meal...for all the wrong reasons.
Because within 50 miles of Houston are substantial commercial crabbing operations (Blues), and in the area are a number of restaurants which do a decent job with the dish....
A couple of classics, crab au gratin and lump crabmeat sauteed in butter, remain at "about as good as you're gonna get" in the back room at Gaidos in Galveston, and the legendary (Are they still with us?) "barbecued" (not barbecued at all) crab over at Sabine Pass still lurks in my memory.
The tendnecy to "dilute" crab with bread crumbs, corn bread, and other adulterants is hardly new or limited to Texas. Major guilt should be assigned to a handful of food service purveyors which supply restaurants and hotel dining rooms with "pre-made" crab cakes and similar menu items (and to the folk who buy from them).
A resturant should never serve a dish for which it's incapable, unable or unwilling to purchase the components required and to prepare them "on site".
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Quote:
Originally Posted by notsosmart
Thanks for the warning... but...
Why would you eat crabcakes in Texas?
Plenty of great crab in the Lone Star State, my friend. And there's always FedEx. How do you think Chicago (or Scottsdale, or even New York) serves such great sushi?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MileageAddict
Why didn't you call the manager over, tell him what you thought of the meal and get something else?
Mentioned it to the server and the floor manager. They adjusted the bill. This was not a case of just bad execution, it was bad all the way through...bad ingredients, bad presentation and a chef who obviously doesn't know better.
Because within 50 miles of Houston are substantial commercial crabbing operations (Blues), and in the area are a number of restaurants which do a decent job with the dish....
A couple of classics, crab au gratin and lump crabmeat sauteed in butter, remain at "about as good as you're gonna get" in the back room at Gaidos in Galveston, and the legendary (Are they still with us?) "barbecued" (not barbecued at all) crab over at Sabine Pass still lurks in my memory.
The tendnecy to "dilute" crab with bread crumbs, corn bread, and other adulterants is hardly new or limited to Texas. Major guilt should be assigned to a handful of food service purveyors which supply restaurants and hotel dining rooms with "pre-made" crab cakes and similar menu items (and to the folk who buy from them).
A resturant should never serve a dish for which it's incapable, unable or unwilling to purchase the components required and to prepare them "on site".
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HereAndThereSC
Crabcakes... stick to MD or SC.
TX? How 'bout some cow?
JP
Come on, guys...does that mean that you wouldn't eat an Iowa pork chop in a California restaurant? Against sampling Sweetgrass Dairy cheese (from Thomasville, GA) in New York??
I am all for eating local...especially when it comes to eating herbs and vegetables (read: perishable foodstuffs), but saying a restaurant in Texas can't serve a great crab cake is laughable.
Plenty of great crab in the Lone Star State, my friend. And there's always FedEx. How do you think Chicago (or Scottsdale, or even New York) serves such great sushi?
In the case of NY...we just catch it in the Atlantic Ocean. (Fluke, tuna etc). Other species are FedEx'd in (ie: salmon, yellowtail).Agree with you on the other spots.
Location: I'm thinking about moving. Where to? Rome, or back to New York. You tell me.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrviognier
Plenty of great crab in the Lone Star State, my friend. And there's always FedEx. How do you think Chicago (or Scottsdale, or even New York) serves such great sushi?
Well, when I ran the kitchen at a big sushi bar in IND we'd get fish from the airport three times a week (ironically, it came from Houston).
What I was referring to was the fact that I wouldn't think that there would be much of a culture of crabcakes in Texas, though apparently I was wrong according to TMOliver.
I mean, Texas sounds like a place for bbq or just a giant piece of grilled steer...
Come on, guys...does that mean that you wouldn't eat an Iowa pork chop in a California restaurant? Against sampling Sweetgrass Dairy cheese (from Thomasville, GA) in New York??
I'd recommend against eating a cheesesteak outside of the Philadelphia area. In general whenever you see a menu which prefixes "cheesesteak" with "Philly" it's a sign of a bad meal ahead
Everybody is focusing on whether it makes sense to order crab in Texas, but it seems to me the better predictor of quality vs. garbage is the fact that the meal was purchased in the hotel restaurant.
Yes, I know that good hotel restaurants exist. But my experience is that they're the exception, not the rule, even in many upscale hotels. I'm guessing they realize they can get away with a bit more, since they have a captive audience of folks who wouldn't likely be repeat customers anyhow.
I understand the OP was tired, and I have been guilty of eating in hotel restaurants in this situation as well. Still, I often make great efforts to leave the hotel for dinner unless it truly isn't an option. And when I have to stay in, I order something simple (like a burger), so it's harder to mess up....
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarqFlyer
I'm guessing they realize they can get away with a bit more, since they have a captive audience of folks who wouldn't likely be repeat customers anyhow.
Not so much this, IMHO, but, rather, the restaurant is held to tighter constraints in terms of food costs, etc. An independent is more likely to be willing/able to run a higher food cost than an establishment owned by a hotel, thus the quality of the former can likely be better than the latter.
While I agree the overall quality of hotel eateries isn't what it should be, it's certainly gotten better over the years. And while I'd steer away from 'chain' (Chili's) or 'formulaic' hotel restaurants (like Marriott's American Grille, et al), those stand alones/free-standers who associate themselves (or are situated on/near) a hotel should be held to the same standards as any other place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarqFlyer
Oh, and cheese from Georgia?
You bet...easily the best artisnal cheese producer in the U.S. today. If you love real cheese, go check them out: Sweetgrass Dairy website.
Because down near Galveston is some of the best crabbing you
could imagine, for some of the best crabs (blues) you could
imagine. I know as I've done both the crabbing and the eating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMOliver
Because within 50 miles of Houston are substantial commercial crabbing operations (Blues), and in the area are a number of restaurants which do a decent job with the dish....
Truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMOliver
A couple of classics, crab au gratin and lump crabmeat sauteed in butter, remain at "about as good as you're gonna get" in the back room at Gaidos in Galveston, and the legendary (Are they still with us?) "barbecued" (not barbecued at all) crab over at Sabine Pass still lurks in my memory.
Gaido's still exists? Good for them. I used to eat at the offshoot
in Houston.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMOliver
The tendnecy to "dilute" crab with bread crumbs, corn bread, and other adulterants is hardly new or limited to Texas. Major guilt should be assigned to a handful of food service purveyors which supply restaurants and hotel dining rooms with "pre-made" crab cakes and similar menu items (and to the folk who buy from them).
Had a "crab" cake the other day that was at least 80% filler and at
most 15% crab, any remainder being taken up with unmentionables.
The weird thing is that despite the fact that one had to seek among
the crumbs for the filaments of crustacean, the thing was actually
good. I don't know whether they put a ton of MSG, or cocaine, or
what into the mix; does anyone know how to make a great crab cake
out of mostly filler? It was to me a wonder almost along the lines of
the loaves and fishes ... .
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarqFlyer
Everybody is focusing on whether it makes sense to order crab in Texas, but it seems to me the better predictor of quality vs. garbage is the fact that the meal was purchased in the hotel restaurant.
Yes, I know that good hotel restaurants exist. But my experience is that they're the exception, not the rule, even in many upscale hotels. I'm guessing they realize they can get away with a bit more, since they have a captive audience of folks who wouldn't likely be repeat customers anyhow.
In parts of Asia, the very best food is to be had in 1. the hole in the wall
dives; and 2. in the top hotel restaurants. (Yeah, I know, Houston ain't
in Asia, but the worldwide generalization shouldn't be made.)
Worst Crab Cake Ever? Here's My Vote...Bistro Moderne, Houston
