Weekly reviews of crab cakes around the MD and DC area

May 16, 2012
Published in Crab Cake Reviews
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Four Seasons Grille

Gambrills is currently undergoing some big changes as of late. First there came The Village at Waugh Chapel Shopping Center. Now there is the Waugh Chapel Town Center being developed (which brings Wegman's to this neck of the woods! Yyeeesssss!). Not really much else around here, so you might as well get your shopping done, and then knock off for the rest of the day with some dinner and drinks. Which brings us to the Four Seasons Grill -- an eclectic fusion of Mediterranean and American cuisine. They've been around since 2006, and always seem to be packed. So are they worth visiting for crab cakes? Let's find out!

The Maryland Crab Cake entree is served on top of a remoulade sauce, alongside potatoes and chef's choice vegetables. On the lunch menu, it is a single platter; on the dinner menu, it is a double platter. There is also a sandwich available on the lunch menu only, which combines the crab cake and remoulade sauce on a brioche bun.

This crab cake is certainly Maryland style with it's bready texture and flavor. Plenty of lumps of crab meat, with some broken pieces mixed in. For a Maryland style cake, this one had a good amount of moisture to it. Spicing is salty with a bit of a kick. The remoulade sauce adds a little extra kick in there as well.

This was a really good crab cake. The crab had a nice sweet flavor to it, although it wasn't as sweet as one would hope for. The spicing is a bit heavy, making it's presence known. The crab and spicing flavors seemed to be right about even with each other. Texture of the crab cake seemed a bit unfamiliar, almost as if it was rolled in crushed corn flakes. Not to say that it is a bad thing, more along the lines of unexpected. That didn't make it any less tasty!

Additional Info

Restaurant Name: Four Seasons Grille
Address: 2630 Chapel Lake Drive Gambrills, MD 20154
Neighborhood: Gambrills
Restaurant Type: Local
Website: http://www.4seasonsgrille.com/
Review Date: 04/25/2012 2:23pm
Atmosphere: Not Busy
Item(s) Ordered: Maryland Crab Cake
Cooking Style: Broiled
Other Styles Available: No
Available by mail order?: No
Price: 14.99
Order Type: Single Platter
Crab Content: Jumbo Lump
Filler: Average
Spice: Average
Overall Impression: Very Good
Rating (out of 5 crabs):

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Restaurant Name

Name of the restaurant at the time of the review. Using proper, advertised name and not any nicknames. Stadium names will be used, as the stands there are permanent (at least for the current season). Festival/Event stands will use the business name.

Address

Physical address of the restaurant. In the case of a chain, the establishment visited will be used.

Neighborhood

Name of the neighborhood/area that the restaurant is located in. More useful for big cities like Baltimore. Smaller locations will have just the town/city name used.

Restaurant Type

Local = Single establishment/location
Local Chain = Multiple establishments in the same town
Regional Chain = Multiple establishments in the same geographical area
National Chain = Multiple establishments across the country
Stand/Kiosk = Stadium, festival or event that does not have a physical address/permanent location. Stadium names will be used, as the stand will be assumed to be permanent, at least for the current season. Stands at festivals/events will use the business name.

Review Date

Date and time the review took place. Time often refers to when I sat down at a table, not specifically when I took my first bite of crab cake.

Atmosphere

Approximation of how busy the restaurant was at the time of the review. May have an effect on the quality that goes into the crab cake and overall experience. If food is made to order but the kitchen is slammed, then food may be rushed out the door. Conversely, if going to a stand on a slow day, food may be pre-cooked and then warmed up upon ordering.

Item(s) Ordered

Menu name of the item ordered. There may be multiple versions on the same menu, or the same item may be named differently if the menu changes on a regular basis.

Cooking Style

How the crab cake was cooked. Not always obvious, at which case a best approximation is made. Typically either fried or broiled are the most popular cooking styles, others may be available and will be indicated as such.

Other Styles Available

Indicates multiple versions of crab cakes are offered on the menu. Does not list which other styles are available, as that list can get to be a bit unmanageable. Fret not, my loyal readers! The CCR will make an effort at some point in the future to return and review it. For science!

Price

The price paid at the time of review. May not reflect the price if you visit the same establishment, especially if the crab cakes are "market price" or on a daily special. Every effort will be made to indicate the regular price in the body of the main review.

Order Type

Single Platter = single crab cake + at least one side
Double Platter = two crab cakes + at least one side
Combo Platter = two crab cakes of differing styles + at least one side
Sandwich = single crab cake on a bun
Appetizer = ordered off of the appetizer menu
Single = single crab cake and nothing else
Store Bought = bought at a store, but may also refer to carryout from a restaurant that also does mail order
Other = anything else that does not fit the above, expanded upon in the body of the main review

Crab Content

Description of crab contained within the crab cake. This definition is a bit subjective both to what the reviewer considers the crab content to be, and what the restaurant does. Even if jumbo lump is being used, for example, it is possible for those jumbo lumps to be broken up into smaller lumps and/or shreds. Origin vs end product can be different, but in the end its all crab. However, if a jumbo lump crab cake comes out with nothing but shreds, then the CCR does not view this as a jumbo lump crab cake.

Therefore, the CCR will use the following definitions in its reviews to assess the end product, despite the restaurants claims (which will be noted in the main body of the review):

Jumbo Lump = large lumps of crab meat present, often the size of a sugar cube
Lump = large lumps of crab meat that often have a finger-like shape to them
Mix = mixture of lump and shredded meat
Shredded = no lumps of crab meat, all shredded meat

Filler

Assessment of the amount of filler used, not the actual ingredients used. Minimal shows signs of bread crumbs and the like being used, whereas Too Much indicates that the cake has hardly any crab at all.

Spice

Assessment of the amount of spices used, not the actual ingredients used. Minimal indicates the slight presence of spices (such as Old Bay) or flavors other than the crab meat (may come from the mustard and/or mayo being used), whereas Too Much indicates that the flavor of the crab is undetectable.

Overall Impression

A personal assessment of the crab cake after some thought and reflection. The CCR tries to be fair and objective in all of its reviews, but that does not mean that the reviewer won't have some sort of opinion as to how good the crab cake is compared to all of the others out there. Please note that this is subjective, and use the pictures, main review and user comments to determine if the crab cake in question is worth trying for yourself or not. (And post your experience in the comment section as well!)

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