- Published in Crab Cake Reviews
- font size decrease font size increase font size
P.J. Clarke's
P.J. Clarke's has quite a bit of history to it, with the original location in NYC having been around since 1868, and the name as you know it today since 1912. P.J.'s has only ever had 5 owners, and they all kept the place the same. The location we visited in Washington, D.C. has only been around since 2010, but sports some pretty impressive details that would make you think the restaurant has been around a lot longer. Located just around the corner from the White House, you can rub elbows with some of DC's power lunch crowd while having lunch or a late night meal. Should you stop by for crab cakes, or just go straight for the drinks? Read on and find out!
P.J. Clarke's offers crab cakes as an appetizer, a sandwich, and a double entree. All come with tartar sauce; the appetizer also comes with a parsley oil; the sandwich is paired with Old Bay chips; and the entree is served with sweet slaw. Our review is for the sandwich, although the crab cakes will be the same no matter what you choose.
The menu states Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, but you'll be hard-pressed to find many lumps. The crab meat is mostly broken up, with very few lumps surviving. But you'll get a respectable 4 to 5 oz crab cake. All of that crab is bound together with a light touch of mainly mayonnaise and breadcrumbs. The bun was just a normal hamburger bun, topped with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce (which we asked to keep off).
At first bite, we felt the crab meat tasted a bit off. There was a mild crab sweetness up front, but afterwards you'll get a very faint fishy essence. Possibly from using frozen crab meat from South America, or because they may have padded the crab with blue swimmer crab. Aside from the crab, the only other flavor you'll really taste is the binder, and it's very light at that. Almost pasty in texture, but still pretty bland overall. Because of the light binding, the cake also had a hard time staying together, which didn't lend itself well to being a sandwich.
What this crab cake was severely missing was spice, which made for a very monotoned crab cake. Don't get us wrong -- a good crab cake should highlight the flavor of the crab. But you still need some other flavors in the mix so your meal doesn't taste monotoned. The bun just had a white bread flavor, and the lettuce and tomato didn't offer anything other than color and some crunch. While this was one of the better crab cakes we've had in DC, that's saying a lot, and not quite what we expected when the words "Maryland" and "Jumbo Lump" were on the menu.
Additional Info
- Restaurant Name: P.J. Clarke's
- Address: 1600 K St. NW Washington, DC 20006
- Neighborhood: Golden Triangle
- Restaurant Type: National Chain
- Website: http://www.pjclarkes.com/
- Review Date: 11/21/2014 12:31pm
- Atmosphere: Moderate to Busy
- Item(s) Ordered: Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Sandwich
- Cooking Style: Sauteed
- Other Styles Available: No
- Available by mail order?: No
- Price: 18.10
- Order Type: Sandwich
- Crab Content: Jumbo Lump
- Filler: Minimal
- Spice: Minimal
- Overall Impression: Average
-
Rating (out of 5 crabs):
