In what may become a weekly, biweekly, or monthly feature (frequency to be determined), the FBCC will use Fridays to spotlight a DC area food truck. The first purveyor of mobile cuisine to roll into the Food Truck Friday pitstop is the Crab Cab!
Just because everything is served quickly in the food truck world doesn’t mean that you can’t have a multiple course meal. The Crab Cab nicely wraps up each course in neat tinfoil packages. For the appetizer portion, the Crab Cab serves up an off-menu special: the seafood egg roll.
The seafood egg roll contains shrimp, crab, and purple cabbage and is served with a side of spicy duck sauce. The combination of shrimp and crab in the egg roll works well. It tastes like a fusion of the shrimp spring rolls and crab rangoon that you find on Chinese restaurant menus. The egg roll skin is thinner and more closely resembles a spring roll wrapper. This particular roll could’ve used a little longer to fry to bring the skin to a more golden brown, but it was still deliciously crunchy nonetheless.
For the second course, the Crab Cab offers a stable of any self-respecting seafood restaurant within spitting distance of Maryland: crab bisque.
The bisque is thick and hearty. It’s precisely the kind of warm, stick-to-your-ribs goodness that comforts you on a cold winter day. Crab Cab doesn’t skimp on the crab either as there are noticeable crab pieces in every spoonful. The bisque comes with a toasted roll. The roll was buttery and soft with just the right amount of crust from toasting. It’s perfect for sopping up any remnants of bisque left behind by the spoon.
Lastly, the Crab Cab presents a rather unique treat as the entrée: salmon fries!
The taters are fried just right to be crispy on outside while fluffy on inside. The salmon that tops the fries seems closer to grilled than smoked as advertised by the menu, but no complaints here as the grill imparts a certain smoky BBQ-like flavor to the dish. Crab Cab’s signature and “Fire Cracker” sauces provide the finishing touch and add a little bit of heat, making this a well-balanced dish of sweet, savory, and spicy (but not too spicy) flavors. A word to the wise: Resist the urge to eat all of the tasty salmon first as you will be tempted to do.
Conclusion: With so many food trucks patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital these days, competition likely forces many chefs to innovate. Crab Cab certainly isn’t the only crab cake food truck in the DC area, but with unique, winning menu items like the seafood egg roll and salmon fries, the Crab Cab makes a compelling case to be considered at the forefront of crab shacks on wheels.
Food and Beverage Consumption Commission 