The Practical Reason To Avoid Ordering Crab Cakes At A Restaurant

The easiest way to decide what to order at a restaurant is to just get what you really want. Are those house-made potato chips twice the price of store bought, served in half the quantity, only marginally better, and still calling your name? Go ahead. Likewise, you should feel free to try any menu item that you know you can successfully execute at home, but just happen to want it prepared for you, for a change. That kind of craving, in fact, is the only occasion when we temporarily suspend our general rule against ordering things we can easily recreate in our own kitchen. But you should otherwise avoid anything handily prepared at home, sourced rather than made (like tinned fish "charcuterie"), and/or with a markup that's just a bit too hard to swallow. Crab cakes typically occupy at least a couple of those categories.

You could, for instance, have in your refrigerator right now eight ounces of Phillips crab that will not expire for another seven months. It typically sells for around $15 at your typical grocery store, but often goes on sale for closer to $10. That, plus an egg, a bit of mayo, lemon juice, panko, seasonings, and butter will net four crab cakes for barely a buck more, and in under thirty minutes. And a single (admittedly excellent) crab cake can go for $31 at a favorite, fancy restaurant nearby. Financially, it doesn't add up.

Crab cakes are just one example of dining dollars better spent on other food and drinks. We're even more committed to skipping things like caviar in restaurants, as some of the varieties we've seen topping trendy tables are also available retail at more pleasant prices. We'll often pass on restaurant desserts, too, when we learn they've been brought in rather than made on site. We can simply buy sweets elsewhere, without that hefty restaurant surcharge.

This might all sound somewhat limiting, but it's actually quite liberating. By knowing what to skip, whether it's crab cakes or store-bought cakes, you can actually expand your palate beyond its baseline. Maybe you'll turn your attention to a cocktail containing an ingredient you'd never buy for your own home bar, or pivot to an entrée you've never had the chance to try. Editing, in this case, will actually allow you to get a better sense of a restaurant's intentions, or even a whole cuisine category. By investing in variety, you save money and discover new flavors.