ELV normally avoids restaurants with video poker like:
> Donald Trump avoids humility,
> Republicans ignore climate science, and
He does this because any restaurant with video poker machines is more interested in taking ready cash from slot junkies than it is about the preparation of its food. (Or, as his dear departed dad once said: “Owning any sort of gambling operation is perfect capitalism: it’s a business without a product. They give you money; you give them hope.”)
But there it was, Crab Corner, staring us in the face, and we knew from experience (at this and the sister restaurant across town), that a well-fried hunk o’ lump, Maryland blue crab meat might be just the thing to keep us from getting too crabby. We also remembered Old Bay chips and decent tartar sauce, so we grabbed a table outside (away from the smokey drunks and stupidity around the bar) and dove in. What showed up was as good as you can hope for, 2, 143 miles from the Chesapeake Bay:
Packed with lump meat, not too much filler, seasoned and fried right, it was substantial and satisfying….and way more true to its roots than we had any right to expect. Good crab cakes are made with very little filler (generally they are bound with nothing more than mayonnaise, egg and crushed saltines), and even though it’s too early in the season to expect fresh crab meat (the season for harvesting fresh ones begins April 1st), frozen crab meat isn’t all that bad, and we’re guessing that’s what Crab Corner uses in the off-season.
The tartare sauce was also tangy and much better than average, and the Old Bay chips were also thick and crispy. Put it all together and you have about as good a seafood sandwich as you’re ever going to find in the High Mojave Desert.
As good as the crab cake was, the oyster po’ boy was even better. It was the kind of sandwich that people take for granted in N’Awlins and Bal’mer, but that’s harder to find in these parts than a Mormon at a wine tasting. Four large oysters fried in clean oil, to just the right crispiness, all lined up on a super soft bun with the just the right amount of remoulade.
Before you get too carried away, we will remind you that the decor here can best be described as late-PT’s Pub/seen better days strip mall standard, and the service was efficient but perfunctory, as in: our waitron did more complaining (about the hostess, the size of the dining room, the inconvenience[to him] of our seats) than food carrying. But if you’ve got a hankering for some back east, Eastern Shore seafood, cooked with pride and coming as close to a facsimile of the real thing, you’ll be so pleased you’ll feel like you’re back in Natty Boh-land.
CRAB CORNER (two locations)
4161 South Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
6485 South Rainbow Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 98118
702.489.4646
http://www.crabcornerlv.com/crab-corner-locations/
Hello John! As a weekly guest of CC and Maryland native, this is a good review, but a few notes to add/revise! The inside and outside bars are non-smoking, as is the entire restaurant, and not everyone that hangs out in the bar is a ‘smokey drunk’. I am often in this area for Brunch and it is actually the opposite, especially with the open/two-sided bar. The Crab cakes are made with pasteurized (not frozen) crab meat, and broiled, not fried. There is no off-season, they import crabs year round. As far as the decor, that is about as standard to Maryland as you can get in a crab house. It’s cheesy, but we love cheesy, and we love our Flag displayed on everything and everywhere. This is not as close as you can get, it is the real thing. This is a Maryland restaurant picked up and placed back down in Vegas. The owners hail from Maryland and everything is authentic to our state. Glad to see it getting featured though! Cheers from a resident Crab Corner go-er, KKC.