If you’ve been around here a while, you’ve probably seen me talk about not liking the taste of seafood.
‘So Ater,’ you’re thinking (probably), ‘why would you do a seafood product review?’
That’s a good question!
And the answer is: Because they were recently used as a replacement in my grocery order, so they’re fresh on my mind. Also, crab cakes seem fitting for a summer review.
These cakes, as you may have guessed, are not my favourite Gardein product. But, I’m going to put my bias aside (as best I can) and give you a proper review of them.
Gardein’s Crabless Cakes actually surprised me with how big they were. I’ve obviously not had a real crab cake in… well I don’t think I’ve actually ever had a crab cake, even pre-vegan, but I assumed these would’ve been smaller. Closer in size to their Manadarin Orange Nuggets. They were maybe double the size? And definitely thicker.
The upside of them being bigger than I was expecting is, unfortunately, dampened by the fact there is only 8 cakes in one bag. Now, I’ve only got these twice, so I don’t know if it’s the norm or if I just managed to get duds/end of the line batches each time, but that’s something to be aware of.
For someone who doesn’t like seafood, I was glad there weren’t very many, but if you like them, you’ll definitely want to grab more than one bag.
These cakes had a good breading on them. They weren’t too crunchy (cooked in the oven) but the breading wasn’t too soft, either. It was a nice in-between. If I’m remembering correctly, I would say it was close to those frozen fish filet things.
The faux crab/filling itself is where my dislike for these became apparent. It oddly enough, didn’t have that classic fish taste. (Or ocean, which is why I also don’t like seaweed) What it did taste like to me – other than ‘bad’ – was weirdly enough, mint?
Not super strong like toothpaste, but it was more subtle, like candy cane mint?
I have no idea if mint is a flavour that’s supposed to be/usually found in crab cakes, but I found it weird. I don’t like mint in my food. No mint chocolates for me. It’s just too tied to toothpaste for me to want to swallow it. (I do like the smell of it, though!)
The texture of the filling was another… let’s call it an ‘interesting’ aspect of these cakes. It was what I remember canned tuna being – you know, that flaky, soft/squishy texture? – and since they were so big, there was a lot in a mouthful. (Even though I did bite them in half)
But again, I don’t know if flaky is a good or bad thing for people who enjoy crab cakes, so….
Another good thing about these crabless cakes – because I like to end reviews on a good note – is that they weren’t more expensive than the other regular Gardein products. So if you do choose to get these, they won’t cost you anything extra!
Except maybe in your mouthwash budget.
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