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I’ve been flying United a lot the past few weeks. I’m just about to requalify for Premier 1K® and have been doing quite a bit of dining in the sky. United recently added “Signature Dishes” from its hubs. These are available only through preorders and are meant to evoke the location that you’re traveling to or from (although some of this logic is a little suspect). I’ve recently reviewed the selections from Houston (my thoughts here) and Chicago (my take here). Last night, I got to taste the one that I was most excited about: Dulles Signature Dish – Maryland Blue Crab Cakes, which is only served when flying through Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
I got excited when I was able to preselect a meal for this flight. United and I have had a long history around the food that it serves on its flights. It can get it right or be downright awful (Polaris seems to be the biggest culprit here with dishes that really make you scratch your head). The picture on the menu looked delicious and crab cakes are one of my all-time favorites.
While the main dish did not exactly look like the picture above, it was surprisingly good. I am not a fan of succotash and did not eat that, but the crab cakes were almost entirely lump crab meat. There was next to no breading and the amount of crab in these two big cakes was most impressive. The remoulade was not as creamy as pictured, but added some good flavor. The tray also included a nice green salad and a semolina roll (that was warmed).
Another reason why I was looking forward to this meal was the dessert. I have long been a huge fan of Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding. I first had it years ago in New York City and have since gone to the Chicago location for it many times. It’s creamy, it’s a taste of home, and it’s better than any dessert that United (or possibly any airline with the exception of a molten lava cake I had on Austrian Airlines years ago) has ever served. I wrote about this partnership last week and am so happy to have been able to try it.
I love that United and Magnolia are committed enough to this partnership that there is a United logo on the lid. It would be amazing if United could also get Magnolia’s cupcakes on board (I don’t think that will happen as those are fragile and this comes frozen, but I can dream).
Anthony’s Take: This was one of the best meals that United has served on board. I now need to find reasons to go to or connect through Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
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5 comments
Can’t wait to try this one. Though having lived in Maryland I’m a bit of a crab cake snob… Not sure about serving it with succotash as I’d probably skip that part too. I am a fan of the dessert. Very happy with that choice!
am Marylander. I vouch for these, maybe a bit bland, no trace of old bay. They are enormous too…never got to the whatever that was underneath. Barely dented the banana pudding that ozempic was powerless in the face of. Truth.
UA cant keep making these. There has to be $20 of crab per order in this.
I was surprised by how much crab is in these and agree they need Old Bay
One of the best UA dishes
That looks disgusting, like it has been scooped up afer spilling all over the floor.