Mussel Bar Visited 8/31/2012 3 Forks

Mussel Bar 7262 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814

Usually when I am back home in MD, I go to the same old places to eat: Pho 75, New Fortune, and Tachibana.  I'm usually not home long enough to stray and try something new.  But this time, I was home in MD for a week and since I was meeting Elissa in Bethesda, it was time to try something new.  Downtown Bethesda has exploded in recent years and there are so many new, yuppie-looking, and trendy restaurants that I hardly recognize it as the town I grew up in.

Downtown Bethesda is usually a mad house but since Elissa and I met on the Friday before Labor Day weekend, things were pretty quiet.  In fact, when we walked into Mussel Bar there was only 1 table occupied, which was great because this let little Max run around a bit without getting in people's way.  As the name of the restaurant indicates, its primary feature is a variety of mussels.  While I generally love mussels, I felt that since I was in MD, I should try to get things that New York doesn't really offer (which isn't too much but there are a few things that I can't usually find there).  So I got the crab cake sandwich ($16) and Elissa got the Wild Mushroom Mussels ($20).  Yes, you can definitely find crab cakes in New York, but I find that they are usually more filler than crabmeat.  I was super excited for the sandwich and when it came out, it looked like it had a lot of promise.  It was on a brioche-type bun and I could see the crab meat oozing out on the edges.  However, my one complaint with the sandwich was that there was too much damn cole slaw on top of the crab cake that at points I felt like I was eating a cole slaw sandwich instead.  I understand that the cole slaw was there to add some mayo and moisture to the sandwich but it was too overpowering.  But when I did get to taste the crab cake, it was great and very crabby with not a ton of filler. I just wished that the sandwich was more focused on the crab cake itself.  The sandwich also came with fries that were nicely cooked and were more on the thin side but crispy on the outside.  I didn't get a chance to try Elissa's mussels but they were swimming in a cream sauce and she did mention that it was a bit too heavy for a lunch time meal.  I prefer my mussels to be in a white wine broth or something lighter than what I was seeing in her dish.  But I will say that her order was huge and you could also split that order with two people.  I would like to give a shout out to the waitstaff.  Granted there was almost no one in the restaurant, but they were super attentive and friendly and very accommodating about Max.  I am glad that I did try a new and different place to eat in MD and it gives me some slight hope that not everything in the suburbs are bland and awful.  Total bill: $50 with tax.

Photo Credit: Yelp