Best Crab Rangoon in Columbus #14
Hello, and welcome back to 'Toastmucher Tuesdays', where I eat and review crab rangoon across the city. Feel free to comment any recommendations.
Link to the map where I have all locations recommended to me and color coded categories based on my rankings is here. Full data spreadsheet is here. Link to the hub where you can access all of my previous reviews is here.
A note: Before this week, I considered a "great" rangoon to be 3 points above average. The competition has become very stiff, and I've decided to change the definition of a great rangoon to 2 points above average.
IMPORTANT - Next week there will be no rangoon post. I will be out of town camping for the week and have limited internet access. Regular weekly rangoon updates will resume on May 3rd.
Now - onto the review. This week, I headed over to Tai's on Lane. I've had their rangoon before, and they were a favorite of mine before starting this series. Let's see how they held up -
Tai’s Asian Bistro
4 for $6.95
Filling: 8.5/10
Wrapper: 7.5/10
Sauce: 9/10
Value: 2/5
Overall: 27/35
Filling: Tai’s rangoon have a very interesting filling texture. Generally, the texture of rangoon filling is a classic creamy brought on by the cream cheese base, but with these, the strips of (imitation I assume) crab were front and center and offered a welcome change from the norm. The texture was focused on the crab rather than the cream cheese, and it was almost like the cream cheese was more of a coating than the main part of the filling. It’s a bold move, and I think it worked. The flavor was excellent. There was a great light crab flavor and an awesome garlic presence that made for an overall melt in your mouth bite.
Wrapper: The butterfly method is very well done on these. They’re easy to rip apart, and the ratio of filling to wonton is excellent. They were slightly salty which complimented the savory filling very well. I liked that they were well cooked, and they were very crispy as well. It’s a delicate balance between crispy and overcooked, and these hit the mark.
Sauce: The star of these rangoon is undoubtedly the sauce. It’s a wonderful sour sauce that hits the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Oftentimes, sweet and sour sauce can be very thick and gelatinous which can be off putting in large amounts, but this sauce was very light and delicate. It was acidic, and the tangy flavor worked wonderfully with the crab and garlic flavor of the filling. The perfect sauce for this rangoon.
Value: Value metrics can be found on my data sheet. At $1.73 a rangoon, these get a 2.
Overall: Prior to beginning my search for crab rangoon officially, Tai’s was my favorite spot. I was initially worried that exposure to so many other rangoon would make Tai’s less impressive, but if anything, the opposite has happened. The only bad thing I have to say about their rangoon is that they’re very expensive, but in my eyes, they are very worth it. They melt in your mouth, and every bite is better than the last. A unique filling texture, a tangy sauce, and a great wrapping method all make for a fabulous crab rangoon.
Posted Apr 20, 2022, 1:56 AM UTC · edited