In the dining hall, the selection of food available around dinner is usually good. I wouldn’t call it fine dining, but I have noticed that the quality and variety is usually at its peak at dinner service. Last Friday, I had a dinner in the dining hall that blew my mind. 

For my first course I had a rib eye steak that was juicy and cooked to perfection. Personally, I like my steak to have a nice amount of pink, so the steak isn’t too tough. I was truly surprised that it was cooked exactly to my liking, almost as if the great cooks behind the line had a sixth sense. If I had set one of the tables in the dining hall with candles and dimmed the bright lights, I would have had a fancy dinner with that dish alone. While the steak was great, nothing could compare to what I had for my second dish, crab cakes. 

I have eaten crab cakes that taste like bread and nothing else as well as other crab cakes that were just balls of fish that fell apart just by me looking at them. These crab cakes however, were blended perfectly. I could easily taste the fish in the cakes, and I could also taste the other flavors in the dish that helped give the cakes layers. 

They were also broiled to perfection, being soft on the fork and in the mouth, but firm enough to keep their shape and texture. I ended up eating six crab cakes, and I would have eaten more if I hadn’t had to leave for another event. 

Now, I love many dishes in the dining hall, in fact I had a list of other foods to praise before writing this review; however, the crab cakes were, without a doubt, some of the best crab cakes I have had in Carlisle, and maybe ever. I feel sympathy for those who missed out on them and did not get to witness their glory. I can only hope they make another star appearance on the menu soon.