Best Crabcakes in DC/VA/Balt area

In an attempt to give back to the LTH community for all the help you guys gave me with my recent trip to Chicago, I figured I would let you all in on a little secret.

I am from the DC Metropolitan area (Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville area specifically). We know our crabcakes here, and I am going to pass along BY FAR the best crab cakes in the area (which means among the best in the nation).

The restaurant is G&M Restaurant. These crab cakes are the best I have ever had, bar none. Do a search on www.blue-crab.org and Chowhound and others will agree. They are jumbo lump crabcakes the size of softballs, and they come with little to no filling . If you go, get the Crab Cake Platter with two crab cakes. I say two crab cakes because you will only be able to finish one and you will certainly want to take the other home with you. The kicker? The two crab cake platter is ~$24. If my memory serves me correctly it comes with a salad and possibly a side.

If you ever come to the DC area you must try to make it out to G&M. Now remember, crabs are in season starting late May (really more mid June) going until October (they might still be in season now but prob not). Out of season I believe they get their crabs from the Gulf of Mexico, which is generally considered the second best place to get crabs next to Maryland (blue crabs are much more tender and sweet).

G&M is located about 45min from DC in Linthicum, MD near BWI Airport

G&M Restaurant & Lounge
804 Hammonds Ferry Road
Linthicum Heights, MD 21090
(410) 636-1777

http://www.gandmrestaurant.com/

Well, they certainly look fantastic! I wonder how well the crabcakes hold up to shipping; don't suppose you've tested that or know anyone who has?

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Well, they certainly look fantastic! I wonder how well the crabcakes hold up to shipping; don't suppose you've tested that or know anyone who has?

Unfortunately I have never had them shipped to me or know of anyone that has. It is worth the 40min drive for me, so whenever I get the craving for them I simply go...

Also, if you take a look at the menu on their website check out the Baked Stuffed Oysters (on the dinner menu). They used to have a picture of it on the website but apparently they took it down. Before I first visited G&M I took a look at the website and the pic of the Baked Stuffed Oysters sealed the deal for me. OMG, a site to behold. I have never ordered them when I went, but I saw them being brought out to another table... let me tell you, unreal looking. MASSIVE crab cakes on top of each oyster. I would bet you get more crab with this dish than you do with the actual crab cake platter (which is gargantuan in of itself)

Hi,

I will be going to Washington/Baltimore next summer. I very much appreciate learning where to get crabcakes.

Thank you!

Regards,

Great, you should definitely give them a try. As I said before, the best crab cakes I have ever had

Marc,

How do they compare with Faidley's, my candidate for the best in the Chesapeake Bay area and therefore the best in the world?

http://www.faidleyscrabcakes.com/

jbw wrote:Marc,

How do they compare with Faidley's

My vote for second best crabcakes is Faidley's. Most people put G&M and Faidley's in their number one and two for the best crabcakes (Sometimes youll hear the Narrows in the top two spots). Personally, I like G&M better, but Faidley's also makes a great crab cake.

The last time I visited Lexington Market, summer of '02, Faidley's price for one jumbo lump cake was $11, and worth every penny. That was for one - four to five oz. cake, served with a packet of saltine crackers and it was money well spent. I believe I had four that day. As I recall, Faidleys also offers crabcakes of lesser quality meat, such as your backfin, special, even some with claw, for considerably less money.

Thank you Marc! I have wandered around, in search of a decent place to get a bite on my way to and from BWI, more times than I can say with disappointing results.

Not sure how soon, but I will definitely be going. Any other food you recommend, should I be accompanied by non-crab cakers? Or any other decent places in the neighborhood of BWI?

While writing "Chesapeake," author James Michener spent some time at the historic Robert Morris Inn on the bank of the Tred Avon River in Oxford, MD. Afterwards, he claimed the crabcakes in the inn's restaurant were the finest anywhere. My wife and I decided to test his assertion a couple summers ago while staying in nearby St. Michaels, south of Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay.

The dining room is cozy, reminiscent of an early American tavern. There's not much to say about the menu other than that it's typical American fare, and we were there for just one reason. Crabcakes are offered two ways: baked or fried, two to an order. I ordered them fried, my wife chose one of each.

Michener just may have been right. I can't recall the side dishes (I may have ordered au gratin potatoes), because the crabcakes were so delicate and delicious. Almost four ounces each (my estimate) of solid lump crabmeat, I wondered how they held together without filler, and the waitress wasn't saying. While both preparations were wonderful, to me the touch of crispness made the fried version even more special.

We had arrived at the dock just steps from the inn on the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, the oldest continuously running ferry in America. Crossing the picturesque Tred Avon, it cuts about 25 minutes off the car trip from St. Michaels. It's a relaxing throwback to an earlier time, which put us into the perfect mood for the wonderful meal we enjoyed. After dinner, a moonlight stroll through the charming village of Oxford capped off a perfect evening.

The Robert Morris Inn
PO Box 70
314 North Morris St.
Oxford, MD 21654
(410) 226-5111

http://www.robertmorrisinn.com/
http://www.oxfordbellevueferry.com/

Photo from Robert Morris Inn website:

dicksond wrote:Thank you Marc! I have wandered around, in search of a decent place to get a bite on my way to and from BWI, more times than I can say with disappointing results.

Not sure how soon, but I will definitely be going. Any other food you recommend, should I be accompanied by non-crab cakers? Or any other decent places in the neighborhood of BWI?

every time I go to G&M I always order the crabcakes, so I cant vouch for the rest of their menu. Another dish that looks great is the stuffed oyster dish (HUGE mounds of crabcakes piled on top of the oysters). Their menu is fairly large so there is definitely options for non crab cakers, I just cant vouch for any of this other food.

As far as other good food in the BWI area.. that is not really my stomping grounds so I cant really make any good suggestions for you. If I were you I would visit the mid atlantic Chowhound forum, as there are a lot of baltimoreans (is that a word?) on it

JiLS wrote:

Well, they certainly look fantastic! I wonder how well the crabcakes hold up to shipping; don't suppose you've tested that or know anyone who has?
Well, they certainly look fantastic! I wonder how well the crabcakes hold up to shipping; don't suppose you've tested that or know anyone who has?

For NYE 2008, my neighbors and I ordered G&M crabcakes. One of the neighbors had been to the restaurant and loved loved loved them. The crabcakes were unbelievably good. Huge chunks of crab, with little to no binder (the binder was sort of a very thin mayo-type dressing--no bread that I could detect). In fact, it was hard to get them to stick together before baking. Each crabcake is 8 ounces and comes in its own little plastic deli container. I don't think they're frozen -- they weren't when they came to my house for baking, anyway, and the website says they're "fresh". Directions say to bake them at 450* for 12-15 minutes; we kept them in a bit longer to brown them up. And the price? Just $12.95 per crabcake (plus shipping, of course).

This is definitely something to try.

tcdup wrote:For NYE 2008, my neighbors and I ordered G&M crabcakes. One of the neighbors had been to the restaurant and loved loved loved them. The crabcakes were unbelievably good. Huge chunks of crab, with little to no binder (the binder was sort of a very thin mayo-type dressing--no bread that I could detect). In fact, it was hard to get them to stick together before baking. Each crabcake is 8 ounces and comes in its own little plastic deli container. I don't think they're frozen -- they weren't when they came to my house for baking, anyway, and the website says they're "fresh". Directions say to bake them at 450* for 12-15 minutes; we kept them in a bit longer to brown them up. And the price? Just $12.95 per crabcake (plus shipping, of course).

This is definitely something to try.

tcdup,

I agree that G&M's crabcakes are pretty special. The Lovely Donna and I passed through Baltimore this past summer, and had lunch at Faidley's at Lexington Market to enjoy what I consider to be the best jumbo lump crabcake anywhere. That evening, we hit G & M, and I have to say that their crabcake is almost as good as Faidley's, the main difference being that Faidley's uses fresh local jumbo lump crabmeat and G & M uses the imported pasteurized product.

I enjoyed a leftover G & M crabcake for breakfast the next day, eaten at room temperature.

FYI: Faidley's also ships their crabcakes. http://www.faidleyscrabcakes.com/

the main difference being that Faidley's uses fresh local jumbo lump crabmeat and G & M uses the imported pasteurized product.

Well, damn, I'm bummed. I'll definitely recommend the Faidley's for our next order.

But they did taste really good for NYE's in the midwest...

tcdup,

I didn't mean to burst your bubble. G & M crabcakes are wonderful and you can't find a crabcake of such quality around here. (But I am looking forward to trying Jimmy Snead's crabcake at Sugar Toads in Naperville) It's just that to me, Faidley's are a little bit better because fresh crabmeat is so much more flavorful than pasteurized. And more expensive. Same basic style of crabcake, though. Faidley's uses saltine cracker crumbs and my guess is that G & M goes with the traditional diced crustless white bread.

I would be very happy to find a crabcake of that quality in Chicago. Shaw's are ok, but you'd get run out of Baltimore serving that style crabcake. Joe's Stone a little less tasty to me. Morton's jumbo lump crabcake is repulsive. No flavor and crab broken up into a stringy mess, $22 for a 4-5 oz. cake. I've read some good comments on Hugo's crabcake.

Don't be bummed out. You just enjoyed a crabcakes 80-90% better than anything available around here.

http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=15410

we went by G&M a few weeks ago.

suffice it to say, i was disappointed. i've definitely had better crab cakes in the baltimore/DC area... for that matter i'm pretty sure i could make a better one myself.

Our waitress was nice and service from her was decent. There was another old lady who seemed like she had probably worked there all her life who was walking around nagging about everything, talking loudly about the bus boys to other waitresses... "apparently we have to bus our own tables today" ... then proceeded to repeat the same nag about 10 different times throughout the next 20 minutes, including going over to the bus area to nag at them loudly... the same lady was chain smoking in front of the restaurant as we pulled up, maybe she was having a really bad day..

The place smelled funny. We sat next to their fancy schmancy circular dessert refrigerator. It smelled like there was a dead rat somewhere... I think it was that refrigerator, but SO insisted he thought the whole place smelled like that. It was really, really nasty though.

The waitress asked us both if we wanted "tots" .. we had assumed tator tots, but apparently it was a really thick accent slang for "tartar sauce" ... "tarts" i guess????

I had the crab cake sandwich. It was great as far as texture, crab meat, size. Good chunky crab, big in size, not a lot of extra crap. But it *seriously* lacked any seasoning though. Anyone could go out and buy Maryland crab and throw it together with some mayo and egg and fry it, lack of seasoning is a pretty big fault in my opinion. And I don't care if it's the size of Texas, if it isn't seasoned it's not worthy of calling the best. A little salt and pepper at minimum would have vastly improved it. There was no Old Bay like seasonings to be found anywhere to remedy the situation.... Actually, just about everything we had served to us seemed like they had forgotten to put even a dash of salt or pepper in it.... There were a few crunchy bits of shell in my crab cake too.

...Any time you see a restaurant advertising "famous" this or that, consider who says it was famous.... Any restaurant could call their food item famous, and even make a fancy web site, and even offer to overnight ship it as if it was in high demand.. I'm not sure why these crab cakes are all that famous, but I'm willing to give them another whirl.

The food and atmosphere was very diner-ish in feel, which isn't a bad thing... just don't go expecting anything too fancy. You'll even get the standard Denny's diner look-a-like plates. The prices on their menu are pretty reasonable. With the exception of the crab cake (which is $12.95, about twice as a lot of other sandwiches), everything is pretty much diner pricing.

On Christmas Eve, we had crab cakes that we ordered from Faidley's. My comparison to G&M crabcakes is a little faulty, since I had my last G&M maybe 2 weeks ago, and it had been in my freezer for a while. But I think Faidley's were better. They just seemed more luscious (although maybe my sister just made it better than I do.)

When living in DC I always heard good things about Bobby's [I think that's the name] in 'downtown' Rockville, MD. Easily accessible from the Rockville metro. Unfortunately I never got there, although I did get to a good Indian restaurant across the street.

FWIW, for the food nerds I know in Baltimore, both Faidley's and G&M are no great shakes, though Faidley's is held in considerably higher regard than G&M.

Faidley's was definitely a revelation for me the first time I had them, but then I'd never had a real Maryland crab cake at that point. I still like 'em but I've had better, and there have been some downhill alerts as of late as well as empty boxes of Venezuelan crab spied behind the counter (whether it's being used for the crab cakes or something else has not, to my knowledge, been determined).

I only hit G&M once, and I didn't like it at all. Very wet, very loose, soggy, cold, way too much mayo... really lousy. Unless I caught a very off cake, I don't understand why these guys are frequently referenced as one of the city's best at all. Of course, I don't ever remember seeing or hearing G&M referenced as one of the best by any local publications or anybody I knew, so that may be the answer to the question right there. I will say however, dddane, that many Baltimorons I know are hardcore "less is more" types who really don't want much if anything in the way of seasoning. It wouldn't be my choice, but there's a school that likes 'em that way.

I didn't get around to sample crab cakes much while I was there, surprisingly. When I craved crab, I was much more prone to go for steamed crabs (Mr. Bill's Terrace Inn being my favorite haunt). That said, I regret not getting to Breezy Point out in Rosedale. All of the food nerds I know who dropped in agreed that it was as good as they come. And I know one person in particular who fumed when it was outed to the general public... but that's another (very funny) story.

Here's a great article on crab cakes by an acquaintance of mine, Henry Hong, who writes for the City Paper (Baltimore's alternative weekly):

http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=15410

Fantastic article.

When I was in Baltimore earlier this year, I had a wonderful crabcake at Faidley's (actually two wonderful crabcakes at Faidley's to be honest about it). But I was wondering about how Obrycki's Crab House is viewed. When I first went to Baltimore in the 1970s it was a very lively place which reeked of what I imagined to be Balmore charm. How is the new (1980s) location viewed today? It certainly didn't impress me with charm, but the soups and crabs were pretty tasty.

GAF wrote:When I was in Baltimore earlier this year, I had a wonderful crabcake at Faidley's (actually two wonderful crabcakes at Faidley's to be honest about it). But I was wondering about how Obrycki's Crab House is viewed. When I first went to Baltimore in the 1970s it was a very lively place which reeked of what I imagined to be Balmore charm. How is the new (1980s) location viewed today? It certainly didn't impress me with charm, but the soups and crabs were pretty tasty.

While not openly reviled like Phillips, Obrycki's is definitely seen as a tourist destination, and while the food can sometimes be good, it's known to be inconsistent and regarded with a great deal of suspicion. I can't speak to the crab cakes. For the steamed crabs, they don't use Old Bay or, like Mr. Bill's, a similar house blend. Rather, it's a very mustardy, peppery concoction that I rather enjoy as a change of pace, but many of the locals write it off on that basis alone. The larger issue at Obrycki's is that of freshness. While people aren't spying on the kitchen and can't say these things for certain, the consensus is that they're rarely steamed to order -- pre-steaming is not uncommon among lesser establishments -- and some have even reported getting cold crabs, especially at lunchtime when they're clearly the previous day's unsold lot.

Needless to say, this does not fly with the food crowd.

This is embarrassing. I just noticed that Ronnie had already linked to the same Henry Hong article above.

Sorry Ronnie