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Annabel Lee Tavern
"It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me."
-- Edgar Allan Poe, excerpt from Annabel Lee
In a town famous for the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe, it is here in Baltimore where he got married, lived out the rest of his days and was laid to rest. It is only fitting that in this town you would also find a restaurant dedicated to the celebration of Poe, Baltimore and Maryland, named after his last complete poem, Annabel Lee. But is their crab cake enough to make you fall in love, just as Poe did many years ago (although hopefully not as tragically)? Read on to find out!
All prices are Market Price. Single crab cake platter was ordered, however you can also get a double platter, as well as a sandwich. Platters come with mashed potatoes and blackened asparagus. Sandwich comes with blue cheese coleslaw and sweet potato fries, and you can sub out for duck fat or BBQ fries for $2. I substituted the mashed potatoes (which are tasty) with the duck fat fries (super delish) for no extra cost on the entree.
The first thing you notice about this crab cake is that it is all crab and absolutely no filler. Binder, yes. But filler, no. Just crab and the glue that holds it all together -- a delicious blend of mayo, mustard and Old Bay (amongst others). Sweet but not not overpowering the sweetness of the crab. Mostly lump crab meat, I did come across one piece of jumbo lump. Hardly any broken pieces or shreds. Size of the cake was just right (although I regret not going with the double platter). Binder creates a bit of a "saucy" crab cake.
This is what I would consider a true crab cake - all crab, not much else. No shell or cartilage found at all. While some could argue that a tiny bit of filler (i.e. bread crumbs/cracker meal) would soak up the excess moisture from the binder sauce, the sauce itself wasn't overpowering, and all you noticed was that sweet, sweet crab meat, followed by the flavor explosion of the sauce.
If I had any arguments, it would be that I only received 3 stalks of asparagus. For a dinner entree, 5-6 would have been acceptable. I was, however, allowed to sub out the mashed potatoes for duck fat fries at no extra cost, so I'l willing to look past that on the chance I was slipped some extra fries in the deal.
Additional Info
- Restaurant Name: Annabel Lee Tavern
- Address: 601 S Clinton St Baltimore, MD 21224
- Neighborhood: Canton
- Restaurant Type: Local
- Website: http://www.annabelleetavern.com/
- Review Date: 04/26/2011 5:34pm
- Atmosphere: Not Busy
- Item(s) Ordered: Single Crab Cake Platter
- Cooking Style: Sauteed
- Other Styles Available: Unknown
- Available by mail order?: No
- Price: 17.50
- Order Type: Single Platter
- Crab Content: Jumbo Lump
- Filler: None
- Spice: Minimal
- Overall Impression: Outstanding
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Rating (out of 5 crabs):
