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Annapolis Seafood Market Backfin Crab Cake
Annapolis Seafood Markets is a chain of seafood markets with 3 locations around the Baltimore/Annapolis area. Their stores offer a variety of fresh seafood and prepared items available for carry out. Annapolis Seafood tends to be a local's secret, with their seafood being bought and prepared fresh daily. Friend of the CCR Kerry G. shared this little secret with us, saying that someone in her family who typically hates seafood requests their crab cakes all the time. While she may be referring to the jumbo lump crab cakes, anyplace with such rave reviews from the non-seafaring types must be good! So with such high regards in mind, the CCR set sail for their nearest Annapolis Seafood Market with their sights set on crab cakes. How were they? Let's find out!
Backfin crab cakes were only available in 4oz size on the day of our visit (indicated on the sign in the seafood case). Their online store indicates they are sold 3 crab cakes to a pound, so you may want to confirm the size with the store before ordering online if this is a concern. No instructions were given along with the crab cake, although with backfin cakes you can cook it whichever way you like -- fried, broiled, pan sauteed, etc. We chose to bake our crab cake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
The backfin cakes are all Maryland Blue backfin meat, with no fillers, simply held together with a binder made from an imperial sauce. All crab cakes are not only prepared by hand, but also hand packaged. Crab meat composition was a mixture of small lumps and shreds.
When you take your first bite, all you can taste is that sweet Maryland Blue crab that us Marylanders have come to know and love. Imperial sauce has just enough spice to make things interesting, but makes a point to stay out of the way of that precious crab flavor. Really nice amount of moisture throughout.
Excellent crab cake at a price that you can't beat for the quality. A bit more spice in the sauce can help with flavor complexity, but if you add your own, you'd only need a tiny bit. (Somehow adding your own spice just isn't the same as letting the flavors marinate.) Squirting some lemon juice on top helps to accentuate the flavor of the crab.
As a side note, these crab cakes are highly reminiscent of the backfin cakes at Rip's Country Village. Annapolis Seafood does link to Rip's as a partner site, so we're speculating that Annapolis Seafood is the crab cake supplier for Rip's. So if you've had one, you know that you'll love the other!
Additional Info
- Restaurant Name: Annapolis Seafood Market
- Address: 552-L Ritchie Highway Severna Park, MD 21146 Other locations available
- Neighborhood: Severna Park
- Restaurant Type: Retail
- Website: http://www.aircrabusa.com/
- Review Date: 06/10/2012 8:40pm
- Atmosphere: Not Busy
- Item(s) Ordered: Backfin Crab Cake
- Cooking Style: Oven Baked
- Other Styles Available: Yes
- Available by mail order?: Yes
- Price: 7.99
- Order Type: Store Bought
- Crab Content: Backfin
- Filler: None
- Spice: Minimal
- Overall Impression: Very Good
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Rating (out of 5 crabs):
