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Claddagh Pub
Claddagh Pub is an Irish pub located in Canton Square, known for their Chesapeake Bay cuisine by day and dance club at night. This place seems to have it all: neighborhood bar downstairs with a wide range of sports showing on the televisions, outside seating on both the sidewalk and an inner courtyard, and the upstairs area where DJs play and pool tables are to be found. Claddagh's is probably more well known for being a bar than a restaurant. And an Irish pub typically won't be foremost on your list of places to find crab cakes. So how were they? Read on!
Thursday nights have crab cake platters on special: 2-6oz jumbo lump crab cakes for $18.95. All other prices listed as Market Price. Crab cake sandwich is also available. No tartar, cocktail or lemon wedge served with the platter, nor offered by the server. Platter comes with mashed potatoes and veggies.
When you think of the term "jumbo lump crab cake" you expect hugs lumps of crab meat, and not so much a description of the quality of the meat. Claddagh delivers on the perception, creating a cake with lots of big pieces of crab bound together by bread crumb filler. Filler wasn't too excessive, but was noticeable (a bit hard not to with all of that jumbo lump). Spicing of the filler/binder was very minimal to allow the taste of the crab shine through. Binder appeared to be more mustard than mayo.
With that much jumbo lump, I really wanted to love these crab cakes. However, I think mine were overcooked as the crab meat, even on the inside, was dry (much like how turkey breast dries out if cooked too long). While it was busy, most people were either enjoying drinks or already had food, so the kitchen shouldn't have been that slammed. The crab meat itself was still tasty, but could have been a bit sweeter (this may have been because of being overcooked, or from possibly using imported crab meat).
The cake was moist on the inside, but just not enough moisture to make it enjoyable (again, possibly from being overcooked). By comparison, the mashed potatoes were a bit dry themselves, but had more moisture than the crab cakes. Because of the lack of moisture, the filler really stood out more than it would have otherwise, adding a bready texture to the jumbo lumps of crab.
If there was a bit more sauce to the mixture, and if it wasn't cooked so long, then these crab cakes have the real potential to be a hidden gem. Others have raved about them, making me think that I should go back and give them a second chance. If/when I do, I'll be sure to post an update.
Additional Info
- Restaurant Name: Claddagh Pub
- Address: 2918 O'Donnell St Baltimore, MD 21224
- Neighborhood: Canton
- Restaurant Type: Local
- Website: http://www.claddaghonline.com/
- Review Date: 04/28/2011 6:36pm
- Atmosphere: Moderate to Busy
- Item(s) Ordered: Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
- Cooking Style: Broiled
- Other Styles Available: Unknown
- Available by mail order?: No
- Price: 18.95
- Order Type: Double Platter
- Crab Content: Jumbo Lump
- Filler: Average
- Spice: Minimal
- Overall Impression: Average
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Rating (out of 5 crabs):
