One of Baltimore Magazine's Top 25 Crab Cakes for 2013! And to be quite honest, for as long as we've lived around Baltimore, we have never heard of Tark's until reading the list. (I know!) Although it was a bit hard to find at first, we finally made our way to the quite sizable restaurant. Tark's gives off the vibe of a high-end restaurant with the dark woods and white tablecloths, while at the same time maintaining the casual appearance, especially with the large patio outside. Tark's is no stranger to the Baltimore Magazine Top Crab Cake list, having been on it at least 5 times (going by the plaques at the hostess stand). So with the expectations set, we headed out to see if Tark's is worthy enough to serve one of Baltimore's top crab cakes. Read on to see how it all went!

One thing we always wonder here at the CCR is just how good a retail crab cake can be as we are roaming the grocery store aisles.  One past reviewee was Bloom, a niche chain of supermarkets operated by Food Lion (AKA Food Kitty).  The ones in a past review were the ones you could get fresh at the seafood counter.  Shop a little further, perhaps into the frozen food aisle, and on your way to Ben and Jerry's latest flavor, you might just notice the Taste of Inspirations crab cakes.  Calling.  Beckoning.  Wanting to jump into your shopping cart.  And then you think, "What would the CCR do?"  Well, the CCR has been in that predicament.  (Cherry Garcia and Half Baked, if you must know)  And those Taste of Inspirations cakes did fall into our cart.  How were they?  Read on and see how it went down!

One of Baltimore Magazine's Top 25 Crab Cakes of 2013! The Thames St. Oyster House opened in historic Fells Point back in July of 2011, converting an old 2-story storehouse into the appropriately themed restaurant that it is today. While the main draw may be on oysters, they do serve authentic and traditional Mid-Atlantic and New England style seafood. The big draw for us, however, is their Cast Iron Crab Cake, which uses nothing but East Coast Blue crab. Given that this place is almost impossible to visit during "normal" hours without reservations, we managed to finally get a table (yes, with a reservation!). Was it worth the wait? Read on and find out!

The All-American Steakhouse & Sports Theatre is a regional chain with 3 locations in VA and 2 in MD.  Featuring wet and dry aged corn-fed midwestern beef, along with all of your other bar favorites, you won't have any excuse not to be hungry when you walk in. The kitchen is located right near the door, so you get smacked with a waft of sizzling beef the second you step in. Which isn't a bad thing, honestly. And try as we might, we didn't let that deter us from what we're really after -- crab cakes! Were they as delicious as the steaks smelled? Let's find out!

For over 60 years, there has been a restaurant on Route 40 that has been a local favorite. That establishment would be The Bayou. The current owners purchased the restaurant back in 1982, and ever since, the Wards have strived to provide top quality local cuisine in a place that emanates local ambience. Their three dining rooms are decorated with decoys (as Havre de Grace is known as The Decoy Capital of the World), local scenes depicted in paintings and photographs, and historical newspaper accounts. Of course, it was the crab cakes that attracted us. Read on to see how they were!