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Weekly reviews of crab cakes around the MD and DC area

Thames St. Oyster House

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 Cast Iron Crab Cake is available on the lunch and dinner menus. The dinner entree is a pan-fried 9 oz. crab cake served with spicy remoulade, and two sides (which at the time of this writing was brown sugar baked lima beans and roasted cauliflower). The Cast Iron Crab Cake is also available on the lunch menu, but on the sandwiches list. This version is also pan-fried, but is topped with lettuce, roasted tomatoes, spicy remoulade, Old Bay coleslaw, and comes with a choice of one side item. Given the price difference between the two, the size of the cake may be smaller on the lunch menu. This review is for the dinner entree.

As we mentioned, the crab cake is a massive 9 oz. and uses real East Coast blue crab that is bound together Maryland style with mainly bread and spices. While the crab meat is mostly broken up, it has a super sweet and light flavor. The binder has a nice buttery flavor and is appropriately spiced, but it depends on in what concentration of crab to breading you get that determines how much it compliments the crab. There were some pockets of binder that overpowered the crab, however luckily there weren't too many of them. The remoulade was relatively flavorless, and honestly, we could have done without it, even though it does enhance the presentation.

The Blue crab is nothing short of that amazing flavor that you fell in love with, and this crab cake showcases it well. But as we went through the cake, the flavor profile sort of flatlined, and in some places, the breading overpowered the crab. Less breading and a bit more spice would definitely help, even if it would mean a smaller crab cake. Nitpicking aside, you can't beat the flavor of Blue crab, which we'll take any way we can get it. So if you're in the area and can manage to get a table, give Thame St's crab cake a try!

Thames Street Oyster House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Additional Info

  • Restaurant Name: Thames St. Oyster House
  • Address: 1728 Thames St Baltimore, MD 21231
  • Neighborhood: Fells Point
  • Restaurant Type: Local
  • Website: http://www.thamesstreetoysterhouse.com/
  • Review Date: 02/28/2014 9:26pm
  • Atmosphere: Busy
  • Item(s) Ordered: Cast Iron Crab Cake
  • Cooking Style: Pan Seared
  • Other Styles Available: No
  • Available by mail order?: No
  • Price: 26.00
  • Order Type: Single Platter
  • Crab Content: Jumbo Lump
  • Filler: Average
  • Spice: Average
  • Overall Impression: Very Good
  • Rating (out of 5 crabs):

    4h-crab
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