We found this restaurant on Citysearch while visiting Baltimore. It was a typical family-owned restaurant, on the side of the Pulaski Highway in Joppa, decked in a dizzying hodge-podge of themes including nautical, english country (complete with wooden mallards and duck wall-border), and even an Italian chef statue. Tables and chairs were country pine with white plastic tablecloths to catch the mess. We started with a cup of cream of crab soup. The soup was a tad on the lukewarm side, but good-sized chunks of crab and a sprinkle of salty bay seasoning perked up what could have been a bland, cool version of clam chowder. Hot corn muffins with butter were an interesting and welcome accompaniment to these starters. The first thing I will say about our entrees is that, apparently in Joppa, size matters. We both had crab cakes, which were the size of baseballs. There was minimal binding material, so it was almost all delicious, sweet and tender crab meat. My dining companion had his done broiled with sides of cucumber salad and a baked potato. Mine was fried complimented with a mammoth side of homecut fries and dish of coleslaw. We could not finish all of our sides due to being overbloated with the crab cakes. This then is probably my only big negative...too much food, which seems to unfortunately be a growing trend in America. Perhaps maintaining the size of the cakes and dropping down to only one small side would help (and help sell more desserts). And also, instead of hearing our neighbors' conversations, some light music would have been nice to enhance the atmosphere. Perhaps the B-52s' ""Rock Lobster""?
Pros: Excellent crab cakes, friendly staff
Cons: Wet sand in the parking lot got in our car, portions too large
more