Pick a crab, any crab

Annabel Lee's crab cake

Market price

This is the best crab cake in Baltimore. How many fights have you seen break out at an exclamation such as this? Crab cake loyalty runs deep in this city. Some say Faidley's is top, some say G&M or any other number of places hold the rights to call theirs best. Most would be willing to back that up with a knife fight, but the problem is that they all are wrong. Annabel Lee Tavern in Canton has the best crab cake in Baltimore. "Why?" you might ask. It is the best because it tastes like crab. This might sound like a no-brainer, but think about most of the crab cakes that you eat in this town. They are either full of bread and imperial sauce, overblown with Old Bay or destroyed by using cheap crab meat. This crab cake is a study in restraint and simplicity. It is packed full of huge lumps of backfin meat, and the filler seems to be more crab meat. It's broiled so that the edges get caramelized and crunchy while maintaining the natural creaminess of the crab meat. Served by itself (which we like) or on a roll with lettuce and tomato and you have yourself crab nirvana. We dare you to try this and not think it the best you've had. If you don't, we have our knives ready.