Pappas

Our last stop on our Baltimore vacation was Pappas Restaurant in Parkville, Maryland. We went there specifically for their crab cakes, which were supposed to be amazing. The thing that was really important to us with the crab cakes was that they be full of crab and not full of filler, and that was what everybody said about Pappas. We hoped they would live up to our expectations!

We stopped by Pappas for lunch on our way out of town, and it seemed like most of the people there were locals. On each table was a basket of crackers, a plate of raw cucumbers, and a basket of bread. What a warm welcome!

We started off with an appetizer of Maryland crab soup. Crab dip, steamed crab, crab cakes, crab soup, we wanted to try as much crab as we could on our short weekend escape. Although we can't tell you much specifically about the flavor of this soup this many years later, we remember this soup was good.

The whole reason for our trip to Pappas was for the crab cakes, which came with a garden salad and a side of vegetables. The garden salad was actually a pretty generous selection, including tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, and croutons.

A got the double order of Maryland crab cakes, while M got a single crab cake. Each crab cake contained 7 ounces of lump crabmeat with some spices. (The online menu now says 6 ounces, so they might be a little smaller now.) For our vegetable side, we both got some simply steamed asparagus.

The reason we chose to go to Pappas was because the reviews of their crab cakes said that they had very little filler, and the crab cake was full of crab itself. Everything we had read was completely true. There was so much crab, and huge chunks of crab. With this much crab meat, it was no surprise that it wasn't inexpensive ($15 back then for a single crab cake with the sides), but they definitely gave you a lot of crab. The crab was beautifully sweet, and the seasonings accented the sweetness perfectly.

We enjoyed our visit to Pappas, and it was the perfect way to end our Baltimore trip. Even though Baltimore isn't that far, we somehow haven't made it back for another weekend trip to indulge in more Maryland crab, but hopefully we will soon!

Pappas Restaurant, 1725 Taylor Avenue, Parkville, Maryland.