Annapolis and Eastern Shore Dining

[TarteTatin]

Had lunch at Buddies. I ordered two large crabs, very meaty, not real large....the seasoning was good, not old bay, but good.

He had the rib and crab cake combo. I didn't like the taste of ribs I tried, but he did, so that's all that counts. We had a bottle of New Zealand screw top sauvignon and his meal started with a very basic, not worth it salad. Overlooked the water though, and it wasn't too crazy for a Tuesday lunch.

Annapolis was good, went to Pusser's for a cocktail, walked around...

Drove back to Philly via Galena/Sassafras river...went to our old stand by in Chesapeake City for dinner: Bayard Canal House. Sat on the canal, outside, lots of neat boat activity, including a big huge tanker that we didn't think would make it under the bridge, but did.

Bottle of Gruet rose, we love Gruet, a New Mexico winery, I believe it's a French winemaker. Good value for a restaurant at $25.

He had their special award winning Maryland crab soup, REALLY good, and I don't usually go for tomato based seafood soups. Delicious. Took a pint home and had it tonight. Great.

I had their special crab cakes. You think: $29 for an entree, it had better be good! It was. It was totally worth it. Not just the size (two huge cakes, one would have been enough). But the taste was delicious. Really good. The broccoli side tasted fresh, it was the usual overcooked, but, oh, well. A little dollop of some potato...

He had buttermilk soft shell crabs over salad. Again, the size was huge, two large ones, and it was definitely FRIED food. But, I have to say, just delicious! It was a special...the remoulade/mayonnaise/sauce was very spicy and delicious. It was on a bed of a large amount of salad, not wilted by the crabs, just very tasty, with all sorts of mushrooms, cucumbers, etc, etc.

We both ended with this locally made Hockessin, Delaware ice cream, which we've had there before. Butterscotchy, caramel, a bit of fudge, very vanilla and decadent.

Besides going there about once a year, we've had stuff two years running from both Bayard House and this Hockessin, Delaware ice cream place - at the Meals with the Masters at the Chase Center.

Very good Eastern Shore seafood place.

[jauster]

We are renting a house near Cambridge, MD next week and are looking for family friendly places with good food in the surrounding areas (Cambridge, St Michaels, Easton, etc.). Thanks for your help!

Jennie

[DTBarton]

I'm not the best one to reply on family friendly as I'm kidless, but we have had a couple good meals at Out of the Fire in Easton.

http://outofthefire.com/

They make good pizza in a wood oven, kids usually can get into pizza. And other good things for the grownups as well.

[pups224]

Spent five days (again) on Tilghman Island.

Ate at Perry Cabin for dinner. The view is much better than the food.

Scossa's: Good solid cooking. Not nearly as good as the In at Easton was.

The Bridge: Decent crab cake if you are stranded.

Tilghman Island Inn: By far the best choice. Great ingredients and fine cooking.

By the way, the In at Easton was sold to two guys from NYC last week. They plan to have it up and going by December.

[weinoo]

We recently spent a lovely weekend at a friend's home in Arnold, MD, which is right outside of Annapolis. Mostly we cooked and ate lots of good things, including local corn, tomatoes and crab (of course). On Friday night, we had home-cooked crab cakes, brought home from Faidley's, which I think is one of the two or three top crab cakers in Baltimore, though I'm sure to get some argument on this. Each cake must have been close to half a pound, and they were super.

We did go out to lunch on Saturday, as I wanted to go back to the famous

which, on a beautiful day, is as much fun as it looks...

While the crab cake was not quite as delicious as the one from Faidley's, it hit the spot just fine, along with some fresh, tasty cole slaw and decent corn (but w/o that prepackaged tartar sauce, btw)...

The hit of the lunch, however, was the soft-shell crab sandwich, two perfectly fried shedders on a bun...

If you can find it by car or boat, Cantler's, while maybe not a can't miss, is certainly worth the trip.

[bavila]

Hi there everyone, just a couple to add to the list:

Cynthia's in Severna Park. I went there recently for lunch, had the house salad and steak and blue cheese sandwich. It was excellent. The fries were really frites, and the bread on the sandwich was homemade. I tasted the chicken pot pie also which the waitress reported to be quite popular. The atmosphere is pretty staid (it is Severna Park after all), but the food is a huge consolation after Metropolitan closingCan't wait to go back for my birthday dinner.

Next is Punk's Backyard Grill at the Annapolis Mall. They are situating themselves for chaindom, but I don't care. The food is simple and well executed and delish! Friday's dinner was the lamb skewers, today's lunch was Thai steak salad. Rockin' mac and cheese both times. Boylan's soda in the fountain -- who knew! This is where the kids will bring me for my birthday. Give me family friendly mixed with good food, and I am a very happy girl.

[John Talbott]

On Friday night, we had home-cooked crab cakes, brought home from Faidley's, which I think is one of the two or three top crab cakers in Baltimore, though I'm sure to get some argument on this.

←

Not much argument from me, altho' Colette's version made from Eddie's stock rules.

[kellytree]

I just got back from a day in Annapolis. Nice boats and great meal at Hell Point Seafood on Dock St. looking out on the harvor or what ever it is.

The only problem was that everything on the menu looked great so deciding on what to order was hell. Otherwise it was heaven.

[ricain]

Hi Everyone - any updates to this topic? I'm in the Annapolis city center for 4-5 days next week. I visit my parents Kent Island and I get around that side of the bridge a lot, but I never seem to get a chance to visit restaurants in Annapolis itself.

Anyway, would love to hear what people like and if there are any major updates from the contents in this thread.

Thanks!

[DTBarton]

I know some of these are mentioned in the thread, but in downtown Annapolis I think Joss and Aqua Terra are still good bets, as is O'Leary's in Eastport. For a great view of the Severn river and the Naval Academy, try the Severn Inn at the north end of the Naval Academy bridge over the Severn. Les Folies on Riva road near Parole is good also.

Further down Riva road you can sit by the South river and eat crabs at Mike's Crab House. And, finally, some props for my favorite hometown place, Saigon Palace in Edgewater (about 10 minutes south of Annapolis).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g41124-d666818-Reviews-Saigon_Palace-Edgewater_Maryland.html

[gali]

I can still vouch for Cantler's - for food + overall experience. If you are going for hard shell crabs (which you should) go early as the big ones sell out fast. And look at that crab cake photo.

I also have liked Joss a lot for sushi but haven't been in a while.

[ricain]

I forgot to report back on my experience in Annapolis at the beginning of May:

My wife and I went to Level (West St) on Friday, Severn Inn for lunch on Sat, and McGarvey's on Sat for dinner. We also had lunch on Sunday at Rustico in Stevensville, MD. The owners at Rustico also own Luna Blue on West St in Annapolis.

Level: This little tapas space had not only very fresh, farm-to-table ingredients expertly prepared, but two bartenders who mix as well as I have seen in more famous places like Pegu Club, Death & Co., etc. The classic Sazerac I had (pic below) was perfectly balanced, and again I have to highlight the freshness of the ingredients as the lemon dropped in at the end of the preparation did change the nose and taste quite a bit. They're not locked in to tradition however either as my wife had their "Margarita" which was a variation on tradition (pic below). That's fresh cilantro floating on the top of her drink. The bartender / co-owner there, John, also mixed me his own creation of Tequila Ocho Silver, Lemon juice, elderberry liqueur, st germain, clove syrup (made in house) and bitters, shaken. It was nicely balanced with grassy overtones. Delicious! The fact this place was one block from my hotel meant I had to exercise discipline throughout my stay to avoid popping in for a cocktail at all hours of the day.

Severn Inn: I go here a lot when I visit because it's easy to access for my parents and we enjoy the view as much as the food. I did not vary from my "usual" which is their oyster stew and crab cake.

I enjoyed McGarvey's for the atmosphere and of course we enjoyed the oyster shooters.

At Rustico we had the fisherman's stew, which came out piping hot, very fresh. We would like to go back for the dinner menu. I would imagine Luna Blue in Annapolis is similar since it's the same owners.

Thanks to all who provided recommendations we had a great stay.