Obrycki's (Baltimore - near Fells Point) [CLOSED]

"Longtime crab house Obrycki's will close its Pratt Street doors in [Nov/Dec 2011], ending a six-decade run of serving seafood" - Baltimore Sun, December 7, 2010

Crab houses are not well rated in Baltimore, and this was supposed to be one of the better ones.  Half tourist-trap, half-destination that is was a feature in one of the early Homicide episodes made it a place to at least try.  It's one of the "1000 places to see before you die" according to Patricia Schultz, and "Influential New York Times critic Craig Claiborne was particularly fond of Obrycki's, writing in a 1983 travel piece, 'Olde Obrycki's [is] to my mind one of the greatest crab houses in America, which is to say the world.'"  The world!  And it's closing after this season ("'for quality of life' reasons" says the Sun, and good for them if that's true, especially in the Crime City "Charm City").  So we had to try it...and we were not disappointed.

Tucked in a lot between the row houses and anonymous businesses along the Pratt St stretch south of the Inner Harbor, this place doesn't look like much from the outside.  Parking is in a $10 pay lot (5 w/restaurant validation) catty-corner from the restaurant.  But inside is a more welcoming look in a pretty spacious restaurant with (at least) two rooms split by the waiting area/bar.

The food:

Being with our visiting good friend T,  M suggested we get in-shell crab as an appetizer so that way everyone gets a "crack" at fresh crab before going off into the world of broiled and fried crab cakes.  It was a good idea.

Dungeoness crab (1 lb) – Tasty.  Light on meat (surprisingly) but good nonetheless.  (The blue crab season had not started (April-Nov) and the dungeoness is still in season (Nov-June), though on the tail end of it. Dungeoness was the best choice at this time according to the good people at Monterey Bay - Pittsburgh.)

Crab Imperial – "Jumbo lump and backfin crab meat in a rich sauce accented with sherry and broiled".  Good, almost very good. L did not like the “rich sauce” as much as M did ("it was a nice change of pace [to the broiled crab cake]").  Would have liked bigger lumps instead of a finer shredding.

Crab duet – Two fried crab cakes - one regular and one deviled.  Very good.  M liked that it was lightly fried with just enough breading and egg to hold it together.  Not greasy or heavy and seasoned well.  L preferred these over the imperial because of the nice seasoning to them.

All meals (except the dungeoness) came with asparagus and potatoes.  The asparagus was really good by all eaters.  Firm (not wimpy), clean, fresh, with a slightly detectable marinade that brought out its flavor -- it was a highlight in a meal full of good eats.  Baked potatoes were really good (not Yukon golds, dirty, or overly salted) and not so mushy as to essentially be mashed potatoes in skin.

Except possibly the crab imperial (as noted above), the cakes had a creaminess that was just enough without overdoing it.

And the portions were great.  Each of us (unfortunately) had food left.  It was just too much!

Cost
$$$ (seafood + tourist area + actually being good...what would you expect?)

Cleanliness
Clean

Service
All things considered, it was okay.  It wasn't very welcoming but it wasn't off-putting and we weren't ignored.  We were relatively left alone, given space.  It felt like very "northern", very "Baltimore".  You're not going to be coddled but you're not going to get bad/rude service (it's not Dick's).  Guarded is the best word.

Pluses 

The crab cakes.  The asparagus.

They don't use Old Bay.

They don't feel compelled to overly season EVERYTHING.  Still left everything flavorful.

Minuses
The prices are high, even for seafood.  Add 10% to everything you'd expect to pay.
This location will close by 2012.

Overall value

Good and we'll like go back during blue crab season to make a day of the Inner Harbor and tasty crab.

There's a BWI location and, really, they're going to just relocate to a smaller lot in Arundel Mills.  In addition to likely lower rent, that "quality of life..." statement may be excluding a key part of the thought: "...in the heart of Baltimore".