Obrycki's Seafood Restaurant 
 Baltimore, Maryland            Date of Visit: 04/13/10             http://www.obryckis.com/         
           

Once again seeking to experience the landmarks of the locals, we thought we would try one of the oldest crab joints in the city. It also stands out since they use their own pepper based seasoning for the steam rather than the more traditional Old Bay. The place itself is very nicely and comfortably appointed, giving it a laid back sense of class. Busy with a bus full of tourists in the party room our servers were madly dashing back and forth but still took time to be honest and helpful at our table. When asked about the crabs we were told they had some but with recent storms they were not all that great. More honesty than I would expect in a place that caters to a lot of tourists. Another server mentioned her sister was in recently and had tried the snow and king crab legs steamed with the same spices and was thrilled.

We decided on some king crab, and the crab cake duet. We also tried the savory crab soup and a couple of desserts. The soup was deliciously spicy with a medley of veggies that made perfect sense. It might not be as luscious as the crab bisque at Canton Dockside but is in a category of it’s own. Delicious.

The Crab Cake Duet
 

Huge Crabbylicious Chunks
 

Savory Crab Soup
 

Local Hoppy Lager

The "Famous" éclair

On to the crab legs. Arriving absolutely caked with black pepper and other seasonings, it doesn’t seem possible any crab could possibly stand up to the assaultive flavors, but again, they have been doing this for a while. The seasoning that transfers from the shells to your fingers, to your mouth is bright, spicy, and fantastic. As soon as you bite into the crab however the predominate flavor is the oddly sweet and succulent taste of exceptionally cooked crab. The drawn butter adds a juicy fattiness that ties everything together. To my palate, Obrycki's seasoning is superior to Old Bay. I wasn’t sold on the idea of pasting crab down with all of these intense flavors but I now know why they have been doing this since 1944. Outstanding!The menu highlighted two desserts we had to include, a “famous” éclair supreme and a house made key lime pie. The éclair is a visual extravaganza on a plate but as with most enormous concoctions it could never live up to the unpretentious home-spun slice of pie. An uncanny balance of the uber-tart key lime and sweetness. An exceptional finish to an extraordinary meal.

Key Lime with a Zen Master Balance
 

The King's Obrycki's Style