Shuckers (Fells Point) @ Baltimore, MD

I just realized I seldom take time to research for places to eat when I travel. When I mean research, I meant taking days/weeks in advance before the trip to compile a list of places to try out when I’m on a vacation, etc. The only time I actually research is the night before or the hours leading to meal time. Thankfully, internet is readily available and online reviews are some times quite reliable. =)

On our trip to Baltimore, the husband and I only researched for places to eat well… a couple hours before dinner time. We found a few choices and in fact stumble upon a restaurant with very good reviews; Kali’s Court. Menu looked good, ambiance(from the pictures) looked nice but we were not in the mood to pay too much for dinner. And there weren’t any price on the menu. This usually mean it’s gonna cost quite a bit. =)

So, we picked Shuckers which was just across the street from our hotel in historic Fells Point. It’s a more casual and laid back kinda restaurant perfect for us to just kick back and rest our my sore feet. The service at first were quite iffy. We got in through the back entrance not knowing what we did, and stood in the restaurant waiting for somebody to sit us. There were plenty of tables and wait staff walking around. It felt as if we were invisible as no one directed us to the right spot or spoke to us. All of them just walked by these 2 “lost souls”. Getting tired of being ignored, the husband asked the bar tender and we finally managed to find our way to the right spot and put our names down. With the many empty tables around, we still had to wait about 15 minutes. I guess they did not have enough wait staff for all the tables? Or do they just wanna make you wait so that it seems like they are very busy? =)

 

We requested to be seated outside, since this restaurant is located next to the harbor. We wanted to enjoy being near the water. It was rather chilly out but we put on a brave front and sat through dinner, 2 glasses of beer and each other’s company. Here’s what we ordered:

1) Cream of Crab (Crab Bisque?) @ $4.49 (Bottom Left). I initially ordered a bowl of it, but the wait staff brought me a cup instead. This was a blessing in disguise! Even though the soup was yummy, thick, creamy, flavorful and filled with chunks of crab meat…..it was SOOOO SALTY!! I’m glad I was brought a cup of soup instead of a bowl of soup!

2) Petite Crab Cakes - Three of our homemade jumbo lump petite crab cakes broiled golden brown & served with tartar sauce @ $12.99 (Bottom Right). Somehow I just had to have crab cakes when I’m in Baltimore…after all there should be a reason why there is the famous “Maryland Crabcakes” on restaurant menus right? =) About 3 golf ball size petite crab cakes came with the order. Crab cakes although indeed very petite, they were very delicious. Unlike many other crab cakes I’ve had in the past, there were hardly any fillers in the crab cakes. It was seriously just crab business. Fresh lumps of crab meat, minimal seasoning. I could eat more of it if it wasn’t $12.99 per order. =)

3) Seafood Quesadilla - gulf shrimp, lump crab & bay scallops, onion, pepper & tomato lightly seasoned and grilled in a flour tortilla, served with salsa & sour cream @ $8.99 (Bottom Left). This was my first time having a seafood quesadilla and it was pretty good. I don’t know what gulf shrimp is, but I do know the shrimp in the quesadilla where tiny weeny ones. =) I did taste the bay scallops and lump crab though. For $8.99, it’s quite a reasonable price to pay for a quesadilla..I think.

4) Basil Lump Tuna - Blackened Ahi Tuna, grilled to your desired temperature and topped with lump crab & basil garlic butter served on a bed of fresh field greens  @ $19.99 (Bottom Right). The husband ordered this dish and it was a great choice. The large chunk of tuna was cooked rare (to our preference) and was topped with a good amount of lump crab. Yums!! The tuna was perfect (you can’t go wrong when it’s cooked rare or sashimi style, lol) and the buttery crab basil topping were different and refreshing.  I did not care for the side that hubby ordered; snap peas. It looked a tad overcooked.

 

The overall service was good. There is plenty of metered parking near the harbor, if you’re not within walking distance to the restaurant. Depending on your luck and the time of day, you may have difficulties finding street parking. There are many bars and restaurants in the area. There are 2 hour, 4 hour and also garage parking. The 4 hour ($1 per hour) metered street parking would be the ones nearest to the restaurant.

If you’re visiting Baltimore and / or happen to be in the historic Fells Point area, check out Shuckers :

1629 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231-3449
(410) 522-5820