Enjoying One of Baltimore’s Finest

It was in late 2023 that I last wrote about Maryland crab cakes for a post on the wonderful examples served at Box Hill Pizzeria in Abingdon, MD. My fellow food blogger – John Tanner, whose barbecue-centric blog can be found here and is always worth a read – joined me on that occasion. We were at it again recently when he drove up from Washington to Baltimore to meet me for another crab cake lunch.

Our destination this time around was one of the most revered purveyors of crab cakes in the city most identified with them – Koco’s Pub, which is celebrating its fortieth year in business during 2025. 

Koco’s is hard to miss with its bright yellow exterior, and nearby street parking was blessedly abundant. My timing was perfect as John pulled up in his car right after I exited mine.

Although the menu has a nice array of pub-style foods, I had the strong impression while researching Koco’s that their claims to fame are the previously-mentioned crab cakes and their two types of crab soup – creamy white and tomato-based.

Crab Cakes are available in six and eleven-ounce sizes and can be ordered on their own or as part of a platter with fries and coleslaw or a Caesar salad. Those wishing to sample both soups can do so by ordering a half-and-half cup or bowl. 

We both have somewhat limited appetites and prioritized trying the soup over fries and slaw. John ordered a bowl of the cream of crab with a six-ounce crab cake, while I went for a cup of half-and-half and an 11-ounce crab cake. 

The soup arrived before long and it most certainly lived up to its reputation. Being from near Maryland, John gets to eat a lot more crab cakes and crab soup than I do and he commented that his creamy soup contained more large chunks of lump crab than he’s ever experienced before. 

I was also blown away by the amount of crab in the soup in addition to its extra-rich consistency and flavor. After mixing the red and white together, I noticed that there were vegetables in there as well, I assume from the tomato-based soup. 

Our crab cakes came out just as we were finishing with the soup. To say they were visually pleasing would be a significant understatement. Stunning was more like it.

In the absence of fries and coleslaw, the cakes came with an interesting array of garnish and side items. But everything on the plate other than the crab cake was essentially irrelevant.

I’ve now had crab cakes at four Maryland restaurants that are known for their versions. In addition to Koco’s Pub and Box Hill Pizzeria, there were G&M of Linthicum Heights and Chick and Ruth’s of Annapolis. 

It would be difficult for me to rank them due to the length of time between my visits to each place. But if I were to ever get the opportunity to try them all in a relatively short period of time, it’s hard for me to imagine that the one I had at Koco’s would be worse than the others. 

This was one of those eating experiences that makes me feel like I’m floating out of the restaurant on a food high after the meal. My crab cake was basically just a perfectly broiled ball of the softest and most wonderful-tasting jumbo lump crab meat imaginable. 

I requested cocktail from among the available sauce options, but there really was no need for a condiment with this crab cake. It was utter perfection on its own. 

Being close enough to northern Maryland and the Baltimore area to pop down there on occasion for a crab cake lunch is likely one of the best things about now living in Philly’s southern suburbs after spending most of my life in the northern burbs and city itself. Hopefully it won’t be terribly long before I can post on another such outing.