Washington Street Pub in Easton has great cream of crab and Maryland vegetable crab soup.

Directly across from the Courthouse, too, so, when you're done fighting those inevitable OC-beach-trip speeding tickets, just walk across the street for some great soup, among other quality menu items.

While you're over on the shore, you can also check out Bistro St. Michael's crab and corn chowder.

The Maryland Crab Soup (to distinguish it from other crab soups) at Cafe Hon is wonderful. I'm going to try the Eddie's, but for me Hon's is just about perfect.

As to cream of crab, what can be bad about a good cream of crab soup? Cream, sherry, a dash of Old Bay and lumps of CRAB. Unfortunately, too many places all use the same recipe: little or no cream, but lots of wallpaper paste. As if that's not bad enough, you can generally still taste the uncooked flour. Many a pothole would be permanently fixed with a bit of this slop thrown in.

And now I think I am going to make that picture of cream of crab soup my desktop wallpaper.

I've have a nice "Maryland" crab soup at the Baltimore Country Club. It can sometimes be too spicy, though. My boss is a member and we have our Christmas lunch there every year.
The very best soup I've had, though was my grandmother's. Oh, it was so wonderful!
As far as cream of crab, it's so hard to find one that isn't too thick and starchy.

I like the crab soup at the Towson Diner on York Road. Its fresh, inexpensive and only available on Sunday night (altho they may be serving leftovers on Monday).

The recipe that must have been used for every bowl of Maryland Crab I've eaten:

Open a can of vegetable soup, heat, and add flavorless crab. To make it even worse add Old Bay.

Even more than crabs coated in Old Bay this dish seems a horrible waste of a natural resource. Leave the crabs used for this soup in the bay to bring back the population. To replace the crab in the soup add shredded paper towels.

I've always enjoyed the Maryland crab soup at Josef's Country Inn in Fallston. And the definitive cream of crab soup - for me, at least - is at Harris' Crab House on Kent Island.

My grandmother always made the best crab soup and restaurant versions just never compared for me. As far as other kinds of crab soup is concerned, I really enjoy the crab bisque at Louisiana - it's pure essence of crab enriched with cream. Yum!

I seriously embarrassed my husband once at a party because I was excited to see the buffet had Crab Soup! I opened the lid and turned up my nose at the tomato-based soup. Again, being an import, I was shocked that it wasn't my beloved Cream of Crab. The chef almost kicked me out. I have since learned the difference between Maryland Crab soup and CREAM of Crab.

I don't like the spicier tomato soup so I don't order it, but the best cream of crab I've had was at Carrol's Creek in Annapolis. Bo Brooks is a close 2nd.

Not a big fan of theirs in general, but Bill Batemans (at least the Towson and Bel Air locations) have an amazing cream of crab. I have tried it all over and theirs is still the best by far.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...The Joy of Cooking has a fabulous cream of crab soup recipe (aka Charleston She-Crab Soup). I don't buy wallpaper paste at a restaurant; rather, I buy good crabmeat and make velvety soup in less time than it takes to talk about it. You too can have a luxurious potage in the comfort of your own home in about 20 minutes. You'll thank me (and the Rombauers) for it!

“Jules” in OC has an excellent Oven Roasted Tomato & Sweet Corn with Jumbo Lump. The best Cream of Crab is either Koopers or Ale Mary’s (both in Fells). Baltimore Country Club does have a nice Maryland Crab, but an even better option is to “marry” the Maryland Crab with the Cream of Crab. It is the best of both worlds.

Nicks fish house has one of the best cream of crab soups in the downtown-ish area

I was just food fantasizing.... isn't avocado great with crab meat? I think the best crab soup ever for the summer would be chilled gazpacho with crab meat. The best crab dip ever would be crab guacamole. Opinions?

I just had an epiphany ... in the summer crab meat is a dish best served cold like calamari or revenge.

I like the crab soup prepared by my husband, Lawrence. He is employed with a national hotel here in Baltimore, at the water front. The soup is spicy to mild depending on what taste you are looking for. Since it is prepared at home requests are accepted. It is full of vegeatables, spices, crab meat and claws. The claws are a nice treat because it makes you feel like you are eating the actual crab when you pull them apart to eat the meat. It makes for a light lunch lunch or dinner appetizer.

Now I am craving guacamole with crab dip.......sounds DELICIOUS!

McGarvey's in Annapolis.....

I always feel a little "un" Balmerish when I confess this, but I just don't care for crab soup. My fave is the cream of crab from Linwoods but I also have developed a love for the gazpacho at both Linwoods and The Harryman House with huge lump crabmeat topping off an otherwise very delicious gazpacho, so there you go OMG!

Ray's Pier in Benedict, MD. Ray's is a small unassuming restaurant located in the Hamlet of Benedit on the shores of the Patuxent River. Their cream of crab soup is wonderful, as are their steamed crabs.

E.W. Becks in Sykesville has graet cream of crab as does Smokey's BBQ in Eldersburg.

Bowman's and Sander's Corner have excellent Maryland Crab soup.

My favorie crab soups (MD style) are:

1.) McCabe's in Hampden
2.) Kisling's on Fleet Street
3.) Ocean Mride (York Rd in Lutherville)

My mom, Lorraine, makes the best crab soup in Baltimore City!! Not overly spicy. Some places the Old Bay is so heavy it covers the flavor of the crabs!! She also makes crab cakes and sweet tea that are better than any I have ever tasted elsewhere.

Crabamole!

Crabpacho!

Crabgasmic.

Crab bisque at Coburn's in Canton is out of this world. Perfect balance of the hot puff pastry, plentiful crab meat, and flavorful soup. I've yet to take someone there who did not instantly crave more.

As for Maryland crab, there is a little deli up in Towson called Jake's that does a good one (if you like it spicy, which I do). As for cream of crab, I am always reluctant to order it at restaurants because I am forever spoiled by Gertrude's, which in my opinion does the best cream of crab ever. Simple as it should be, it sure seems easy for places to screw it up.

Betsy said, Simple as it should be, it sure seems easy for places to screw it up."

I'm wondering if the problem is not so much in the making as it is in the holding.

If we make it at home with a recipe like Dottie's Joy of Cooking one, it is done in 20-30 minutes and then most likely eaten right away. None of you have any left over, right?

In a restaurant, it's likely been sitting on heat all day.

Lucy's (the former Maggie Moore's) has a pretty good cream-based crab and corn chowder, with a garnish of Old Bay popcorn.

Middleton Tavern in Annapolis
Gertrude's Restaurant in Baltimore

Both have excellent Maryland Crab Soup.

Regi's cream of crab soup is to die for -- maybe literally.
Had a great crab and corn chowder at Ned Atwater's recently. His soups continue to rival his bread as the best in town.

I'm always annoyed when I order crab soup and when it arrives it's clearly Campbell's vegetable soup with crab and old bay added - enough sodium for a month! Plus it's pretty gross.

The best (fresh) Maryland crab soup and cream of crab soup I've had in the past 15 years is at Mama's on the Half Shell. The Maryland crab soup is spicy and fresh and comes with some very hunky crab claws. The cream of crab is insanely rich with huge lumps of crab, the requisite hint of sherry, and a fried soft shell crab on top.

I'm with Summer - I think the Carroll's Creek cream of crab is the best (in Annapolis at least). I speak with some authority on this, too. I spent one summer eating my way through the Annapolis restaurants' cream of crabs. Carroll's Creek won.

For carryout, Annapolis Seafood makes a really nice one, too.

Yes, how could I forget my beloved Atwater's soups. Ned works crab meat into a lot of different permutations - all good.

The place, again go figure, for cream of crab soup is Fazzinis in Cockeysville.

How can a little place in strip mall make a cream of crab soup that puts most of the areas acclaimed restaurants to shame?

As for she-crab soup, the place for that is B.Smith's at Union Station in D.C.