As I promised last week, I checked out On The Bay Seafood over the weekend. Located on 42nd street, this cool little restaurant is on its way to being my favorite spot in town.

The first thing you notice at On The Bay is that it's not "on the bay", but rather on the ocean side of the highway. There's no indoor seating, as all of the tables and benches are outside. Wear some flip-flops, as the each table is set on a sandy beach under an umbrella.

Inside, On The Bay has one of the strangest, yet coolest gadgets around – a crab shedding tank. Many people believe that blue crabs will only shed their shells at a certain phase of the moon cycle, making it hard to keep fresh soft crabs in stock throughout the summer months. The shedding tank means that they almost always have soft crabs available.

For my first visit, I ordered the crab cake sandwich platter. It came with two sides, but I was in a hurry so I just got two orders of French fries. You can also order potato salad, corn, cole slaw and more.

I am always skeptical about crab cakes. I've been spoiled by the ones my mother and grandmother make, and I rarely find a restaurant that does it right. On The Bay's crab cake was cooked perfectly and was almost all crabmeat, with little filler. Each bite had lump backfin meat in it, which means they use quality crab for their sandwiches. Of course there were no shells in the meat, which is another testament to the integrity of the crab cake.

The fries were pretty standard boardwalk fries. They were decent and went well with the sandwich.

The rest of the menu is excellent as well. The soft crabs were juicy and fresh, just as I expected. I'm told the "Fried Rrr'ysters" are a good choice for the oyster-loving diner.

On The Bay is moderately expensive, as most of the platters on the menu cost $14. Sandwiches are $9 or $10 each as well. Everything is available as carry out, but if you choose to order in, you can sit on the benches in the sand.

One of the most important parts of the menu is the steamed crab selection. On The Bay has a range of sizes from small females to jumbo males. A dozen jumbos will cost you $80, which is par for the course in Ocean City. I prefer to get a few dozen smaller ones to save money (small crabs are $25 per dozen). It does involve more work, but I think it's worth it.

They also sell crabs by the bushel, which is always the best deal. The popular bushel of No. 1 males will set you back $155, but a mixture of small and medium crabs is only $95.

If you're looking for a fancy seafood place, this isn't it. If you want to feel like you're sitting on a beach near the ocean (or bay) with your toes in the sand and a pile of crabs in front of you, check out On The Bay Seafood. The owners started with a place called Steamed Blues in Phoenix, Ariz. If you can sell blue crabs to people in Arizona, you must be doing something right.