My sister Noel is an MFA. That's a Master of Fine Art for the uninitiated. Impressed? I am. This past weekend my family packed into MICA's auditorium and survived a two hour commencement. 119 and 57 seconds of academic speeches. Three seconds of my sister walking across the big stage.
Totally worth it.
After the commencement we treated ourselves to dinner at L.P.Steamers, a Baltimore dive where locals go to pick crabs and drink gold beer from flimsy plastic cups.
I'm a huge fan of L.P. Steamers, but a few words of advice for you seafood seekers. The best catch here is anything steamed. That means shrimp, mussels, clams, crabs. Avoid the fried seafood dishes, as they are not that good, especially the stuffed soft shell crab; this is very sad and disappointing because soft shell season just started (If you are seeking soft shell crabs, try a few miles up the road at Woodberry Kitchen). Fried side dishes, like onion rings or french fries, are solid fillers, but you don't need those either.
If you plan to order crabs and are not dining with an expert picker (Noel gave us a very handy in-person demo, complete with samples), then watch this video. Be prepared for a mess and hard labor. Picking crabs is not for the fastidious or impatient. (Don't tell anyone, but I like Dungeness crabs better than blue crabs. And I like lobster way better than any type of crab). The steamed shrimp with onions dish is my personal favorite. Order more than you think you need, especially if this is "your" dish because everyone will eat it.
L.P. Steamers is located in an old townhouse in a residential neighborhood (1100 E. Ford Ave). Walk three flights up to the roof deck; it's nice up there, plus you just burned off a few of those onion rings.
