Crabcakes -- Faidley's vs G&M

I've been hearing about Faidley's great crabcakes for quite a while, so I finally ordered some. I had one last night for dinner, and I must say I was very disappointed.

It's not that it was a bad crabcake -- God knows that it's better than anything I can get here in the heartland. But I cannot understand how it is possible that these crabcakes could garner such praise as I have seen here and in other venues.

To begin, it was not very flavorful. Additionally, it seemed to have an abundance of filler-- mostly mayonnaise, I believe. One thing that really surprised me was the fact that it was nowhere near as rich as other crabcakes I've eaten.

I can only compare these crabcakes from Faidley's with crabcakes I ordered earlier this year from G&M. Well, in fact, I can't compare them. It's as if they are two different species. The G&M crabcakes were virtually all magnificent lumps of crabmeat bound with very little, almost undiscernable, filler. They were amazingly delicious; certainly the best crabcakes I have ever eaten, and I've been eating them since I was a little kid catching crabs on Long Island Sound.

Earlier I mentioned the lack of richness in the Faidley's product. With the crabcakes from G&M I was able to eat just one at a sitting because it was so very rich. I could easily have eaten three of the ones from Faidley's last night. Interestingly, the G&M crabcakes and the ones from Faidley's seem exactly the same in size.

I can't help wondering whether the product Faidley's ships is different from the product served at their Maryland location.

One more thing. Although the prices for the Faidley's and G&M crabcakes are nearly the same, the shipping costs are not. Although both were delivered by Fedex, the shipping charges for the Faidley's crabcakes were much higher than the charges from G&M.