Seafood in Bethesda
For a region of the United States that is known for its seafood, in particular Chesapeake Blue crabs, Bethesda has a host of top notch seafood restaurants to select from. Crab cakes are famous in this area but with access to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, the area also has a range of abundant fresh fish.

Described as having the perfect combination of food and fun, the Bethesda Crab House is the top rated seafood restaurant in Bethesda by urbanspoon.com. Bethesda Crab House serves up piles of cayenne-crusted Maryland blue crabs. Crabs are eaten in the traditional style with mallets and dipped in butter. The all-you-can-eat crab feast includes crab, corn and coleslaw for $25. The crab cakes at Bethesda Crab House are renowned, made with lump meat and little to no filler. When eating at the Bethesda Crab House, plan to spend quite a bit of time, relax and enjoy the atmosphere. The staff at the Bethesda Crab House is attentive and not pushy to turnover tables.

Black’s Bar & Kitchen is rated in the top 100 restaurants in all of the Washington DC area. This restaurant, owned by husband and wife team Jeff and Barbara Black, features a raw bar and wood-fire grill. The restaurant atmosphere is upscale casual and reservations are recommended. The style of food at Black’s Bar & Kitchen is modern American. Black’s Bar & Kitchen offers a Sunday brunch. Recommended dishes at Black’s Bar & Kitchen include the saffron-scented seafood stew, oysters on the half-shell, and mussels with tomato, lemon, and shallot. Black’s Bar & Kitchen also serves several non-seafood dishes including fried chicken with sweet-potato waffles and hanger steak with chimichurri or béarnaise sauce.

Cameron’s Seafood Market is a fish market that serves up some of the freshest seafood in the area. Cameron’s Seafood Market is a simple restaurant, with the choice of cooking method being broiled or fried. Broiled is the most recommended style. The reasonably priced food is served on Styrofoam plates. The kitchen is light on the butter and allows for the freshness of the food to be the star of the dishes. The crab cakes are made with lump back fin meat. The fried oysters are delectable, perfectly fried and juicy. The soups at Cameron’s Seafood Market are made fresh each morning.

Maryland is known for its crabs and the Bethesda Crab House knows how to serve up this specialty to perfection. Diners awarded the Bethesda Crab House with five out of five stars on Citysearch.com. While this eatery isn’t cheap, it is definitely a gem and exactly what you want out of a crab house: newspaper, mallets, vinegar and perfectly seasoned crabs. The service is impeccable. When ordering the crab feast, the servers appear with new crabs as soon as the last one is consumed. The Crab House gets crowded, so make sure to call ahead to avoid a wait.

Rated as the top seafood restaurant in Bethesda by Urbanspoon.com, Black’s Bar & Kitchen on Woodmont Avenue uses 100 percent recycled material and wind powered energy making it extremely eco-friendly. Executive Chef Quanta Robinson runs the kitchen at Black’s. When dining here, start the meal with a few small plates such as crisp squid with Creole tartar or a oysters from the raw bar and then move onto the entrees. The composed plates features items such as saffron-tomato seafood stew, pan seared yellowfin tuna loin and Carolina mountain trout. In addition to the composed plates, Black’s serves various fresh fish prepared in its wood grill stove.

Steamers on Auburn Avenue features a vast raw bar complete with middleneck clams and blue point oysters, crabs by the dozen, burgers and entrees. The interior of this eatery is a cross of a sports bar, neighborhood pub and a seafood shack. Staying true to the Maryland crab tradition, Steamers has several different varieties to choose from including a broiled crabmeat burger, blackened crab cake sandwich and a fried crab cake sandwich. The fish entrees include fish and chips, whole Maine lobster and shrimp stuffed with crabmeat.

Mussel Bar on Woodmont Avenue received four and a half out of five stars from Yelp.com. This seafood restaurant, which is owned by Robert Wiedmaier, serves up French comfort foods such as Blue Bay Prince Edward Island Mussels with frites, clam pasta and grilled salmon. There is a raw bar that serves oysters on the half shell. As for the muscles, diners can select up to eight different ingredients and spices to accompany the mussels such as wild mushrooms with pancetta and truffle cream or grilled pineapple and sweet chili garlic. The best part of the mussels is the bread to sop up all the delicious smoky broth.