I wouldn't think so. I make a corn casserole, eggs and butter etc and baked, and it's not spicy. I got the recipe from a friend who used to post here Jude31 and she's in Tennessee so it would be authentic. :-)

I lived in Baltimore for 14 years and crab cakes there were excellent. They weren't particularly spicy or I would not have been a fan. They use Old Bay and maybe Bonefish was just to heavy handed with it. I had their Bang Bang Shrimp and it was way too spicy for me!!

No, neither are typically spicy.

Thanks for the replies. I thought maybe it was supposed to be that way I just didn't know.

Both can certainly be spicy if that's the style you want.

I think you might be extra sensitive to heat.

Not really and Maryland has great crabcakes...I think each eatery has their own recipe. A little spice sounds good but never had one that was very spicy.

I can see corn chowder having the ability to be spicy and still being able to hold the rest of the flavours. I can't see it for crab cakes. But that is just my taste.

They have a touch of Cajun at bonefish, they use red remoulade sauce with the crab cakes which could be spicy.

Every crab cake I have ever had was served with a hot sauce to be put on it. So I think they're doing something different at that restaurant.

I don't think they should be spicy. I want to be able to taste the crab. Joe's Crab Shack used to have such good crab balls....not really cakes. They had chopped up shrimp in them too. I liked them....then they started putting jalapenos in them. I don't know how they make them now....I only went there for the crab balls and haven't been back...and that was a few years ago. I make my own....but the last time I made some I used Paula Deen's recipe, and was really disappointed in them....for crab cakes. I followed the recipe exactly and they tasted more like salmon patties to me. I haven't made crab cakes very much....prefer just boiled crab, and I usually just get them off our boat, but this time, I had trapped them in the bayou, cooked, cleaned and picked them out....a lot of work and a big disappointment.

Someone's hand may have slipped. :)

Spicy food on menus, even Szechuan or Mexican, should indicate it. Most restaurants do that here. The Szechuan restaurants near me generally just use a chili pepper icon, and one will use multiples for even spicier. Diners want to understand what they'll be getting.

They came with the hot sauce which was very hot. The crab cakes and the chowder were spicy hot too, though. I couldn't taste the crab because of the hot peppery taste.

I think a lot of the Tex-Mex craze of spicy food has found its way into most other foods, too. Also I think that maybe as we age our taste buds can't seem to tolerate the spiciness as much as it used to. I don't know which to blame, but I too find that things are just a bit too spicy for me.

I've never been served a crab cake with hot sauce. That's a new one on me, but I have had crab cakes in a good restaurant that were so spicy I couldn't eat them, nor could my friend I had treated to dinner. The corn chowder that I've had from several places has also been rather spicy. I think it's too bad when delicate flavors, especially crabmeat is so camouflaged by the heat of the spice.

Here in Maine, Crab Cakes are often "slightly" spicy, Corn Chowda never is :)

Let the management know how you feel. I agree, the trend appears to be spicy everything and some cooks are going up and beyond. Also depends on what part of the country. I love Mexican flavors, but don't care for Cajon. But I do not like things so hot it destroys the flavor of the original meal.