Here in AZ, a little CAN of real crab meat is $18.
Costco, a 1# can of real crab meat is $20. Admittedly, that's not the cheapest thing in the world, but when you're feeding two people it's not that much. That was two pretty hefty crab cakes per person. Crab, bread crumbs, a little seasoning, arugula, parmesan, and dressing, etc, and that entire meal for two (not counting the wine) was under $30.
At a restaurant, a crab cake appetizer will often cost $15-20 by itself, and contain far less than 1/2# of crab meat.
And like I said, it's an
incredibly easy meal to make. I don't know how much cooking you do, but even if you almost never cook, you can put this together.
Invite a date over for dinner, and you're gonna be in good shape, my friend. Impressive, "fancy", and yet not overly expensive in the grand scheme of things and really easy to prepare.