I'm not sure if it was the sea air, the bubble of Valentine's Day excitement, or the thrill to simply be away together from home, but Hubby and I came to Baltimore ready to eat.
Rather than take you on a day by day view of our eats, I'm going to break it into the two main categories that matter: Dinners and Desserts.
Though we were only in Baltimore long enough to technically have two dinners, our lunches were truly the quality level (and price!) of dinner food.
We enjoyed our first meal in our room. The restaurant at our hotel, the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, was "Explorers". Their tag line is: International comfort food with a Baltimore twist. We started with BBQ Jumbo Sea Scallops because Hubby is a sucker for whenever I say, "Ooo, this looks yummy....but I really want this too." Ladies, you know you do this too.
At least, I hope you do.
We have ordered breaded scallops once before and the breading completely overpowered the scallops leaving them dry and lacking of any naturally delicious flavors. That was not the case here. While the Panko breading was thin and crispy, the mandarin orange sauce was what really made this dish delightful. It soaked perfectly into the breading and added a subtle sweetness to the dish.
Now you'll have to forgive me. I told myself over and over again as I ate my scallops that I needed to take a picture of the entrees before we began to devour them.
My tummy got the better of me and you're left with the below pictures.
Hubby and I decided to share our meals because that is how we roll sometimes. If you can find a man who will go splitsies on meals, I say grab him while the grabbing is good. Two for one meals for the rest of your life? It's pretty awesome.
We ordered the Braised Lamb Shank and I have to admit that as I'm writing this my mouth is salivating rethinking the goodness of this meal.* The lamb fell off the bone which is always a good sign. I probably could have just eaten the lamb and the jus and been set for the night.
*This could also be due to the fact that it is 8:40 pm as I write this and I've yet to have dinner yet.
Did you happen to notice those little orange balls? As in the pan fried sweet potato gnocchi balls? Sweet potatoes can be hit or miss for me. It all depends on how they are prepared. I like sweet potato pie, I don't prefer sweet potato fries.
This sweet potato gnocchi was incredible. I would never had thought to pair it with something like braised lamb shank, but--wow!
We were clearly in a meaty mood because we also ordered a 12 ounce Rib Eye Steak. This was really Hubby's pick. I had been eyeballing the Herb Roasted Chicken with Wild Mushroom Risotto, but he vetoed it and went with the steak. For a steak, it was just alright. It was a little too chewy, but was still flavorful and juicy. The Sharp White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes made the steak worth our while. It's pretty difficult to ruin mashed potatoes, but this place did everything more than right to them.
Don't hate me forever, but this was the only dinner I pictured. I still have major issues with taking pictures of my food in public. Sometimes, I have no shame. There are some meals that I know will be legendary, therefore requiring a picture. Other times, I remember what I've heard about how some restaurants and chefs feel about such things as people taking pictures of their food rather than just sitting down and enjoying the meal.
Here are the other dinners we had and where we had them.
I think the best way to describe them is through a mini Orange Strainer rating system. So here goes.
Ratings and categories are as follows:
- Time in restaurant: 1= way too long, 5= average, but I was getting fidgety, 10= so short it was scary
- Restaurant atmosphere: 1= boring, 5= nothing to write home about, 10= this is the mood I want in my kitchen/dining room
- Taste of food: 1= I paid for this?, 5= I can cook just as good, 10= my mouth is still tingling from the deliciousness
- Price: 1= cheaper than eating at McDonalds, 5= average for eating out, 10= for that price I'll make it myself!
- Leftovers?: Were there any? This could be a good or a bad thing.
- Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer?: To visit again or not to visit again?
Restaurant #1: Phillips Seafood
What we ate:
Appetizer: Crab Cake Minis with homemade tartar sauce
Hubby: Ultimate Crab Cake
Me: Sweet Basil Pesto Penne with Chicken*
*I know, I know. I'm at a seafood restaurant, one that even has the word seafood in its name, and I order Italian. In my defense, I didn't want a big meal and I knew I'd be eating seafood for dinner. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
- Time in restaurant: 5, For the lunch hour, it seemed that the service moved slow. However, we did get a complimentary chocolate covered strawberry. It was frozen in the center, but beggars can't be choosers.
- Restaurant atmosphere: 10, The dining area was open, with a view of the kitchen. I got to sit on a cozy seat, so I was happy.
- Taste of food: 6, I knew I shouldn't expect too much with my meal, because obviously seafood is their specialty. The crab cake minis were typical to crab cake standards. Hubby's ultimate crab cake consisted of pieces of jumbo lump crab meat topped with Panko bread crumbs. Very different from the typical crab cake, but different in a good way.
- Leftovers? Hubby ate all of his, I had more than half my food left. It wasn't worth trying to save, especially considering I knew I wouldn't eat it.
- Price: 10
- Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer? Down the Drain. There weren't enough pluses about Phillips that would make me want to visit it again. The main deterrent was the cost for the quality.
Restaurant #2: Rusty Scupper
What we ate:
Hubby: Filet Mignon
Me: Chesapeake Chicken
- Time in restaurant: 10, It was obvious that most couples had saved Saturday night for their special dinner. The restaurant was packed with couples, yet we didn't have a wait at all. We were seated immediately, served within ten minutes of placing our order and finished and out of the restaurant within 40 minutes. Though we didn't feel rushed, the quick pace was rather confusing.
- Restaurant atmosphere: 10, Most of the restaurant is window, looking out into the harbor. There was live entertainment which, to me, is always a plus.
- Taste of food: 10, My chicken was delicious, yet the menu described Chicken Chesapeake as being stuffed with crab. However, my chicken was just topped with jumbo lump crab. Still delicious, just not matching to the description.
- Price: 5
- Leftovers? No leftovers!
- Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer? Keep it in the Strainer! Though Hubby was a little sad they didn't have any steamed crabs to offer, I thought the food was well worth the price.
Restaurant #3: Costas Inn
What we ate:
Hubby: Scallops
Me: Salmon St. Michael
I chose this restaurant after our meal at the Rusty Scupper when I realized just how badly Hubby wanted to have steamed crab, specifically blue crab, during our trip to Baltimore. It was a major let down when he asked our waitress and first, she had no clue if they had any crab, and then the other waitress she asked bluntly answered that they did not have any. We put together that this was due to the snow storm that had occurred just days before our trip.
- Time in restaurant: 5
- Restaurant atmosphere: 1, The restaurant was a huge room with a diner feel. The waitresses did not seem up to the quality of the owners. They poorly communicated with tables (our neighboring table was getting up in a huff) and forgot portions of our meal (I didn't realize I was missing my rice pilaf until I was halfway through my salmon).
- Taste of food: 5, I was in love with my salmon, however, Hubby told me that anyone could make salmon taste that delicious considering it was sitting in lemon butter. He may have been speaking out of annoyance from the lack of crab, but I also did note that I didn't enjoy his scallops as much as my salmon.
- Price: 6, For lunch, it was pricey. For dinner, it was typical.
- Leftovers? No leftovers!
- Down the Drain or Keep it in the Strainer? Keep it in the Strainer!
No comments:
Post a Comment