Winter Restaurant Week...

Hey folks!

Welcome to another edition of 5 Within 5. This time around I'm going to share a couple of experiences from Winter 2008 Restaurant Week. This amazing culinary event debuted in Baltimore during the Summer of 2006, and Meggan and I have been devout followers ever since. So the first two reviews I have to offer are experiences from this past Restaurant Week, and the last three are some new finds and old favorites I thought you should know about.

The Prime Rib (1101 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-539-1804): When I first walked into the Prime Rib, it was just as I thought it would be: A dated steak house containing hard wood surfaces and commercial carpeting throughout. The walls were pretty dark, and the atmosphere wasn't all that inviting. For what it's worth, the service wasn't that great that evening (although, in fairness, our group was on the larger side for dinner—we rolled 9 deep). We had reservations for 8pm, and weren't seated til around 8:30pm. This is one of my big pet peeves: restaurants that try to milk their customers into spending money at the bar before dinner (see my next blog entry on Woodberry Kitchen for more on that).

When we did sit down, I ended up ordering the prime rib, which, ironically, cost an additional $4 on top of the set price of $30.08 for the prix fixe Restaurant Week menu (after all, the place is named "The Prime Rib"). But I figured I might as well see if its namesake is worth writing about.

The house salad that came before the entree was your standard lettuce, carrot, tomato combination, but it did have a pretty good creamy house dressing.

Then came the main event.

I’ll be honest: When I first saw the cut of prime rib they brought out to me, I thought to myself, "What a scrappy looking piece of meat." But it turns out that looks were completely deceiving. It arrived cooked to order (I’d asked for “medium”), the flavor was indeed delicious, and the texture was very tender. I wasn't a fan of the fresh horseradish that came along with the entrée (in general I prefer mayonnaise-based horseradish sauces). Unfortunately both side dishes that accompanied the meal—creamed spinach and mashed potatoes—were rather forgettable, although I do remember the potatoes being soupy.

I chose the key lime pie for dessert, and thought it was a decent attempt, but I wondered then, and again now, if it's even made on the premises, because it almost seemed like a “defrost-and-serve” dessert that could have easily come from the local Costco.

I don't think I would have gone to the Prime Rib if it weren't during Restaurant Week, and I’m not eager to go back. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say you could get a better dining experience at an Outback Steakhouse. That being said, if you want a truly satisfying steak dinner, save your money or go check out a place like Peter's Inn where you can easily get an amazing caesar salad, garlic bread, and a filet mignon along with a glass of wine for around $40.

Brassarie Tatin (105 W. 39th Street, Baltimore, MD 21210, 443-278-9110): The location of Brassarie Tatin is kind of weird—right near the neighborhood of Tuscany-Canterbury. But it's literally a straight shot down Argonne Road, and is less than 5 minutes away by car. The actual restaurant is so brightly lit that it takes away from the concept of creating an intimate, French bistro atmosphere. But that's pretty much the only complaint that I had for Brassarie Tatin.

Our waiter was on top of his game. When we asked for his recommendations, he was refreshingly honest with us regarding portions and if a certain entree or appetizer was worth ordering. After considering his input, I ended up going with the pâté de campagne maison for my appetizer, and it consisted of a house-made country pâté, cornichons, toast points, and a couple of dollops of grainy mustard. I’d never had pâté before, so I admit I was a bit nervous about it at first, but being the daring eater that I am, I took a chance—and absolutely loved it.

I went with our waiter's favorite dish for my entree: Poitrine de Canard Fumée au Bois de Cerisier which, in plain English, was a cherrywood-smoked sliced duck breast served with cauliflower purée and a cherry & duck reduction. There was plenty of duck on the plate (a rarity in most restaurant duck dishes) and the flavor combination was particularly magical.

For dessert, I went with another recommendation from our waiter: Marjolaine Le Bec Fin which was a hazelnut meringue layered with chocolate mousse, hazelnut buttercream, and whipped cream, all glazed with ganache. It was a delightful dish to finish off the meal. On the way out, the owner even mentioned to us that they had gotten such a good turnout for Restaurant Week that they extended the discount pricing for an additional week. I had a great time at Brassarie Tatin and, while I didn’t make it back during the extended restaurant week, I look forward to returning again soon.

Cafe Zen (438 East Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21212, 410-532-0022): I went to Loyola College from 1994 through 1998, and spent a lot of time socializing next door to Cafe Zen at Gator's Pub. Yet all that time I never realized that a great Chinese restaurant was within a stone's throw. My wife first introduced me to Cafe Zen four or five years ago while we where dating and living in Federal Hill. That's right, we'd travel all the way up Charles Street away from Downtown just for some Chinese food—that’s how good it is. They just do things right at Cafe Zen, and it keeps us coming back for more. In fact, we have their phone number on speed dial, and one evening a few months ago we called in our usual takeout order: an egg roll and wonton soup for Meggan, General Tsao chicken for me, and chicken fried rice for us to share.

General Tsao is usually pretty standard at most Chinese Restaurants, but Cafe Zen manages to change it up a bit. They use extra corn starch for an unbelievably crunchy coating, and the sauce is extra thick and sweet. Trust me: It's like no General Tsao I've ever tried before.

But even though we’ve got our “usual” down pat, we've tried many other dishes there too, including their chicken with tender spinach, basil chicken, and many of their sushi rolls. Everything has been enjoyable, and reasonably priced for what you get.

Miss Shirley's (513 W Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21210, 410-889-5272): Miss Shirley's is a part of the family of restaurants owned by Classic Catering: Spaghetti Eddie's, Alonso's, and Loco Hombre. They’re all popular places, so it’s no real surprise that whenever Meggan and I have driven past Miss Shirley's on a Sunday during brunch time, it looks like complete chaos. There’s always a line out the door and the front tent/waiting area is usually jam packed—which makes it pretty much the last place I'd want to be during brunch. But on a whim we decided to try it on a Saturday, and discovered that Saturdays for brunch at Miss Shirley's aren't nearly as bad as far as it being overly crowded.

Of course, it wouldn't be a meal out at a restaurant if Meggan and I didn't start with an appetizer, so we kicked things off with some shredded potato cakes. They where delightfully crisp and flavorful, with bits of onion nestled inside the potatoes.

For my entree I got bayou biscuits, which were basically a Maryland take on sausage gravy and biscuits topped with some Old Bay. But what could have been trite wasn’t at all: The sausage was fresh diced andoullie that had a lot of bite to it, and made the entree an amazing experience.

Meggan ordered a simple breakfast of two scrambled eggs , sausage, and rye toast. She commented on how great her scrambled eggs were, which sounds like a simple thing, but sometimes it's hard to find a place that can make good eggs. Overall, I'd say that Miss Shirley's was a pleasant experience, but it all depends on the amount of time you're willing to wait for brunch!

Cake Love: (2500 Boston Street, Suite 4B, Baltimore MD 21224, 410-522-1825): Meggan and I are both huge Food Network fans and were curious when we heard about Warren Brown opening up one of his Cake Love shops at the Can Company in Canton.

For the most part, if you want to get a full-sized cake from them, you'll need to order at least a couple of days to a week of lead time. But Meggan and I didn't need an entire cake, so we just bought a couple of the specialty pastries and cupcakes that are always on display in the case.

We each sampled a bedroll, which is a walnut cake filled with cream cheese icing all rolled up. It was a good treat that reminded me of a rolled up carrot cake (probably because of the cream cheese). As for the cupcakes, we tried four different flavors: new German chocolate, chocolate on chocolate, chocolate velvet, and chocolate on vanilla. There were no real surprises flavor-wise: The names pretty much describe what you’re getting. But the new German chocloate cupcake was my favorite of the bunch because of the sprinkling of toasted coconut on top.

Overall, the pastries and cupcakes were good, but we came to the conclusion that we were just paying for the owner's name. Feel free to give it a try, but make sure to get pre-approved for a home equity loan, since the cupcakes will run you $3 each, and the pastires (like the Bedroll) start at $4.


That's all for now! But please make sure to checkout my next blog (available online around mid-June) where I'll be posting reviews of the following eateries: Woodberry Kitchen, Sushi Hanna, Alexander's Tavern, Mother's Bar & Grille, and The Fractured Prune.

As always, feel free to leave any comments online about my blog, or if you have questions about a particular eatery feel free to email me: michael dot saulo at gmail dot com!

Bye for now...

Mike