Fiesta Mexicana

We stumbled across this little place when we moved to our new neighborhood. It was just too interesting to pass up. So we headed there for our anniversary.

Upon walking in, it feels as if you're sitting in someone's kitchen. The ladies behind the counter were so friendly. We quickly placed our orders, starting with a nacho app and the sampler platter for dinner.

They cook the food right in front of you. You actually get to watch them make everything, right there, in front of you! It was so great. The food arrives as soon as it is plated, so it's piping hot, fresh and ohmygodyoucan'thandleit delicious. Hands down the best BEST Mexican food I've EVER had.

Look at those nachos. The sampler had enchiladas (chef's surprise as to what they were stuffed with but we figured pork and chicken. We were adventurous and let them pick), tacos, tostadas and something else I can't remember but it was gooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.

The meat was very tender and melted in your mouth. Everything was seasoned perfectly.

Nothing was too spicy and all the flavors blended so well together. We were completely stuffed halfway through the sampler and ended up taking the rest home. I am pleased to say that it also reheated well the next day, and was just as delicious.

This place is small, there's limited seating but that seems to make it that much more awesome. It's also really inexpensive. You get your sodas or beverage from the case, you can BYOBeer and you get to watch them cook your food (but not in the showy Japanese steakhouse way, more in the Mexican mom/sister/grandma cooking for you sort of way)

Zack's Hotdogs

While exploring our new neighborhood in White Marsh (and making a side trip to Ulta and Omaha Steaks) we stumbled into a hot dog joint.

This is a tiny place tucked into the strip of White Marsh town center and offers a wide variety of hot dog goodness. The biggest bonus for this place however was the condiments table. BACON IS A CONDIMENT.

The dogs were fantastic. Dave got his usual regular with relish and mustard (and BACON) and I got a chili cheese (death for Crohn's ugh, I was so sick but it was kinda worth it) and the dogs were FAB.

Dave also got some mac and cheese for a side, which was kinda gross I'm sorry to say. It was goopy, thick and tasteless.

The staff working was incredibly friendly and the dogs were fresh and hot and very good. This place is a good pit stop for a long day of shopping. (it's also near a cold stone, so dessert isn't far away...nomnomnom)

Overall, 3 noms!

The Corner Stable

This place isn't shy about advertising their greatest asset. BALTIMORE'S BEST RIBS! brazenly screams at you from the side of the building. Dave's pretty big on anything involving BBQ or pork, and well, I just love to eat.

The parking lot was completely full. We had to venture over to the "Overfill Lot" by the Battery Warehouse. The restaurant itself was jammed with people. Walking through all we saw were piles of bones and baskets of ribs.

What we didn't realize was that Monday is Rib Night. Their Monday special is a full rack of ribs and fries for only $13.99. So of course, that's what we ordered. We spent about 6 seconds looking at the menu. The waitress, was very sweet. She was busy but we were well taken care of. She got our drinks fast and then about a minute later the food arrived. We were stunned. It took about 5 minutes to get our dinners. "How?" we asked. She told us that on Mondays they have someone whose sole job is ribs. So they keep the ribs coming because the customers keep coming. We noticed the turnover was amazing. We finished our dinners in less than 20 minutes and cleared out for the next round of hungry rib lovers.

Now let me tell you about these ribs. This is a very casual place, our dinner arrived in a basket with the rack cut in half and stacked, fries next to it. They were drenched in this sweet, tangy, smoky sauce. I've never tasted a sauce like that before. It wasn't too sweet as some BBQ can get, but it was just the perfect amount of tang plus smoke. The meat fell off the bone. I took my fork and picked out each bone and piled it on a plate then was able to eat the rib meat with my fork (thus saving myself from the inevitable Sauce Face or the more detrimental Sauce Pants or Sauce Shirt). It was definitely enough food to fill us up. They don't serve you those skimpy wussy lean type ribs; these were plenty meaty. Melt-in-your-mouth, finger-lickin-good as they say.

The fries, if you can even get that far, were perfect. Natural cut, fried til golden and crisp but still soft and fluffy they were the perfect texture. The left over sauce from the ribs made for excellent dipping.

Not that we need to say this, but 5 Noms, two sauce-covered thumbs up and smiles all around. This place is definitely a well kept secret by the locals.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

After four long months of house hunting, then another two crazy months of closing on the house, THEN another THREE months of unpacking, home improvements and settling...


WE'RE BACK! A tasty BBQ review will be headed your way soon.

We're planning a trip to Blue Hill Tavern this weekend, with a visit to Elliott's Pour House to follow in May.

Check out our latest addition to the Featured By Section.

Also, since we're back in full force, we need some more suggestions to keep us busy in the next few months. We will be expanding our reviews outside of Baltimore even more now. There are some seriously NOMtastic places in the 'burbs.

We are excited (and hungry!).

An Loi

We made a trip out to Columbia because I had a Groupon from last year for an awesome 90 Minute Massage (If I were reviewing massage places on this blog, Awaken Wellness Spa would have gotten 5 stars, two thumbs up, or whatever, because it was awesome).


While I was relaxing on a table, Dave drove around browsing and stumbled across this cute little Vietnamese place. Neither of us have ever had this type of food, and we haven't reviewed anything in a long time because of the house hunt, so we stepped in.


It's small and cozy--your typical Asian-Restaurant-in-a-strip-mall-looking kinda place but the menu is amazing. Once you get over not being able to pronounce anything, the descriptions of every dish is so mouth watering that it was difficult to make a decision.


We started with apps, Spring and Summer rolls. Stuffed full of crisp veggies, they were fresh hot and very very good. The cabbage was absolutely perfect. Everything was so fresh it wasn't hard to imagine them being rolled by hand and steamed mere moments before they hit the table. They came with two dipping sauces, one was peanut, mildly sweet and a little tangy salty flavor, and the other was kind of sweet, chilled, and almost more of a broth. They amplified the flavors of the rolls. Perfect start to a great meal.

Dave went with a traditional soup dish, Pho (An Loi flavor, had everything in it). When it arrived it was a giant white bowl of steaming goodness with big chunks of beef and tons of noodles and a plate of vegetables (bean sprouts, seaweed and other greens) that he dumped in. Portion size? Let's put it this way: I've never seen Dave not finish a bowl of soup. I'd say he managed to get a third of the way through it before he had to surrender. It was tough putting down the chopsticks though because it was fabulous. The meat was really tender and melted in your mouth, noodles cooked perfectly and everything so nicely seasoned. I did have to tease him a bit for ordering something that contained "tripe" and when he looked at me confused I whispered "Intestines". It didn't shy him away though, I'm proud to say.

I went with Mieng Xiao, which is a noodle dish that had rice noodles, egg, chicken and all blended with a delicious sauce. It was a heaping portion and I ended up taking half of it home (and I'm happy to say it reheats well, tasted just as delicious a day and a half later as it did fresh at the restaurant). The dish was savory, just shy of sweet and mild but not bland.

The service was impeccable. Our glasses never went empty, everyone was welcoming, courteous and easy to understand (which is a bonus because when you go into one of these very traditional type places often the English isn't so good, which is fine, just makes ordering a little more difficult)

This place definitely gets 5 Noms. Not only for their amazing food and great service, but their menu offers such a variety that anyone would be able to eat here. They have several vegetarian options, I was able to find several Crohn's Friendly options myself and they do have some vegan options as well. Also, it's cheap! It's so inexpensive and you get so much food. They also offer carry-out. Now hurry! Expand your horizons and get some An Loi.