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.

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.

Hodge-podge "Review"

We know, we know. It's been too long, we've neglected you. We are truly sorry. We've been doing some house-hunting the past couple months which has sucked up every spare minute of our time and left us with only enough time and financial resources for drive-thru visits. Which is lame. We know.

To satisfy the masses (I'm assuming there are thousands of anxious readers out there on the edge of their seats staring at their RSS feeds screaming "Where are my Charm City Noms updates?!?! WHERE??" so humor me) I'm posting an almost-review. I can't count this as a real review because Dave wasn't with me and I like to have his 2-cents on here, but working where I do awards me certain abilities in lunching that he is not privy to.

Vino Rosina

A few weeks ago for my boss's birthday a group of us decided to try out Vino Rosina, which just opened up recently and I've been dying to try. It's a quaint little wine bar that happens to serve food elegantly and deliciously.

I should take this opportunity to mention that my dietary needs have once again changed, and now my list of non-edible foods has expanded from "spicy" and "citrus" to: celery, onion, cabbage, asparagus, vinegar, citrus, spicy, dairy (sob!), seeds, nuts, and basically anything "crunchy" or "fibrous".

So, with that revelation, I'm staring at a menu of grilled panini type sammiches that all have cheese, or some other forbidden food on it and I'm about to be devastated because I dislike having t order something, then deconstruct it. For example "Yes, I would like to try the grilled chicken panini with pesto. But with no pesto, mayo, cheese, sprouts, onion or lettuce" "So you'd like a piece of bread with grilled chicken on it?" "Basically, but I'd like it sound appetizing" "I'm not a magician, I'm a waiter" "I understand. I'll take my spit on the side please".*

Then, do my eyes deceive me? Oh my gosh, a foods I can eat! I went with the Tuscan Chicken and just pulled off the stuff I couldn't eat (onion which there wasn't much of anyway). Everything else wasn't too much of a red flag. This sandwich was really good. The bread was crispy and buttery, the chicken tender, the mayo was herby and a perfect complement to it.

This place ended up working out really well. It is close to work, wasn't busy at all and had a great menu. The portions were pretty sizable too. I didn't leave hungry. I apologize for the lack of photo, but when we "officially" review this place, we'll upload extra photos.

Harbor East Delicatessen and Pizzeria

I tried this place out for the first time on my birthday when a few coworkers joined me for lunch. It being my birthday, birthday food rules applied which meant that for one day, I had no restrictions and happily gorged myself with a bacon cheeseburger and fries, then thought about cheesecake but then ate more fries.

Burger: fab. Fries: fab. Their fries are very similar to Five Guys, same texture and flavor, fresh and soft. It was great.

I've also had The Godfather JP, which is a jumbo lump crabcake sandwich with a side of fries. This was delicious. Big huge chunks of crab, broiled, seasoned wonderfully and placed upon a toasted bun with lettuce (tossed that aside) and tomato (ate one small sliver) and they give you tartar sauce and cocktail sauce to go with it. I assure you though, the sauces aren't needed. It was great.

I highly recommend either. Harbor East offers a vast menu and quick paced service and Vino Rosina is a great place if you have time to sit down and really enjoy lunch, like when you want to catch up with an old friend or just drink a bottle of wine.






*Not an actual conversation

The Melting Pot and My Birthday

This is not a review. I want to talk about my birthday. It was yesterday, September 29th and I turned 20something years old. We started planning a dinner about a week and a half ago and invited some awesome friends and I insisted we do Fondue.

See, my first Fondue experience was...well it sucked. I drove two hours to see a guy I didn't like very much then I had to pretend I liked him and it was painful, then we went to the Fondue place and he informed me I had to pay and I said "I'm broke" and he said "Oh well" and then ordered $90 worth of food. So...I didn't get to eat for the rest of that week. Not knowing about my Crohn's I also had to suffer the worst stomach ache of all time on the two hour drive back to my apartment.

So, I expressed to my loving husband that I want to have a fun Fondue time. Sharp sticks, molten cheese, chocolate covered everything, I mean, how could that NOT be awesome?

So we made reservations for up to 14 people (then like, 8 people couldn't come so we ended up with a tidy party of 6) at The Melting Pot in Towson.

This place is gorgeous and immaculate. Our waitress was SO AMAZING. She was informative, she told us about everything, explained it all so well and kept us blissfully happy. We had two kinds of cheese on our table the Wisconsin flavor and the French flavor and both were delicious. We got two kinds of cooking broths, Coq au Vin and Mojo and those were delicious and we had two kinds of chocolate Turtle and S'More and THOSE were delicious.

When we arrived there were balloons on the table and a little gift and card signed by the staff. It was beautiful.

I was thrilled to pieces with the whole event and if I were rating this place It would get well over 5 noms.

I do recommend that you, my lovely readers, go here for special events. They go above and beyond making everything perfect for you.

Gorgeous.

Luckie's Fabulous Tavern

Oh Luckie's...

Located just a few blocks from our house under the giant Power Plant Live sign, Luckie's features an expansive bar, huge area of outdoor seating and no toilet paper.

Seriously. The first thing I did was hit the restroom when we got here. Ladies, you know how when you walk into a restroom and you first check to make sure that there isn't anything disgusting looming in the bowl, then you check to make sure the door will shut, then you check to make sure it's not covered in pee...etc?...well, I walked down four or five stalls before finding one that didn't have human soup but still had interesting reading material on the walls (it's a bar, you can't expect much) and then to my dismay found no toilet paper. Running down several more stalls finally locating some, I washed my hands thoroughly and then laughed and the silverware setting sitting on a chair by the paper towels.

Dave had already ordered our Cokes, and we looked over the menu. We were just minutes into the dinner menu and were relieved to find out we could use our Groupon. We made up about half of their business at 5 p.m. yesterday. TV's blared the Navy v. Terps game and we set about ordering a chicken sandwich with cheddar cheese, side salads with ranch and Dave took the plunge on the hot turkey platter.

The waiter walked away with our menus and we looked forlornly at our empty glasses.

Our busy waiter set about fetching beverage for all the other patrons in the bar and as the minutes went by the annoyed tweets mounted. Had this guy not been so nice, I probably would have snapped. However, every time we interacted with him he was just so nice. By this point I was fully expecting burnt/or undercooked food, sucking ice to stay hydrated, and possibly contracting an infection from whatever was gluing my flip flops to the floor.

Here's where restaurant reviewing gets tricky. We can't rate this place the same way we would rate a place like La Tavola, or Prime. We have to rate this place on the level of other pub/bar type places. We expect simple pub style menus, we expect casual service, and we expect a certain amount of "eeeew, what is that on the floor?" It's a bar.

For being a bar, this place was pretty clean. It was sparsely staffed and likewise sparsely populated. Apparently not a lot of people eat at 5 p.m. when there's a big game going on in town. Meh.

So, finally after several tweets two full glasses of Coke show up and I was like "Yay! Thank you!" and he said "I read your mind" and then I muttered "you're apparently on mountain time" and then I wasn't mad anymore.

When the food arrived, the waiter brought over two more full glasses so he totally redeemed himself.

The food arrived. The salads looked wonderful. They were fresh, crisp and very very good. My sandwich was wonderful. Juicy chicken, fresh toppings, crisp fries. I would have been willing to eat my hat if I were the type of person to wear hats. Then the greatest shocker. . .

The hot turkey platter was delicious.

Seriously. It was Michigan good. Chunks of turkey breast, plain jane slices of bread, soaked in gravy, mounds of mashed potatoes. Stunning.

For the turkey platter alone, Luckie's you get 4 noms.

Martha and Mary's

Armed with another Groupon, we set out from Towson (did you know that AMC theaters has $5 movies if you get moving before noon? How awesome is that?) to hit up Martha and Mary's Bistro.

Pulling into the parking lot we saw a newly built restaurant complete with umbrella-ed outdoor seating. There were quite a few customers enjoying the fabulous weather outdoors munching away happily on fries, salads and sandwiches. Hopeful, we walked in.

To a disaster.

The huge LCD tv screens meant for their menu was frozen, locked on breakfast at 1:30 in the afternoon. Kids were screaming and stampeding about. The tables were jam-packed with families and we stood there hopelessly looking for any sort of lunch related menu. Finally we spotted a stack up by the cash register. We spent a few minutes looking over an expansive menu (they have everything from fried clams to pizza and sandwiches, soups, salads and tons of delicious looking desserts). Then we stepped up to the register to order.

After about 10 minutes of standing there one of the teenagers came up to take our order. Presenting her with two Groupons, we needed to divide our check. We placed our order and she asked for assistance from the manager on inputting everything to allow us the use of both Groupons. She was pleasant and friendly the whole time. We paid, she stood there. We asked for cups, she gave them to us. We got our drinks and I pointed out the obvious problem of "How will they know what food is ours and how will we know what food is ours?" So we asked, she handed us a table marker with "66" on it and the manager quipped "You're number one!". We immediately took sanctuary outside, away from all the tiny people.

Once we were in a calmer, quieter environment we started to remark on the place. It was clean (plus) the food looked really good (plus plus) the staff was friendly (plus plus plus). We also noticed that this place was in total chaos. I have to ask, how long has Martha and Mary's been open? It appeared they were on day 2 and the staff was in total disarray (also completely staffed by what appeared to be 14 year-olds except for the manager and some cooks). It did not appear that anyone really knew what they were supposed to be doing, and then add to that that the place was packed. Really packed. (In fact, we waited until after we ate and it had thinned out a little to take the pictures)

Despite all of this, our food came out very quickly and was hot and delicious. The menu is simple so you won't find elegant elaborate meals here, but it's all really good. It's inexpensive (which is probably the appeal to all of those families we saw) and it's fun. Decorated in bright colors and kid friendly-chalk menu, you can see the appeal to people with kids.

My cheeseburger sliders were wonderful. Topped with american cheese, grilled onions, pickles and ketchup and mustard on a toasted bun, the flavors went really well together. Dave got the Chicken Caesar wrap and an order of fried clams with fries. The clams were fabulous (not chewy but tender and crispy) and his wrap was excellent. Crisp lettuce, juicy chicken and tangy dressing.

I do recommend trying this place out. The menu is really good, the food is good, the staff is nice. However, go at a time where you won't be interfering with family lunch time. Like, 2:30 -4 in the afternoon. Or any day where school is happening and the kids will be there. Unless you have kids, then by all means go at any time and enjoy.

3 Noms

Dave's 2 Cents:

Infested with children, this place is. Did I step into Chuck E. Cheese by accident? Nope, no pool of plastic balls. Were the patrons annoying? yes. Was the front of the house staffed by just-turned teenagers? YES. Is the food good though? Hells Yes!

After selling over 1000++ groupons a few weeks ago, I am sure this place has been inundated with new customers and swarms of penny pinchers. With that being said, this is the only negative. The food was Fast, hot, delicious. I got a Fried Clam appetizer, piping hot, not chewy at all (chewy=freezer burn). I also ordered a Chicken Caeser wrap, which was very nicely seasoned, and not too much dressing.

All in all, this place really is great. We will be retuning again for Breakfast. Evidently this place has signature breakfast pizzas that bring people from all over. NOM NOM!!!

Stewart's Rootbeer

We are reviewing this place for these reasons:

• This old-time drive in type place is incredibly hard to find
• It's been owned by the same family for 60 years
• the same guy has been working there for over 40 years
• it's only open during the summer
• they has root beerz on tap!!!

Dave loves several things: me, dogs, Halo, naps and most importantly: hot dogs and root beer. In that order. When we drove by this place one day and saw it was open we nearly drove through the cement highway divider to get in there. Dave was so excited. They pour their root beer (or cream ale) into frosted mugs and everything is made fresh, by hand in the kitchen.

And everything is delicious. Dave devoured several corn dogs, while I face-planted into a double cheeseburger hot mess. It was heaven. The burger fell apart in my hands leaving me with mayo covered mitts and a clown-style smile of mustard and ketchup.

We highly recommend, nay, COMMAND you visit this place when they open next spring. Say hi to the friendly staff, sit back and enjoy several frosty mugs of rootbeer then raid the fridge on your way out and take home a few 4 packs of Stewarts fine beverages. Honestly, a must.

5 NOMS!

Dave's 2 Cents:

Many years ago, before I-95 came along, Route 40 used to be a booming highway. As you exit downtown Baltimore and drive East on 40, you can just imagine how grand a roadway this area was. Hotel shells line the street, which were once booming with people, after all this was the only way to Delaware and Atlantic City before 95 came along.

Out from the rubble though, stands a classic gem that has stood the test of time. Stewart's root beer. Once a prevalent franchise spread up and down the east coast, this is the last Stewart's store front in Maryland. As a matter of fact, it's the last of its kind in the Mid- Atlantic. If you want to travel inland, the Midwest has a few in northern Ohio, and the next closest one is in Camden County, New Jersey. I know that spot well, as i spent the first 10 years of my life right down the road from the "Drive in" version of Stewart's in West NJ.

The only 2 things that could make this place perfect is: 1. being open all year, and 2. being a true drive in (parking your car outside and a girl on skates rolls up to your car and takes your order).

When you walk into this place, you can just get hit with a huge feeling of nostalgia. Whether your 30, 40, 50 or 60 years old, there is a good chance you've been to a place like this during your childhood.

As you order from the front counter, you can watch through the doors, your food getting freshly made and another person reaching into the deep freeze to grab your mugs for your root beer. The root beer and diet are on tap, and the other 4-5 flavors are vended through the normal fast food dispensers.

There are also pallets of bottled flavors for you to take home with you, in all the flavors. They even allow you to mix and match flavors whether you buy a 4 pack or a crate of 6- 4packs. You can even get root beer 1 gallon barrels, filled with your favorite flavor!!!

If this diner has touched your childhood like it has mine, you definitely need to share the experience with friends and your own children. This place is worth the drive, you truly need to visit.

Diablita

The first time I visited this place was for a coworker's birthday last year, right after they opened.

As you can see from the photos, it is pretty dimly lit on the inside for happy hours. This was a "hang out with coworkers" type event again for me, and it turned out to be way better than the coworker birthday event was. The first time I was here the food was too greasy and the service was really slow.

However, this time around everything was pretty good. I ordered the red sangria (delicious and whoa did it pack a punch!) and the chicken fajitas. I don't know what Dave got because he placed his order after I'd had one glass of sangria so my memory retention wasn't all that great.

Anyway, the only complaint I have about the food is not enough tortillas. You never get enough with fajitas no matter where you go, just like when you order mooshu anything at any Chinese restaurant. They had you this wonderful pile of fillings and then like, 3 pancakes.

So, am I supposed to fill-to-spilling these tortillas? How do they eat these in their native country? I'm confused.

Anyway, the chicken was grilled, wonderfully seasoned and moist. The toppings were fab. House sour cream (I think it had cilantro in it) pico de gallo, rice, spicy black beans, lettuce. YUM.

I give it 4 noms. They didn't skimp on the booze, and my food was hot, fresh and not greasy!

Dave's 2Cents:

As always, I am a big fan of the exposed brick and rustic flooring and timbers. I was surprised that with just 2 people working the front they were able to take care of a group of 40 of us.

I had nachos and salsa as an app, and some tasty beef sandwich on a flat bread. (No idea what is was called, sorry.)

It was overall a nice place inside, unfortunately, it resides on the border of Little Italy and a ghetto. (quite literally, the next block is projects).