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

Mt. Washington Tavern

The Mt. Washington Tavern

5700 Newbury Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21209

410.367.6903

We'd heard good things about this place so we decided to hit it up over the weekend. It's located in a really cute part of the city. Since we were eating pretty late at night (it was around 9:30 when we went) I'd really like to try to get back there during the daytime.

When we arrived, we walked in through the front which is the bar area. Music was playing really loud and we were a little nervous. We asked for a "quiet" table and the hostess gave us this little smirk then led us through a hallway and opened a door to a gorgeous cabana themed restaurant that was softly lit by candles and white string lights wrapped around fake palm trees. It was really lovely.

We were greeted really quickly and given our drinks. We ordered an appetizer, crab wantons, jumbo lump crab meat, cream cheese and scallions served with a Ponzu dipping sauce. When the app came we put in the order for our entrees, Dave choosing the Parmesan Crusted Rockfish and me choosing the Shelburne Chicken. It took a little longer than we expected for the food to come out. Dave's fish was a "Wild caught Parmesan rockfish filet topped with Jumbo Lump and beurre blanc and sauteed green beans". They must have been out of green beans because he got a vegetable medley instead. His fish was amazing. Perfectly cooked, and the beurre blanc sauce was unbelievably creamy and delicious. I was jealous.

My Shelburne Chicken was "chicken breast wrapped around country ham and brie cheese with wholegrain mustard, pan-gravy and wild mushroom risotto". I was hopeful and excited because it sounded so delicious. It tasted like a pile of garbage. The mustard was entirely too strong, the risotto was more of a "wild mushroom pilaf". I got through one piece of this dish and had to push it away. I will say that the ham, chicken and brie combination was quite good. The mustard totally killed it though.

Thankfully the staff there was so wonderful as to let me choose another dish to try and delivered it on the quick. I exchanged my chicken for the Prime Rib, Queen's cut. It was "slow roasted boneless rib of Hereford Beef with crispy onions, Horseradish Creme, and Wild Mushroom risotto". I asked for no horseradish as it's one of those foods I can't eat.

The steak was fabulous. It was cooked perfectly, just fatty enough and soooo juicy. It was truly delicious. I did not eat much of the onions but they did add a good bit of flavor to the meat. They were crispy and salty and really good. I poked at the "risotto" and took a bite. I'm pretty sure it had been sitting out and was microwaved as it was oddly hot in certain spots and had that rubbery texture.

As mentioned before, this place is GORGEOUS on the inside. It gives you a sense that you're on vacation at a resort on the beach. The Rockfish was amazing and the steak delicious. So, I recommend you go and try those dishes. We had excellent service as well, which has helped to give this place the score of 3 noms.

Luna Del Sea

Luna Del Sea Bistro
www.lunadelsea.com

300 West Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-6504
(410) 752-8383

BEST SEAFOOD: INNER HARBOR
Click Here for Menu

Today's post was supposed to be about Dangerously Delicious Pies, but since it was closed, we headed over to Luna Del Sea to review this little seafood bistro. Our good friend Sami, whom you may remember from our Sorso Cafe post suggested we try it out, as he knows the owner. We headed over there with him and our friend Heather in tow to help us sample a wider range of the menu.

I must say first off that this place is very cute. It's set up elegantly, comfortable seating, the ballroom has a gorgeous mural on the wall. Right away we felt at home there. We were one of two tables in the place so it was nice and quiet.

We started the meal off by ordering fried soft shell clams and mussels in a garlic butter sauce. Dave sure does love his fried clams, and he wasn't disappointed here. They were perfectly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and the dipping sauce was a phenomenal complement. I was a little biased about the mussels and so were Dave and Heather.

The last time I had mussels they were chewy and rubbery and not having a basis of comparison, thought that was how they were supposed to be. Now that I've tried these, I know otherwise. These were tender and nearly melted in your mouth. The garlic butter sauce was so good that we all used up the rolls to soak it up and polish the plate. Sami sure knows his food, he did an excellent job picking out that dish. Even Dave and Heather liked them. Luna Del Sea, you have 3 new mussel converts.

For the entrees Heather ordered the crab cake sandwich with fries, Sami got the seafood trio, broiled, Dave ordered the fried seafood platter and I ordered the shrimp salad sandwich.

Everything came out very quickly, which was probably due in part to us being 50% of their business at that time. July 5 was weird because so many people were considering it a holiday (Dave and I had off work) but it kind of wasn't so the business flow was off. We were eating lunch at 2 p.m. for example.

My sandwich came out just a little later than everyone else's because I mumbled my order and the waiter didn't catch it. We each took turns sampling everyone's food. Dave's platter came with fried fish, fried clams, fried scallops, and fried crabcake. Sami had broiled shrimp, scallops, and crabcake. Heather's was a crabcake on a bun, and mine was shrimp salad (shrimp, goodness and mayo) on a bun.

I must say, everything was incredibly delicious. Sami's seafood trio was especially good. Everything was cooked perfectly. I never thought I'd like crab cake, but this place really has it down. There wasn't a single thing that we ordered that we all weren't completely satisfied with. Sami's scallops and shrimp were buttery, tender and very very fresh. The crab cake from his platter was flaky and so good.

Dave's fried crab cake had a similar flavor but you could definitely tell the difference between fried and broiled. Dave's was a tad crispier on the outside, but soft, warm and good on the inside. Dave's scallops were also cooked perfectly, with the crispy outside a great complement to the flaky inside. Heather had the same crabcake the guys had so nothing new there, but still delicious. My sandwich while although my least favorite thing on the table was still delicious. The shrimp was very fresh, it wasn't bland whatsoever and the kaiser roll was soft. The fries were the highlight however. Whatever they are cooked/battered in is just wonderful.

I give it 5 noms.

Best seafood place in Baltimore I've been to so far. The staff is friendly and fast, service was great and it's in a good location. Parking might be a bit of a problem, since it's located on Pratt street but it's definitely worth it.


Dave's 2Cents:

I am completely amazed that I've never seen or heard of this place (I drive by it everyday coming home from work). From outside, it looks like a little place/rowhome with outside eating. What you get when you walk in is amazing. Huge sports bar, big fluffy pillow outside lounge area, massive ballroom for private events, 20 foot ceilings, famous people all over the walls... just GREAT.

Another thing that impressed me is the smell, which is what I look for when going to a seafood joint. Smelled fresh and clean! The owner came and sat with us for a few moments to check on us, he seemed like a very nice down to earth fellow, the waiter made sure all out glasses were full and our mouths were smiling, between running outside and blowing off the sidewalk (poor kid).

I honestly can't find one bad thing about this place. Its located across the street from the convention center and there are many places to park and walk. One suggestion would be parking at the Gallery Mall and walking a block over, but there's many blue "P" signs around.

I tried many new things and revised things I've never liked, and loved them all. Mussels... Crabcake... Scallops... Om Nom Nom!

Cheers!

Trinacria

Trinacria Foods
406 Paca St Baltimore, MD 21201-1880
(410) 685-7285

Saturday was Groupon Day for Dave and I. We each had one for this Italian Deli/Grocery, Trinacria, as well as one for a used bookstore in Columbia so we decided on lunch first, then books.

Josh the Groupawn mentioned he'd tried this place when he was in town last weekend and said that the food was amazing. We had to GPS the location as it was in a part of town we weren't familiar with and upon our arrival, we realized why.

This little Italian Gem is located in a rather unpolished neighborhood, which judging by the buildings most likely was a rich and elegant part of the city at one time. Now many of the storefronts are boarded up or of the Value variety. Dave double-checked to make sure we still wanted to try it, and I said "Of course!" so we went in.

Walking in to this shop is like walking into a whole other world. To your left is the cash register, bulk items, deli counter/sandwich making area, and to your right is shelf after shelf of Italian pastas, sauces, ingredients, wines, etc. We wandered around taking it all in for a few moments before checking out the menu.

Dave decided on what he was having pretty quickly, and it took me a few minutes before I settled on the Prosciutto Panini which came with sliced prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and roasted red pepper on grilled bread. Our Groupons we worth $10 so we each grabbed a can of soda, I ordered a Black Bottom Cupcake for dessert and in addition to his Tuna Sandwich Dave got a Caesar salad.

The one drawback to this place is that it is small. Their customer flow is too heavy for such a small shop, so you're constantly shuffling by people, squeezing between shelves and other customers and trying to make yourself as small as possible. However, the staff is phenomenal, incredibly friendly, patient, helpful and knowledgeable.

Dave and I rang up separately since we each had our own Groupon and his total came to just over $4 with the $10 discount, mine ended up coming up short so I had to tack on one of their 99 cent homemade brownies to bump me over the $10 mark. It was worth it.

We took our loot to the car and decided we couldn't wait to get home or get to a place where we could eat properly, so we unwrapped everything there in the front seat. The first bite of my sandwich was heaven. I'll admit I've never really tasted prosciutto before but it's like if bacon and ham got together and had a gorgeous bastard child like Brad and Angelina did, that child would be named Prosciutto. The cheese was soft and warm, the peppers sweet and flavorful and the mound of prosciutto offered the perfect meaty saltiness to tie it all together so nicely.

Dave's sandwich was pretty good as well, I thought. It was a little strange eating Italian tuna, but I thought it worked quite well. We're both certain the tuna was flavored with basil as well as some other Italian spices, and the bread was so good. It was buttery, soft and just so good I could have just eaten that.

There's not much to say about the salad. It was a typical Caesar salad, crisp romaine, homemade croutons (fabulous), Parmesan cheese (fresh!), and a little packet of Caesar dressing. It was good though, really fresh, nothing was limp or rotting (always a good sign) and the croutons were amazing. On second thought, there's a lot you could say about this salad. The fact the the Parmesan and the croutons were both fresh speaks volumes to this place.

For the desserts, the Black Bottom cupcake was a wonderful little concoction that tasted more like a cream cheese topped brownie than cake, which is how I like my cake. It was moist, chocolatey and delicious. The brownie was a little dry, but you could definitely tell it was homemade so it earned some bonus points there.

My only regret is not buying some of their house pasta sauce, which we will be doing very soon as well as some of their pasta and fresh mozz and parm. I feel an Italian night coming on. Just don't tell Isabella's that we cheated on them.

4 out of 5 noms!

CHARM CITY NOMS WARNING:

STORE LOCATION IS CLOSE TO SKETCHY AREAS, VISIT AT OWN RISK.

Dave's 2cents:

So, the only thing this place going against them is the location. Its about 2-3 blocks north of the Lexington market. To locals, I should be hearing a, "ewwww" from you, for visitors, I will explain.

I'm 6 Foot, 280lbs and built like a wall. There are certain places I feel comfortable out of my car in Baltimore, this place is not one of them. I circled the block to survey the area, and to make Jenn comfortable. We parked a block south of the location, it seemed parking close to this store is impossible, there was even a lot of double parking.

As you can see by the 1st picture of this post, this place looks like a hole. It TRULY is a gem in the rough though. Once walking through the door, I had what I can only describe as a Narnia / Wardrobe experience.

Inside was this cute, GREAT SMELLING, deli/bakery/grocery store! Fresh store made jars of sauce lined the walls, along with bags of fresh pasta, oils, etc. They have an Olive bar with i believe 8-14 different types of olives. The back area have bakers racks full of baguettes, Italian loafs and other breads I didn't recognize.

This place belongs in Little Italy, seriously.

My food was great, the staff was super helpful and kind.

And another tip, when you walk in, TAKE A NUMBER! It is not well labeled and we pissed people off by skipping them. OOPS! (numbers located immediately to the left of the door)

Milan

Let me start this by stating that this is an accidental review. I had no intentions of reviewing Milan until my experience there was just too hilarious not to share with the interwebs.

I'd been following the blog of the Groupawn since he started his gig a few weeks ago in hopes that he'd find his way to Baltimore. Knowing the awesomeness that is Groupon, I felt it would be just as awesome to meet someone who was literally living off of them every day for the next year. Also, he loves food, and we love food, so really how can we NOT hang out? Yeah.

So, the Groupawn had a groupon for Milan and was heading there with another couple and after a day long texting session, I decided to join them and have a dessert. The four of us were seated at the bar and the three of them had already been there for about 45 minutes by the time I arrived and were just finalizing their orders. Josh grabbed a chair for me and I sat down just in time to be completely ignored by the bartender. Seriously, he took their orders, skipped over me and then wandered away. So I waited for my next opportunity to grab a menu and a Coke, and when it finally presented itself (about 10 minutes later) my wishes were fulfilled. Sorta.

See, I got my tiny Coke but it took the guy probably another 10 minutes to find a dessert menu and then it took about another 10 minutes for me to be able to order from said menu. I got the Torte di Fromaggio which was...well, it was unbelievably delicious. A hearty slice of honey ricotta cheese cake infused with a light lemony flavor decorated with fresh cream and a sprig of mint and balsamic strawberry compote. I shared bites with the group so that they too could enjoy the cool creaminess of this cheesecake.

Josh, the Groupawn was kind enough to share a piece of his crabcake with me and I must say that it's one of the better ones I've had. It was well seasoned, presented beautifully and actually had big pieces of crabmeat in it unlike some you get where it's just like a ball of breaded nothing. The tangy orangey sauce that came with it was a very nice complement.

The four of us had such a good time talking and sharing stories that I didn't really notice that it had taken a little over an hour for an incorrect order of raw, rose shaped fish to be delivered to the other three.

I'm sure Josh will write more about the experience in his blog, since the things that happened to him and the couple were just downright hilarious they were so terrible. As we were trying to cash out and go, it seemed there was some confusion about the groupon use, whose bill was whose and then some general douchebaggery from several members of staff. I'd heard that this place was over-priced with an air of snobbery but that the food was delicious if not pretentious and I have to say it's all pretty much correct. The restaurant is gorgeous, elegantly designed and looks somewhat like you're dining in a private mansion. The food is always presented as if it's art, yet it all tasted wonderful. I'm pretty sure that several members of the waitstaff got their start working for Abercrombie and Fitch because they seemed to be pros at ignoring you and looking perfect.

Now, I will not say you should not go to this restaurant because it definitely was a unique experience. However, I will leave you with this thought: it is an Italian restaurant that serves sushi and turns into a nightclub after 10 and their motto is "Where Food Meets Fashion", but they are located about three blocks from the projects in Baltimore.

Milan, I will give you 5 noms because your food was delicious, but -3 noms because your staff is...pretentious. Grand total of 2 noms.

Chiapparelli’s

I’ve wanted to hit up Chiapparelli's for several months. Living down the street from it in Little Italy, I figured it was only fair to try each restaurant so when tourists asked me where they should go, I would be able to give them a more informed opinion. What I have to say about this visit can be summed up in two words: Je regrette.

When we first walked in I was overcome with joy by the cranked a/c. (It was 88 degrees outside and about 107 in our house). The restaurant is beautiful. Clean, quiet, tables all set to perfection. It’s a lovely picture to look at. Then we were handed plastic coated menus. With a wine list on the back. Really? No, really? Taking turns between looking around and looking at the one dimensional menu, I noticed a few things right away. 1. the salads are HUGE. 2. the waiters all workout at the same gym and have the bodies to show it. I was half expecting an all male revue style show halfway through dinner. So, at least you have something pretty to look at while you mindlessly swallow your bland food. Oops, I think I just gave away the ending.

We started with apps, me with fried ravioli and Dave with fried calamari (we like our foods fried, ok?) and then ordered our entrees, Dave with the Gnocchi Bolognese and myself with the Shrimp Nicola and then waited for everything to arrive. Including Dave’s refill, which our waiter promised to deliver after he dropped off water for some other guy, then some plates, then some other stuff, then ran by our table apologizing, then some more running, Yawn, oh there it is, finally. The salads came out with the apps (which was weird and probably should not have happened, right?) So I was alternating between forkful of delicious plate of lettuce, and bland bland ravioli with surprisingly good marinara sauce for dipping. Dave’s calamari was pretty good, even though it was squid. As I ate more of my salad, it felt to me like Chip’s was trying to crack the Olive Garden’s recipe, got pretty close, and then gave up. The salad was good, there was just too much of it.

Now for the entrees. Everything LOOKED really good. My linguine was floating in a sea of buttery sauce, cradling shrimp and steaming hot. Dave’s was the traditional marinara with meat and tomato with little gobs of gnocchi. We each took a bite. Then took a bite of each other’s, then traded. Mine was a little bland and oily for my taste (mine being the Shrimp Nicola) and Dave just found his rather unappetizing with all those chunks of tomato in there. His gnocchi was a little on the hard side (this is where I would like to suggest that IF you are in Little Italy and IF you want to try gnocchi THEN you must go to La Tavola. They have the BEST gnocchi I’ve ever tasted). Luckily I was full after just a few bites. Unluckily I’m now staring a bowl of sub-par gnocchi in the face for lunch today. Dave cleaned his plate so he gets to eat a Whopper for lunch. That bastard.

We opted to skip dessert this time. We would be willing to give this place 3 noms, had our waiter not taken 20 minutes to get us our bill then cash us out. For that, he lost a dollar and a nom. That’s how we roll.

Our rating: 2 out of 5 noms

The good thing is that this place offers easy vegetarian fare. The bad thing is the food is bland. 2 noms.

Price Breakdown:
Apps average $8.64
Pastas average $19
Chicken/Veal average $21.45
Seafood average $24.33
Children's Menu is $8 and includes a beverage

Dave's 2 Cents:
My review starts before we even enter the building. Hey Chiapparelli's! How many Valets do you REALLY NEED!!

Chip's valets are everywhere and stand in the middle of the street like they own the block. Not only that but I was amazed that they left their key kiosk (the place where they store YOUR CAR KEYS) unattended for 12 minutes!! The kiosk isn't even locked, its held but what looks like velcro.
Living a few blocks from this restaurant, we also get to see (on a nightly basis) how the valet treat the cars after they drive off with them.

If you love your car, park it yourself. Your car's tires will thank you.

The restaurant is definitely visually appealing, but that glamor goes away with the horrible wait-staff and sub-par Italian slop. After swapping my dish with something edible that my wife had, I was able to complete a meal. Unfortunately one of those 2 dishes haunted me for the rest of the evening into the night.