Baltimore Restaurant Week: The Wine Market

The winter version of Baltimore Restaurant Week is almost over once again (though several restaurants, including the one below, have extended it for a week!  Check with them for details).  And it's been a while since I've had the pleasure of doing a Restaurant Week post.  So after my meal last night at the Wine Market in Locust Point, I figured I'd hunker down and write one more Restaurant Week post.

The Wine Market is one of those restaurants that I've wanted to go to but just haven't gotten around to going to yet.  My attention often gets diverted to the Harris Teeter when I'm in the McHenry Row area.  I finally got the chance to head in last night, walking through the gauntlet of wines and beers that you can buy and bring in with you.  I got a Loose Cannon ($5) at the bar while waiting for my friends to show, and then joined them at the table when they got there, ready to see what we could get for $30.13 each.

Alan and Eric splurged on a nice red wine that Eric got in the wine store.  I had a sip, and learned how to swirl the stuff around in preparation for sniffing it.  I'm not a wine person, but even with the various tastings I've been to, I've never done this.  It really does change things!

So, unlike our usual practice of each ordering something different and trying the things we have on each others' plates, we pretty much opted for very similar meals.  A few of us ordered the oyster first course.

These were the cornmeal fried oysters in a bacon beurre blanc (normally $10).  Just four juicy, tender oysters in a wonderful crispy breading.  Not much else to say about it.  I was satisfied.

For the second course, we all ordered the Grilled Piedmont steak (locally raised in Maryland, normally $27).  I rarely get steak, so this was a rare treat for me.  I ordered it medium rare, and got treated to a juicy thick (read: thick) steak.  This came with a sprinkle of Brussel sprouts, mushrooms and a sizable slab of root veggie gratin to round it all out.  I couldn't place the vegetables in the gratin, but it tasted fine nonetheless.

For our final course, we once more all ordered the same thing: a pumpkin crème brulée (not sure of the regular price).  I love me some crème brulée and this one was nice, though not the most memorable one I've ever had.  It had a pretty mild pumpkin flavor along with that nice sweet crunchy burnt sugar top.  Still, a lovely little dessert that I would probably order again.

Overall this was a good Restaurant Week experience.  Again, the Wine Market is extending their Restaurant Week menu through to February 10 (hopefully celebrating a possible Ravens win in the Super Bowl maybe??? I'll say no more: I do not want to jinx this).  Make sure you stop by there this week for more delicious food either for lunch or dinner.