Mt. Vernon Miscellany: Late April Edition

Just a few things in and around the Mt. Vernon neighborhood that I haven't gotten around to, since life and these dang State-by-State posts have taken up all my time:

1) I love Mughal Garden, and will go back again and again, but you didn't have to get so worried when I ordered my dinner "spicy" last night.  It wasn't very spicy.  Didn't even have to blow my nose more than once with that delicious lamb korma.  Are y'all sure you didn't give me medium-spiced instead?

2) Not sure if Marie Louise Bistro just doesn't want me there anymore, but the last few times I've gone in to wait for a table much of the staff has just stared at me and kept walking - not even a "Someone will be with you in just a moment, sir" (that will keep me patiently waiting for a while).  Note: they won't stop you from going upstairs to seat yourself.

3) What the hell are these things? (Taken not in Mt. Vernon but at the Abingdon Wegman's in Harford County.  Just had to slip this in somewhere.)

I'm scared.

4) Back to Mt. Vernon:: it looks like somebody's doing something with the old Brass Elephant building.  Yay!  (Yes I'm probably the last person to say anything about it, but it's overdue.  The linked article suggests it may be back open by spring, which means soon since it's now spring!)

5) Am going to Kumari again.  Last August I got a nasty bout of something after eating there (avoid the chow chow if at all possible).  But they won me back with their Nepali Bhohan!

6) I really should save up for this sometime: Sotto Sopra's next Opera Night ($58) is Sunday, May 20th.  (Yes, just south of Mt. Vernon but hell it's my blog.)

That's all for now.  Back tonight for some half-priced maki rolls at Minato before the alleged finale of RuPaul's Drag Race at the Hippo (who is hosting RPDR finalist Sharon Needles on May 4!).

And happy birthday to my sister who is once more only a year younger than I am :-P

Lumbini Revisited

My friends Jim & Ralph told me a few months ago: "You have to go to Lumbini!  This place is great."  Funny thing though: I had gone there a year or so ago, and ordered something that I seriously did not like.  In fairness, they told me I probably would not like what I ordered.  It was some sort of Nepalese dried shredded lamb dish.  They were right: I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!  Whatever the case, I headed back this past weekend and got myself a secluded table in a restaurant that was disturbingly quiet for a Friday night.  I did not even realize that my friends were there, along with some other friends of theirs (note to self: call Allison for some of that spare deer meat they have).  We joined up at one table and waited for our meals.

This time, I did like what I had for the most part.  I ordered some veggie samosas ($5) - rich potato samosas with a more tender and delicate pastry crust than I usually find in most samosas I have out.  The guys also let me try a chicken momo (dumpling) which was something I will likely order the next time I go.  The others had ordered their own things, and I ordered the paneer makhani  ($13).  I was trying to go meatless for Friday, and except for that chicken momo I more or less succeeded.  I loved the silken sauce, especially with my garlic (and green chile?) naan, though the flat pieces of paneer cheese tasted very slightly burnt.  It wasn't really a problem, and I did enjoy this dish.

I am a bit puzzled at why so few people were there. True, there are a lot of Indian / Nepalese restaurants in the area, so maybe that dilutes it.  But do stop by sometime soon.

Recent Eats - Dog Days 2010 Edition

Just a few notes on a few places I've eaten at lately...

1. Lumbini

I had planned to stop at Sláinte Pub to see the big Manchester City-AC Milan game on July 31, but an emergency kept me from doing that. So I headed out to look for a TV that had the game. With no luck there, I gave up completely and went for Nepalese. Instead of Kumari, which usually impresses me, I decided to try out Lumbini on Charles Street. I was willing to try out something different than the norm. For me that was the sukuti lamb with bhatmas sandeko (fried soybeans) and puffed flattened rice. The waitress warned me ahead of time that the sukuti lamb is a love it or hate it sort of dish. I was still willing to try it. The verdict? Well, as she said it would be, it was very chewy and dry, and probably not something I would order again. But I'm not sure I'd go back to Lumbini anyway. Despite the fairly empty dining space, the service was quite slow - I admit that this is possibly due to what I ordered, so I can give them a pass on that. But the items that were not all that unusual were also more or less average. Particularly unsatisfying was their garlic naan, which didn't have much of a garlic flavor for me. I don't know. You may like it, but I'm sticking with Kumari.

2. Thai Landing

It's been a while since I've been to Thai Landing. I should head back more often. I'm glad I did before the summer ended, since soft shells are featured on their summer menu. You can have your soft shell crab prepared in any of four different ways. Mine, the pu nim chu chee, was a mixture of coconut milk and Thai chili paste with carrots and snow peas and a nice crispy soft shell crab in the middle (I had just one for $16; two will run you $26). It didn't look as filling as it turned out to be.

3. Stoneleigh Bakery Café

This place is literally a five minute drive from my apartment and I haven't set foot into it before this week. I've already been back a second time. They have sandwiches, salads and bagels, plus their own cream cheeses, but it's their cookies I have come for. Try their Linzer Cookies, a jam-filled sandwich cookie that feels so good in the mouth when it gets warm and soft. My favorite is their Chickpea Delight. It feels dry but just dissolves in your mouth in seconds.
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From Dogwood to Kumari: Birthday Weekend Blowout!

Monday was my thirty-somethingth birthday.* And I ate. And I ate. And now I feel like I'm starting my new year of life with a few extra pounds (note to self: look into Towson's alumni gym membership, which is relatively cheaper than the local gyms). I have to say I had good meals all around! I don't eat out that often anymore, so I was playing catch up. But half of these meals were gifts, so it kind of evened out. A few tidbits about the tidbits I bit:

Chiu's Sushi (Harbor East)

Cathy and I went here on Friday for sashimi. A few years ago Chiu's was her first taste of sushi, and she never looked back.


Their deluxe sashimi plate ($25) is loaded with salmon, tuna and yellowtail. But unlike most deluxe sashimi plates, that's all it had. Still luscious but not as much variety as I have gotten used to in a sashimi plate. There is more variety in a larger sushi-sashimi boat, but that would have provided too much food for us to finish. We accompanied that with two of their current special rolls, the Pretty Angel Roll and the Osaka Roll. My favorite roll was covered in crab meat and red and white tobiko, with tempura flakes inside. I should've noted which was which. I think the one I am describing was the Pretty Angel Roll. I paired that with a nice cold 300 mL bottle of Hakushika sake. Cathy tells me I said some embarrassing stuff in the elevator in the parking garage. I guess she can't take me anywhere after I down a bottle of sake.


And as usual, we each finished our meals with a generous helping of tempura ice cream.



Dogwood Restaurant (Hampden)

The following night I went out with friends to the new and improved Dogwood Restaurant. It had been a while since I was there. Dogwood did not fail to amaze me the first time I went, way before their remodeling, but they impressed me more this time. The guys told to me to get what I wanted. I still try to restrain myself in these situations, but I did get some great food, not to mention the Phoenix cocktail ($9), a fizzy and smooth Prosecco-based cocktail that kept me quite happy for much of the evening.

I started off my meal with the Dogwood Baked Oysters ($16), though that big roasted head of garlic ($4) did intrigue me. The oysters - stuffed with such treats like lump crabmeat, spinach, fennel and parmigiano-reggiano (or "reggianito") - were plump and juicy, and went all too fast. As bold as some of these flavors tend to be, they still managed to take a backseat to the oyster (as they should).


While Eric and Alan each went for delicious red meat dishes (hey, it's not a frequent thing for them), I ordered the special stuffed bronzini (I don't know what it cost - I didn't pay, I didn't ask). Both Eric and our waitress recommended this highly and I am glad I took their advice. This meaty, tender Mediterranean fish was served whole, stuffed with all manner of goodies: bread, olives, tomato, onions, and green beans. The flavors blended together wonderfully in this dish. It held up as leftovers the next day, when I got into the head. I don't eat many fish heads so I was not sure what all was edible and what was not.


Eric got this lovely 12 oz. beef tenderloin ($23). I didn't try it but he liked it. I did get a taste of the celery root-sweet potato gratin. I didn't realize the two flavors melded together so well.


Alan got this big ol' New York strip ($31). He was quite pleased with it.



Ledo's Pizza (Locust Point)

On Sunday night I went to Ledo's Pizza with quite a few of the guys in the chorus I sing in. It was just a nice meal after rehearsal. I ordered the fried calamari ($5), a little rubbery but still worth ordering again. I was pleasantly surprised with the waffle fries, sprinkled with a dash of Old Bay. It came with a not terribly spicy dipping sauce. My main course was their small (personal-size) Hawaiian pizza ($6.50). The ham was juicy and the pineapple wasn't too juicy (both pluses). The thin crust on this square pizza was flaky, not soggy or rubbery on the edges like it is in many chains.



Kumari (Mount Vernon)

Monday night I visited my family for two egg yellow cake (a classic from our Sunbeam stand mixer cookbook from 1950) with chocolate buttercream frosting. Then on the way home, it was a brief stop in the Grand Central for a beer. I wasn't going to stop for dinner, but I figured it was my birthday. So why not? I initially headed down to the Mount Vernon Stable, whose service I have found to be wonderful on some nights and unkind on others. Despite there only being four customers in the restaurant, the staff still couldn't be bothered to at least say "We'll be with you in a minute", so up to Kumari it was. They had no customers, and greeted me immediately.

I keep forgetting how good the food is at Kumari. I was pleasantly reminded the other night. I kept it simple, and just ordered a main dish. First they gave me a complimentary papadum with a three-chutney sampler of, which they seemed all too eager to clear out of my way (I like the chutneys. Why do you want to take them away?). The onion chutney was my favorite, though their tamarind chutney was deeper and thicker than most I have had, which tend to be thin and runny. It was actually a little smoky, if tamarind chutneys can be.


My main dish was the Nepali Bhojan ($16). This is their non-vegetarian "typical Nepalese everyday meal" (I had their vegetarian dahl bhat set on a previous visit a while back). I can't identify everything on the platter, and I didn't get a chance to copy it from the menu (the online menu is a bit briefer) but it was all good. One favorite items include the soft and extremely buttery naan. I used it for dipping into everything, including the chutneys, which it seemed I had to almost wrest from the waiters who wanted to just clear it out of my way. Other highlights of the meal include the juicy and somewhat spicy lamb curry and a filling bowl of dahl. Their potato pickle is not a typical pickle, as it isn't a pickled raw vegetable. Instead, it's a tasty cooked potato in what I think is Nepalese pickling spices. It's not what you would normally expect in a pickle.



That's it for my birthday weekend. I've eaten out too much these past few days and it's time to stay in for a while and fix some food.

* If you missed it on Twitter then I'm not telling.

Kumari

I stopped by Kumari on Saturday night for a quick bite. I've eaten here a few times before and would've sworn I wrote about it. Apparently I didn't.

I usually get the lunch buffet at this Nepalese restaurant, which features many Indian and Nepalese dishes. Tonight I was lured in by the promise of chow chow - Nepalese-style noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork or vegetables. But once I was seated, my attention turned to the dahl bhat set ($14) - rice and lentils, with several other dishes, including potato pickle, a substantial vegetable curry and some of the softest, butteriest naan I have eaten in ages. I'd go back just for the naan. And they gave me complementary coriander, tamarind and onion chutneys to go with my papadums - which the menu roughly describes as "Nepalese-style nachos".

Dahl bhat set

Since I had been snacking all day, I only got the dahl bhat set, but with the good service that amounted to a $3 tip, for a grand total of about $17. I'd definitely recommend Kumari as a place to return to - as I have done.

Exit 32B: US-1 North (Belair Road, to Belair)

I find myself out this way often, but usually it's just to go to work. Today I made myself linger around, and I was surprised by one thing: there are fewer places to eat this way than I thought. Actually, there are many more options going the other direction (Exit 31A). One option I've already explored (and written about) was the Mount Everest Nepalese buffet, in the same shopping center as the K-Mart and IHOP near Belair Road and Rossville Blvd. Currently the most expensive South Asian buffet I have seen outside of the weekend - now $10 instead of $9 - the food is good, but you can find just as good if not better for cheaper just about everywhere else (qv: the multitude of South Asian restaurants in Mount Vernon, Indiclub in Woodlawn, Indian Delight in Catonsville, etc).

Driving around the Giant and the Putty Hill Shopping Center I saw very few food options. Like every exit, there is the complementary "greasy wok", Peking House (map). The linked Metromix page says it offers "a little more than the usual fare" but that "little more" doesn't look all that unusual to me. Much bigger was Tully's Restaurant (map) - it seems like a restaurant and pub. Most of the reviews mention DJ's and bouncers, but not the food, so I can only assume it is your typical brewpub. A couple who tried to enter tugged on a locked door and turned around. Here's one page of reviews. I have no idea what the hell the reviewers are talking about.

Driving past Putty Hill/Rossville, I eventually came upon Ridgley's Choice, a brand new plaza with only a few businesses inside. The only food-related one was the Ridgeley's Choice Deli and Catering (map). It looks from the outside like your typical deli. I'm not sure how new it is because I can't find much information about it. I did find two very terse yet positive reviews, but nothing apart from that. Maybe this is one to look out for in the future?

If you want seafood, there are a couple of options for you. The Fullerton Pub and Crab House (map) offers more than just crabs, but also standard pub food. Like (I imagine) Tully's, karaoke and DJ'ing are easy to find. Right across the street is the small but still tough-to-miss Fisherman's Wharf (map). Not related to Mo's Fisherman's Wharf - at least I don't think it is - this is Putty Hill's local seafood-specific shop. It's an unassuming, somewhat grody place but carries the typical seafood items: lots and lots of local fish and shellfish, plus frozen seafood from other parts of the country. For example, I found Dungeness crab, frozen, at $10 a pound.

Of course there are the local delicacies: rockfish is easy to find, as are those blue crabs (soft, hard, steamed, picked), shrimp and oysters, hon. Right now there is a sale on shrimp. As for the price of crab meat: my eyes just about bugged out of my head. One pound of Chesapeake Bay jumbo lump crab meat: $28! That is, granted, the highest-quality stuff (even if I still like a little special meat mixed in), but I guess we are in a crab shortage, aren't we?

I arrived around 1 PM, and was the only customer. The employees outnumbered me, with only two in the back. I almost ordered one of the lunch specials: a fried catfish sandwich with fries and fountain drink for only $6. Instead I spent my time perusing the menu, a very diverse one featuring many choices at many different prices for many different budgets. You can get a sandwich for $5 or $6, or platters for $12 to $15. Plus, their many sides fit various budgets as well, from under $1 to upwards of $5. I finally settled on a $6 fried rockfish sandwich on white bread, with sides of onion rings ($1.50) and hush puppies (75¢). Total cost: just under $9.

The one big problem I had turned out to be a big problem: the wait. Perhaps they were getting other things ready for other people, I don't know. But it took HALF AN HOUR for me to get my sandwich and sides (half an hour, that is, from the time I ordered to the time I got my food). How the hell does it take two people half an hour to fry fish and put it between two slices of bread? In all fairness, after about twenty minutes of waiting they did say they were out of white bread and offered me a roll, wheat bread or rye (a fish sandwich on rye?) - I took the roll. Maybe they spent the first twenty minutes looking for the white bread? Anyway, I do know that they started frying up my food that long after I ordered it because after this exchange I distinctly heard a brand new sound in the restaurant: frying. Considering that all my meal was fried, well... at least I got the meal.

About five minutes later four more people came in, including a young mother with child in tow who seemed to know the man behind the counter. At least they have repeat customers. Maybe this was an off day for them? Or she just likes the sloooooooow service!

After waiting 30 minutes for my food I was hungry, and took the time to taste one hush puppy right in my car. It tasted great right out of the bag, almost as good once I got it home half an hour after that.

They also offered tomato. After what I've heard in the news, I'm glad I turned it down.

The meal was substantial and tasty enough, though certainly not good enough to warrant standing around for half an hour just to read all the brochures on Maryland's seafood industry.

The rockfish flavor was a bit muted under all that batter and bread. To be honest, I'm not sure if rockfish stands up to breading and frying very well. It's too delicate in my mind. Other fishes are quite strong enough to bear it: trout, catfish, etc. But rockfish needs to be broiled and on a plate. Or if fried, definitely on a plate, no bread. Some better ways to prepare it can be found here.

As for the sides: again, the hush puppies were thoroughly cooked through and pretty tasty. In fact they were the best part of the meal. I could have done without the onion rings. They were crunchy but inconsistently fried - everywhere from golden brown to near-burnt, and this was often all in the same onion ring. Plus, the little cardboard boat literally leaked oil onto my kitchen table, making my phone bill perfectly translucent. I threw the rest away.

In short: this is not a place I would go back to. To justify that wait, the food needed to be damn good. It was merely okay.

Other photos:

They don't know it's locked. I guess it's not martini time yet?

In case you can't find the Ridgely's Choice Deli, just look for this big marquis!

Places I visited:

Fisherman's Wharf (crabs / seafood) - 7928 Belair Rd, Baltimore, MD 21236; Phone: (410) 668-4330

• Would I eat there again? No, specifically because of that wait. Otherwise, maybe.
  
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? No. Not at all.
  

Places to look up later:

Fullerton Pub and Crab House (pub / American / crabs) - 8027 Belair Road, Nottingham MD 21236; Phone: (410) 661-5910

Peking House (Chinese) - 7916 Belair Road, Nottingham, MD 21236; Phone: (410) 661-1702 and (410) 661-1703

Ridgely's Choice Deli & Catering (deli) - 8615 Ridgelys Choice Drive, Suite 101, Nottingham, MD 21236; Phone: (410) 248-8850

Tully's Restaurant (pub / American) - 7934 Belair Road, Nottingham, MD 21236; Phone: (410) 665-9100

Exits 27A and B: MD-146 (Dulaney Valley Road, to Towson)

As with so many other exits, this one branches off into two directions. Foodwise, there isn't much down Exit 27B except for houses. If you want some history, head down to what was the US's biggest house in 1790, the Hampton National Historic Site, a massive plantation which is now a site of many lovely Christmas celebrations, so I understand. Hell, it's run by the park service!

Going the other direction, there are many places I have frequented. Many, many places. I've eaten so much in downtown Towson, and written about much of it. So in case anyone plans to accuse me of leaving them out: Kyodai, Jasmine's (now off Exit 22 - the replacement is yet another sushiería), Kabob Hut, Sushi Hana (the Mt. Washington location, though apparently the original one in Towson is better), and Café Spice, just to name the big ones. And of course, the Towson Farmer's Market on Thursday mornings during the warmer months, up and down Allegheny Street. It's puny, but still a nice excuse to get on out to Towson.

There are a few places I have visited on or near Allegheny and Pennsylvania Streets, and a whole lot more I have not. But it seems that the rule of thumb in Towson proper is that if you throw a rock at any restaurant, that restaurant will likely be Italian, Indian or Japanese. Of course, I don't want you going around throwing rocks at these places. They probably wouldn't invite me back if you did.

A few years ago I stumbled across the Kathmandu Kitchen (map), when I was looking for an Indonesian restaurant that had just closed down not too long before that. Out of this place and Kumari, I think the latter is a little better for Nepalese food, though Kathmandu has a good, basic Northern Indian buffet ($9) that is easy enough for me to get to. It's worth a look. Then there is the Thai One On/San Sushi Too (map), which i visited a few times until it just got too expensive. It's across from Kyodai. I visited a fw times, usually getting sushi though I should stop by at some point to try the Thai half of this place. I found their pork katsu to be overall satisfying, even if a little dry.

And get this: I still have yet to tackle a range of spots, and I know I am leaving many of them out because there are just too many (not a lot of chains outside of Towsontown Center, I might add): The Japanese-Korean Purim Oak Restaurant (map - it's nearby the Jerry's Subs, a small and diminishing chain that serves pretty average subs), Italian at Strapazza (map) and at Cafe Troia (map), the "New American" Vīn (map, a Great Tastes Show exhibitor), The Melting Pot (map - whose fondue everyone in the city raves about but isn't for me - $75 a meal? Oy - and which is a national franchise based in Florida), even more sushi plus Chinese at the Olive & Sesame (map) and even more Italian at Paolo's Ristorante (not bothering with a map - Really, Paolo's and O&S are right across from each other so why bother with a second map?). I totally missed A Taste of Philly (slow link from the Towerlight; here's the map) - apparently the taste here is pretzels, not cheese steaks.

There really isn't much worth eating in the mall, by the way. There, I said it.

The places I did get to on this trip were on the cheaper side.

Burger Bros (map):

After parking at Trader Joe's (yes I did that - sue me), I cut through the Barnes & Noble and made my way up Allegheny. I was not sure where I'd go, but the burgers smelled good and seemed like they would be cheap. So into Burger Bros. I went. The place is modest, as is the wait. And while it does take a little while to get you food, the burger, at least, is pretty satisfying. I should've asked for it rare, because it was well, but it was good apart from that.

$10 after tax got me this: one cheeseburger ($5.50) with various toppings (I chose "caramelized" onions and jalapeño slices with pepper jack cheese), a small fries ($(about $1.50) and a small fountain drink (again, about $1.50). They had Fanta birch beer - which I didn't even know Fanta made - but I went for the Diet Coke to avoid all that sugar.

The burger was good enough to back for, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. The fries were extremely salty, and that was before the Old Bay (so why did I put Old Bay on them? Because it was there). I finished the burger but only half the fries (I ate about $8 worth of my meal). Perhaps I will try the onion rings next time.

Mmmm. Burger.

Pasta Mista (map):

Located next to the Super Fresh on Dulaney Valley Road, in Dulaney Plaza, this is a VERY busy place. Just as small as Burger Bros., but with many more people shoehorned in. And my oh my! Lots of inexpensive slices of pizza sold at the counter, in so many different varieties. I got two massive slices. One looked like a buffalo chicken pizza (it had sparse but large cubes of chicken, and those were surprisingly tender) and the other was a tortellini pizza with pesto on it. I would've taken a photo just to remember all the varieties and ingredients, but I felt self-conscious even whipping out my cell phone, the guys behind the counter were that close. Each slice had delicious cheeses. I would've waited for the three cheese pizza to be replenished, but I didn't feel like waiting. I should've tried the mandragone pizza, a super thick-crusted pizza with thick slices of mozzarella and tomatoes on it, but I had already ordered, and I only had $6 with me. I waited a few minutes for my pizza, which they set for a few minutes in the oven to melt the cheese. And again, it was pretty busy during the 12 to 1 lunch rush. So much pizza I had to cut each slice in half - I will be eating them sometime in the next few days (average cost of a meal, for me at least: $2.30 - after tax these two slices were $4.60 so I basically paid a pittance for two meals). So many varieties, I have to go back and try some. Plus I think they serve pasta or something.

Tortellini on a pizza? I actually have seen stranger things. Wasn't bad, actually.

A note about Pasta Mista: It seems to be a favorite pizza place for transplanted New Yorkers, Garden Staters and Philadelphians who find themselves stuck in the Mid-Atlantic. Pasta Mista's was voted the best pizza in Bawlmer by the Towerlight (Towson U's magazine). Apparently, the pizza in Maryland sucks. Towson college students from above the Mason-Dixon line say this is THE one place that makes good pizza in Maryland. And I admit: I do like their pizza, and plan on getting more. It is tasty and cheap!!! But while I did like Pasta Mista's alot (I'm so trying not to be contrarian here), I might also suggest Tony's next to the Catonsville H-Mart at Rte. 40 and Rolling Road (or at least I would but I suspect they ripped me off when I went to get their tasty pizza, charging me for three instead of two - I said nothing due to the line and that it wasn't that much more money), and Pepe's up in Mount Washington (again, a tasty slice of pizza). But since I actually haven't eaten pizza in New York, I don't have a barometer to gauge what is good in NY terms.

Other photos:

One of many, many Italian places in Towson. And no, I'm predominately Italian so of course I have no problem with it. It's just strange to see us everywhere.

Here's the Macy's side of Towsontown Center. Again, not so great of a place for food. Just leave the mall and go somewhere else - like Trader Joe's! They probably will have free samples anyway.

Not a bar and grill. But wouldn't that be a great name for one?

Places I visited:

Burger Bros. (burgers / subs) - 14 Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-1880

• Would I eat there again? Yes, probably.
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? Probably not.
  

Kathmandu Kitchen (Nepalese / Indian) - 22 W Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 847-9595 Pasta Mista (Italian / pizza) - 822 Dulaney Valley Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-8855

• Would I eat there again? Yes - in fact, I have.
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? Probably not. It's more convenience than anything else.
  

Pasta Mista (pizza / Italian) - 822 Dulaney Valley Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 321-8855

• Would I eat there again? Yes - I have to try all those other types of pizza
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? I might, especially if the New Yorkers are right about it being so good.

Thai One On/San Sushi Too (Thai / Japanese / sushi) - 10-11 W. Pennsylvania Ave. Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 825-0907

• Would I eat there again? Yes
  
• Would I go out of the way to eat there again? If there was no other sushi or Thai around, then probably.
  

Places to look up later:

Café Troia (Italian) - 28 W. Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 337-0133

The Melting Pot (fondue) - 418-420 York Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 821-6358

Olive & Sesame (Japanese / sushi / Chinese) - 2 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 494-4944

Purim Oak Restaurant (Japanese / sushi / Korean) - 321 York Rd., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 583-7770

Paolo's Ristorante (Italian) - 1 W. Pennsylvania Ave, Towson, MD 21204 (three locations in all, including Georgetown and Reston; is the Pikesville location still open?); Phone: (410) 321-7000

Strapazza (Italian / pizza) - 12 W. Alleghany Ave. Towson, MD 21204 (five locations in all, including Columbia, Eldersburg, Severna and White Marsh) - (410) 296-5577

A Taste of Philly (pretzels) -

to cell phone | to email address

40 W Chesapeake Ave., Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 828-5600 Vīn (New American) 1 E. Joppa Rd., Towson, MD 21286; Phone: (410) 337-0797

A few recommendations...

Those of you who write blogs know that it can at times be, well, time-consuming. Especially for such a focused blog like this one. As such, there are too many restaurants and too many meals, too many funny videos and too many other things I do that I just don't get to mention. So here they are: a few things I haven't mentioned lately that don't really merit a whole post (unlike my recent trip to Green Spring Station - I'll post on that soon).

• If y'all read about my excursion off Exit 17 to Woodlawn, you'll remember that the Shaheen Indian-Pakistani Restaurant was recommended to me. Well I went - twice. Pretty good stuff. 100% halal for the observant Muslim diner. Their goat is some of the best and least bony I have eaten in a while. $5.99 per lb. to take out their lunch buffet (the first I've seen do it by the pound), plus a section of desserts. Good stuff.
• Plus, did you know my post about that very subject is the first one that comes up when you Google "shaheen security square mall"?
  
• Speaking of which: just this past week I stopped by a place off Rossville and Bel Air Road, the recently opened Mount Everest (for which I can find no links whatsoever), which serves Nepalese and Indian food, as well as Italian, Greek and American. It's the "pizza-subs-and-curry" place turned into a festive-looking Nepalese restaurant. Their chicken tikka masala is a bit dry, despite floating in all that tikka masala sauce. Their saag paneer (Indian cheese in spinach) is quite good. $8.99 per box.
• I stopped by Pepe's Pizza on Falls Road. For $3.45 after tax I got enough Hawaiian pizza to last me two meals. Good and filling pizza. BTW: my recent Exit 23A post is the second hit when you Google "pepe's pizza mount washington".
  
• My sister treated me to dinner tonight at Damon's Grill (she's so nice). There is a smattering of locations in Maryland, but it's mostly based in Pennsylvania and Ohio. We got some great burgers for $7.95 plus 50 cents per topping. Get too much (fried mushrooms, fried onions, guac and Provolone cheese) and it'll all slip and slide off. Her mudslide was also tasty. The apple cobbler that we split was okay. I've had better, but it was decent.
• Oh, Cloverfield rocked.
  
• Whole Foods' rice milk really isn't all that bad when compared to the real thing, at least in hot chocolate and in cereal. Just avoid rice drink - it's not the same.
• And I made one more recipe from a book I bought in California and have had on my shelf for a while, Paulette Mitchell's 15-Minute Single Gourmet: 100 Deliciously Simple Recipes for One (1996: Macmillan, New York, NY). It was her basil pesto. It didn't turn out the way it should have - either I had too little basil or else I used walnuts instead of pine nuts. It's more like a chunky basil paste. it's still edible, just not what I had had in mind.
• And I'm still waiting to take advantage of the smokelessness of the local bars. They did this too in California when I lived there. Even though I am a militant non-smoker, at first I thought it was silly. I mean, it's a bar for God's sake. But it didn't hit California businesses bad at all - most of them just installed outdoor patios if they didn't already have them, and they worked just fine. Put up a few outdoor heaters and Maryland's bars will be just fine too.

Festivals in Rain or Sunshine: International and German Festivals

Today was a good day to get rained on in and around Baltimore. Which sucks if you're a festival goer. There were two this weekend, and I left one when it started raining. I left just before it downpoured. But I got to the second, which was mostly indoors. By that time it didn't matter - the rain had stopped. D'oh!

I'm tired, and I really don't feel like writing that much. So, gifted with the gab as I am, I will nevertheless try to keep my descriptions brief.

International Festival

It was pretty cloudy when I got to Poly Western, where Baltimore's International Festival was held. Right next to the school were lots of rides. Next to those were various information booths - several empty - and kiosks of baskets and African art. Next to those were various food booths, arranged in a U around a central stage. Across the fence from that were a bunch of soccer games composed of teams representing their various countries of origin (last year I saw teams representing Sénégal, Trinidad, El Salvador and South Korea). This year the games didn't stop because of the rain; they stopped because of the lightning.

But before the lightning, I did manage to stop at the South Carolina BBQ and Catering booth (they were also at Artscape), with lots of good Southern, African American and South Carolinian food. I got a yummy pork BBQ sandwich for $6. A few feet away I got a small but filling cup of mango lassi from the Kumari booth. I finished the lassi before it rained. I finished the BBQ in my car, soaking wet.

German Festival

By the time I got to the State Fairgrounds, it had stopped raining. I parked (luckily, so close) and paid the $5. Soccer continued to pervade today's festivals, as a major co-sponsor of this event was the Baltimore Kickers, Baltimore's German-American soccer team (though by no means do you have to be German to join; you do, however, have to try out first). They ran about half of the food and information booths; of the other half, most of them were run by the Edelweiss Club, Baltimore's German-American glee club.

Lots of lovely German products on sale, as well as stuff from as far as Austria, Lithuania and Poland. But I went for the food. And to buy food was to support the Baltimore Kickers and the Edelweiss Club - worthy causes, I would say. I started off with an apple strudel from the Original Strudel Factory (half for $3.75). Next I gave $6.75 to the Kickers for a wonderful plate of knockwurst, saurekraut and potato salad ($6.75). I couldn't finish it; my belly was already full from the BBQ and the strudel. But I forged on for some beer at another booth (I forget who manned it). I had my choice of two lovely beers, Paulaner (a pilsner), and the darker Hacker-Pschorr. I got the HP ($4), which had a nice peppery taste. I left with one more dessert, three topkuss pastries (or "foam kisses," $2) from a local German bakery. It's ridiculously creamy inside. Yum.

Okay, not as short as I had hoped, but shorter than I thought it'd be!

(Oh, and for the record: Constantine's was at the German Festival. Five and counting!)

Other photos:

This is the same South Carolina BBQ & Catering company from the International Festival. They're really from SC but live in Bawlmer. This is them at Artscape.




Strudel - lots and lots of strudel!



The Baltimore Kickers are very involved in this festival, as are the Edelweiss Club and the German Society of Maryland. It was almost as if, like, five of these booths were around.



I didn't get to try anything from the Edelweiss Bakery & Cafe on Harford Road. So I'm at least giving a shout-out to 'em here.



Same with Aunt Iffy's Kitchen at the International Festival (here they are at the Caribbean Festival). I went to the International Festival last year, and had a good goat curry from them. Or was it the jollof rice?



And a traditionally-dressed German-American couple walk off into the sunset, er, light.