Revisiting the Beltway: One Last Trip around 695 (for the blog, that is)

As you may know, I finished the State-by-State project I've been posting up here every Sunday morning for the last few years.  For my final Sunday post, I have decided to revisit a previous project one last time: my Snacking around the Beltway series.  Due to crazy gas prices (which haven't really abated) and a total lack of time - in part exacerbated by said new project that lasted the last couple of years - I stepped away from it after examining every few exits around the Glen Burnie section of the Beltway (more or less Exits 1 - 8).

For this post, I summarize a few key spots I have visited throughout the rest of the Beltway.  Yes, I'm squeezing Exits 9 through 44 into one longish post.  This is, I admit, an inadequate way to finish it up, but it is better than nothing.

As I did in my January 18, 2009, Final Assessment post of the original series, I will again divide the Beltway up into six sections:

• the "Glen Burnie" section of the Beltway (south, Exits 1 through 8A) - I've already explored this one in more detail, so I'm not really coming back to it in this post.
• the "Catonsville" section (southwest, Exits 9 through 16B)
• the "Pikesville" section (northwest, Exits 17 through 22)
• the "Towson" section (north, Exits 23A through 30B)
• the "Essex" section (northeast, Exits 31A through 38B)
• and the "Dundalk" section (southeast, Exits 39 through 44)

This will not be a sweeping assessment of eats around the Beltway - I am exploring one, maybe two at the most, restaurants in each aforementioned section.  But these few restaurants hopefully do show the diversity of old and new eats off the Beltway, and will encourage you to further explore for ones I left off on your own.

The Glen Burnie Section (south, Exits 1 through 8A)

As I said, I have a few posts about Beltway eats in Anne Arundel County.  I will refer you to those, with one caveat: the Afghan place across the street from the Glen Burnie MVA is now a Hip Hop Chicken (map here).  I haven't visited it yet.

The "Catonsville" section (southwest, Exits 9 through 16B)

It's kind of silly to say I've "revisited" this part of the Beltway.  This is where I grew up: Lansdowne, which was home for my first 20-odd years, and Arbutus, Catonsville and such, where I got to (and still go to) frequently.  That said, I haven't really visited the newish eating establishments here lately: the new Middle Eastern place in Arbutus (Punjab Kabab & Sweets, map here), the frozen yogurt place along Maiden Choice (And what is up with this new fro yo trend?  Seriously, I don't get it), and the new Lansdowne Station shopping center, home to a Boardwalk Fries, an Italian place (Three Brothers of Lansdowne, the only Baltimore location of sixteen across the state; map here) and, notably, a new Chinese/American/sushi buffet.  That last part - sushi buffet - should send shivers down anyone's spine.

The place in question is the Teppanyaki Grill Supreme Buffet (map here) off Exit 10, near the Office Depot.  My mother told me that she took my sister here a few months ago and thought it would be a nice place to go get a sit-down meal.  Not nice as in "dressy" nice, but nice as in "Oh, you don't see us so often, it would be nice to spend some more time with you, and your sister liked this place" (full disclosure: my youngest sister, in her 30's, has autism, and it's not easy to find places that she likes beyond a set few places, so for her to like any place with Chinese food is in itself amazing to my family).

The place isn't my idea of "inviting": despite the many tables and booths, it seems quite crowded.  The mostly dimly lit interior doesn't help on that score.  Certainly though, the people there seemed to enjoy themselves, particularly the children's birthday party in the separate (and loud) meeting room next to the dessert buffet.

The Teppanyaki Grill has a bevy of the stuff you'd expect to find at a Chinese/Japanese buffet: various fried "Chinese" things, some maki rolls on ice which seemed freshly made at least (with massive amounts of wasabi sitting next to them), a section of "American things" just in case your stubborn Uncle Floyd won't eat "Asian" stuff, and large salad and dessert bars in case you are ever-so-slightly tempted to eat something healthy.

Yum.

For the price, however, this can't really be beat: all-you-can-eat for all of $7.19 plus tax ($10.39 for dinner instead of lunch; kids eat for less and very young kids eat for even less).  That said, it is a buffet, and as massive buffets go it is pretty average.  You may be thinking "Well what did you expect?" In a word: this.  I expected what I got, so I wasn't exactly disappointed.  But all the same, I don't usually enjoy this sort of thing, so I probably won't head back.  It didn't make me sick - that was a plus.

Thank God, that had me worried for a second.

The "Pikesville" section (northwest, Exits 17 through 22)

So much to choose from, so little time... And money...

Unfortunately I don't get around to Pikesville much these days.  The last time I visited was to hit up the Seven Mile Kosher Supermarket off Exit 20 (map here) for some matzah meal a year or so ago.  A few years before that, I was a panelist at the Great Tastes food show, as one of many panelists discussing food blogging in Baltimore.  I had mentioned that I was hopeful that Baltimore would see an increase in the number of West African restaurants in the area, since Charm City is fortunate to have a relatively large and increasing Nigerian-American (and overall West African) community.  Afterwards,  somebody suggested to me that I try out Peju's Kitchen and Lounge off Exit 17 in Woodlawn (map here).  I hadn't gotten the chance until recently, when I finally made the trip for take out one night.  Actually, it ended up being the very last restaurant I will have visited for this blog.  I mean, I don't exactly do these in order here.

Peju's with its large black awning occupies the large corner in the Security Plaza strip mall across from Woodlawn High School.  The plaza also features a South Asian clothing store and several halal buffets and groceries, plus a store-front Islamic center, a driving school, a handful of store-front churches and a halal Chinese restaurant (I've heard of kosher Chinese places, but a halal one is new to me, and certainly fills a niche needing to be filled).  The slightly rusty (not rustic) exterior of the whole building complex belies the gorgeous warm amber interior of Peju's, which serves not just West African specialties like jollof rice (of course), fufu and puff-puff (the West African answer to the donut.  Mmmm, donut), but various Caribbean specialties.  The warmly-lit bar and lounge area open onto the main seating area in the interior.  In other words, this ain't Teppanyaki Grill Supreme Buffet (see above).

Since I was out running errands and had to get home, I opted for take-out.  Though my eyes alighted on Caribbean specialties like jerk chicken and curry vegetable dishes ($10 each, more if during dinner), I eventually opted for the more Nigerian jollof rice with beef (also $10, also more if during dinner).  The jollof rice was certainly better than my one attempt to make it a few years ago, and I loved the thick tangy, slightly spicy tomato sauce that went with it. The two slightly tough pieces of beef I got had a nice flavor, but clearly they were a side if anything: the star of this meal was the big, heaping mound of soft, tangy jollof rice.  A few sweet fried plantain pieces finish off this meal. I will have to go back for more.

The "Towson" section (north, Exits 23A through 30B)

While I hardly get to Pikesville or Woodlawn, I often pass through Towson since I live so close by.  The problem here is that I never get a chance to stop anywhere.  The downtown Towson area has seen a few new places pop up over the last few years even as places like Towson Commons have shut down.  Yes, many old favorites like Kyodai, Kathmandu and Strappazza (just to name a few) are all still in that downtown area.  One that has been around for a while but I haven't had the chance to visit until not long ago was the Towson Hot Bagels (map here), recently voted Best Bagel in Baltimore.  Is this the influx of New Jersey and New York kids at the University making this assessment?  Seriously though, it's an efficient set up.  It has to be, since there are so many of these college kids in there!  The bagels are indeed good: chewy and filling and lovely.  I got an everything with cream cheese the one time I went there with some friends from out of town.

A few storefronts have seen some changes across the street from the library on York Road (map here: they're all close by): the Indo-Chinese place is now straight up Indian (India Cuisine), and I still haven't gotten to the Chinese place next door (The Orient Restaurant) or the 7 West Bistro Grille around the corner, all conveniently nestled not too far from Exits 26 and 27.  One place I have gotten to is the Phò Dat Thành (map here), the phò place near the Melting Pot, and one of three in the Baltimore area (with locations in Laurel and Columbia).  This once was a "pan-Asian" restaurant serving Chinese, Japanese and Thai food.  It finally settled on Vietnamese.  While they have various stir fry options available, you will probably want to go for the phò: a good, large standard bowl of phò at not a very steep price.

The "Essex" section (northeast, Exits 31A through 38B)

Sadly, I don't get around to this part of the Beltway that often anymore either.  I really should just stop between Exits 38B and 39 off North Point Blvd at the Prima Foods (map here).  This is Baltimore's premier stop for all your Greek ingredient needs, including their barrels of olives that you scoop yourself.  Closer to Route 7 and CCBC Essex lies places I have yet to get to, notably the Pizza Rustica (map here) at the intersection of crazy and crashy, er, Rossville Blvd and Pulaski Hwy near Exit 35 (seriously, why is that intersection so accident-prone?).

Ever since I last visited for the Beltway Snacking project a few years ago, I knew that Baltimore's favorite pit beef joint - and apparently the über-annoying Guy Fieri's - was in this area.  It did not dawn on me just how much closer Chaps Pit Beef (map here) is to 895 than the Beltway, so much so technically it shouldn't really be in this post.  But screw it, it's only a few miles away from Exit 35, so it's going in anyway.


For the few Bawlamorons who haven't been to this place - I admit, I was one of them until I went for this post - and for those outside the city who still aren't quite sure what "pit beef" really is, Chaps is not all big and flashing, and is even kind of easy to miss if you're not paying attention.  Plus, there isn't a large parking lot.  It is one of those places that stays small and puts out a quality product.  Okay, a lot of quality products: it's not just pit beef but various types of barbecue.  The menu is as complicated as any BBQ joint I've seen in this or other parts of the country.  But I went specifically for the pit beef sandwich, medium rare (about $6).  The meat is smoky, soft and juicy, and yes, you must bite down to get the slices of pit beef off the sandwich (but hey, that's pit beef for you).  Don't forget the many toppings along the window: horseradish, tiger sauce (horseradish mayonnaise), hots and a pickle chip belong on any pit beef sandwich.  I can't imagine eating pit beef without horseradish.  I just don't want to.

Isn't it better to imagine a nice juicy pit beef sandwich slathered with a big ol' blob of horseradish instead?

The "Dundalk" section (southeast, Exits 39 through 44)

Since family, work and friends are all in other parts of the area, I almost never get to Dundalk anymore.  And like with the Rosedale / Hamilton area it is easy to find pit beef in Dundalk.  Even easier since Merritt Blvd lost the wondrous Weenie World, one of my favorite hot dog places around the Beltway.  In its place is the Bullpen (map here), with the tagline "You can't beat our meat" (errrrrmm...).  Like Chaps and the nearby Bada Bing Bada Beef (which I did get to last time), this is also a pit beef and BBQ joint, and I will have to try it out next time I'm back down that way.

As with my much-delayed visits to Peju's and Chaps, I did finally get to the Boulevard Diner (map here).  Guy Fieri also stopped by here (my God, how many of these places has Guy Fieri infected with his presence anyway!?) for his DD&D show.  The Boulevard is your quintessential diner - nothing much different about that, except for the massive illustration of Ray Lewis (W0000000000T!!!!!) in the entryway.  Inside, it's no-nonsense but friendly and quick service.  And it has all the diner classics: the Mediterranean stuff, the burgers, the meatloaf, the desserts, and the all-day breakfasts.  I hadn't eaten lunch that day but was in the mood for pancakes - not many, but pancakes all the same.

I have my fat group, my carb group and my sugar group!

I got the short stack of two massive pancakes ($5) with two sausage patties (an extra $2).  I can't think of much else to say: they were typically tasty diner pancakes. The sausage was a little gristly but nothing I haven't enjoyed eating before.  And of course, I bathed the whole thing in butter and syrup, as you are supposed to do with diner pancakes.  Yum.

Post-Script

Had I decided to continue the blog - and had gas prices fallen again - I might have liked to get around the Beltway again.  I'm not sure I would've had the time, though: the one thing I remembered while doing the research for this post was how much time it took the first time around. So revisiting these various joints around 695 is just something I will have to leave to others.  Every exit has something worth eating (and probably something that is best left alone).  Search it out, folks.  I may not be writing about it, but I will certainly be searching for it nonetheless.

Places I visited

Boulevard Diner (diner) - 1660 Merritt Blvd, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-8660

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Yes, why not?

Chaps Pit Beef (pit beef & BBQ) - 5801 Pulaski Hwy, Baltimore, MD 21205; Phone: (410) 483-2379

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Yes, and I'd have to

Peju's Restaurant and Lounge (Nigerian / West African / Caribbean) - 1724 Woodlawn Drive, Wodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 277-9779

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Sure, especially since it's the only Nigerian restaurant in the area.

Phò Dat Thành (Vietnamese) - 510 York Rd, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 296-9118

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Maybe

Prima Foods (market / Greek) - 51 Kane St  Baltimore, MD 21224; Phone: (410) 633-5500

• Would I shop there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to shop there again? Sure!

Teppanyaki Grill Supreme Buffet (buffet / Chinese / Japanese / American) - 3551 Washington Blvd, Lansdowne, MD 21227; Phone: (410) 242-5887

• Would I eat there again? Probably not
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Um, no

Towson Hot Bagels (bagels / breakfast) - 16 Allegheny Ave, Towson, MD, 21204, with locations in Timonium and Canton

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Hmmm...

Places to visit later (though I must leave others to write about them)

The Bullpen (pit beef & BBQ) - 1099 Merritt Blvd, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-3529

Hip Hop Fish & Chicken (fried chicken / fast food) - 6604 Ritchie Hwy, Glen Burnie, MD 21061, with various other locations in the area; Phone: (410) 766-1515

India Cuisine (Indian) - 321 York Rd, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 583-7770

The Orient Restaurant (Chinese / Japanese) - 319 York Road, Towson, MD 21204, with locations in Bel Air and Perry Hall; Phone: (410) 296-9000

Pizza Rustica (pizza / Italian) - 8805 Pulaski Highway, Rosedale, MD 21237; Phone: (410) 682-8640

Punjab Kabab & Sweets (Pakistani / Indian) - 5313 East Dr, Arbutus, MD 21227; Phone: (410) 737-7773

Seven Mile Supermarket (kosher / Jewish) - 201 Reisterstown Rd,  Pikesville, MD 21208; Phone: (410) 653-2000

7 West Bistro Grille (American / bar) - 7 W Chesapeake Ave, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 337-9378

Three Brothers of Lansdowne (pizza / Italian) - 3611 Washington Blvd, Lansdowne, MD 21227, with sixteen locations statewide; Phone: (410) 536-1080

Flashback - Baltimore Restaurant Week: Vīn (originally published 7/27/08)

A few years ago, Towson's Vīn Restaurant closed down for renovations.  It's a shame that it never re-opened, I think, at least from my one Baltimore Restaurant Week experience there - gasp - four years ago!  A glimpse of Restaurant Weeks that will never be again.

- - - - -

Baltimore Restaurant Week: Vīn (originally published 7/27/08)

Restaurant Week is upon us, and I started it off last night with a few friends as we went to Vīn. I had never been, and neither will you if you don't go this week - once Restaurant Week is done, they're shutting the place down for renovations for the next few months, as Towson begins work on that new traffic circle. So if you want a taste of what you'll be missing, and at $30.08 a pop (before tax, tip and drinks, of course), get to Vīn sometime this week.

My buddies Alan & Eric were quite impressed with the deal on wine: many of their bottles sell for half price this week. They ordered a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Charles Krug Winery, which normally costs about $60 but they got it for $30! Plus, they liked this wine. No, I am not usually a red wine person, but I had a little of it and I did like it.

Our wine. I only had a wee bit of it.

As with most Restaurant Week menus, the one at Vīn gave us a few choices for dinner (they don't offer a Restaurant Week lunch menu so you will need to get there in the evening):

• Appetizer: either the "Vīn Salad" of baby greens, endive, toasted walnuts, red grapes, apple vinaigrette, or the PEI Mussels in a lemongrass, ginger and coconut milk broth (my choice);
• Entrée: either Hangar Steak with grilled asparagus, "cheesy mash" and bleu butter; or the Tea-brined half chicken with roasted red bliss potatoes, baby zucchini and "natural jus" (my choice);
• Dessert: either a Whipped Chocolate Ganache with candied orange peel or; the Peach Cobbler with Butter Pecan Ice Cream (my choice)

After our complementary pita strips with garlic hummus, I got the Prince Edward Island mussels. It's like the mussels were sitting in a tom kha kai sauce. This was a tasty dish, with a good helping of mussels - about 20 or so. The mussels were tender and the broth, which is something I've never tasted with mussels, went beautifully with them. Those who ordered the salad liked it as well.

My chicken was big enough that I had to take half of it home. The flavor was difficult to place. I'd love to know what kind of tea this was braised in. It had an almost caramel-y, even chamomile-like flavor, though that may not at all be the tea they used for this chicken. Anyway, it was a delicious chicken. I'm so rarely sold on chicken because it's so easy to mess up. It's always cooked to be either dry or flavorless (usually both) wherever I eat it. So I just don't order it. Here it was cooked tender and juicy, with a fascinating flavor, echoed by the potatoes. The dark meat was even more tender than the white. Okay, that's like saying, "Wow, ice cream is cold!" but the difference doesn't usually jump out at me, because - again - most chicken I eat out is usually dry and/or flavorless, so the dark usually ends up stringy and greasy while the white just ends up crumbly and nasty. Not this chicken, that's for sure.

Everyone else got the hanger steak, a popular cut in other parts of the world but absolutely not so here. It's not the most tender part of the steer, and Americans usually prefer our steak to be as tender as possible. One of us couldn't finish his and since he's on a low cholesterol diet (he splurged, alright?), he just chunked half of his hanger steak onto my plate. Pretty tasty, though they all thought it needed just a little salt.

Vīn tried to make up for the larger size of our entrées by giving us microscopic desserts. Still, I'm not disappointed, because Americans eat way too large portions anyway, and who wants to follow up 20 mussels and half a chicken with a TGI Friday's-sized portion of peach cobbler? Okay, I know a few people who would, but I don't. So while the portion size was a little funny (funny ha-ha, not funny odd), it wasn't disappointing. The cobbler itself, though, could've used more of a crust. I know: not easy to fit any crus in that itty bitty teacup. There were some good slivers of peach in there, but only one little crumb of cobbler crust that I found. The miniblob of butter pecan ice cream on top was tasty.

My total cost was $36 after tip - wait, guys, I didn't give you money for tax! Oh well, I'll give it to them the next time I see them. The grand total for the four of us, before tip: $160, for four Restaurant Week prix fixe menus, one bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and six cups of coffee at $2 each (each of them had two, I had none). Again, a good deal for a usually much more expensive restaurant. But get over there this week if you want any of it any time soon: not only is Vīn closing for renovations next Sunday but Chef Chris Paternotte is leaving to pursue other ventures. So the menu is changing, too. Experience it before it's gone for the summer.

The restaurant isn't usually this pale - I just didn't use a flash.

That's some pretty strange-lookin' kiwi...

Maybe somebody should let the folks at Towson Super Fresh in on the big secret...


...that this isn't kiwi.

He's BAAAAAAAAAAACK...

The sabbatical is over! It's going to be strangely difficult to get the juices flowing again. So why not just start with a few random, food-related observations that I have had over the last two months:

1) One actually hits oneself in the head when one goes on sabbatical just before the Baltimore City Paper informs one of one's blog's "Best of Baltimore" status. But one still feels very groovy.

2) When you spend four years writing a food blog and then suddenly stop, you start feeling the need to just start writing about your recipes and restaurant visits, only to remember that you're not writing it right now.

3) Drinking more water before you drink soda (which is not something you ought to be drinking anyway) really does cut down your overall desire to drink the caffeinated stuff. I'm drinking less soda now, which is always good.

4) Dad spent a weekend a few months ago in St. Joseph's Medical Center. They don't have many patients (I guess they all went next door to GBMC). In fact, they don't have many of anyone - doctors, nurses, patients or visitors. It's like one of those abandoned hospitals in the Silent Hill game series, only without the monsters and gore on the walls.

4a) I mention St. Joseph's because they do something I've never seen a hospital do: room service for visitors! Yes, you too can order stuff off the menu to eat right alongside dear old Dad, Uncle Bob or Mee-Maw, anything at all for just $5. Even more surprising: it's actually not half-bad. For hospital food, it's quite good. For hospital food.

4b) You do not, however, want to eat the food at your local hospice care facility. Nasty as sin. They want these people to actually eat, right?

5) Graul's Market actually sells bags of pre-baked Maryland Beaten Biscuits! Maybe it's just my bag, but they taste a wee bit freezer-burnt. Must make my own.

6) Over the last few months, my sister tried to put my niece, who has autism, on a gluten-free diet. It didn't work very well, but one plus came out of it: my notoriously picky eater of a niece actually started eating new and different foods. Note that she did not finish all of them. I picked up some gluten-free cupcakes from the Sweet Sin Bakery. Their cupcakes are lovely. I like them a lot and plan to get more for myself. None for my niece, however. You should have seen the face she made when she bit into her gluten-free chocolate cupcake: anticipatory, then immediately plummeting into equal parts confused and none-too-pleased. I felt bad. Oh well. More for me.

7) Marie Louise Bistro has been getting better every time I visit. But remember: if you order their crème brûlée, just keep in mind that it isn't actual crème brûlée.

8) Look what I just made!


Plus, I made a lobster roll for the first time, from a lobster I steamed just a little while before. I was tempted to use my wasabi mayonnaise, but I wanted to do my first one "authentically", the way they do up in New England.

9) My gardening has gotten more adventurous, and next year I am planning to take up a second plot! Some of my successes this year: lettuce galore, lots of Roma tomatoes (grown from seed - so proud of that), chilies out the wazoo, potatoes, kale greens, herbs (basil, rue, sage, rosemary, cilantro that bolted, and more oregano and mint than I will ever be able to use). Failures: garlic, strawberries (a total of four edible berries, and right over an ant nest too), and cauliflower. Don't ask me about it.

10) My friend Eric has fallen in love with the New York Times recipe section. Loved a lamb in parchment recipe he made for a few of us recently. But I will still needle him for not reading ahead to where it said the lamb must stay in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. (Not going to discuss that one time that I did the same thing...)

11) The next time you go to see a friend in a play, make sure you reserve tickets ahead of time.

12) Recent food finds that have become an even more important part of my culinary landscape: the nut-free brownies at Graul's; home-strained, Greekified yogurt; the English Rose and Key Lime flavored cupcakes from Iced Gems Baking; just about anything at the Haute Dog Carte; and at least one beer from each brewery that came to the Wine Source for Baltimore Beer Week 2010.

That is it for now. Over the next week or so I am rolling out my return to the Beltway Snacking series. And stay tuned for a brand new long-term project.

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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China Fun

For the Chinese New Year (apparently it's also some sort of special day for valentines and whatnot), I made a stop at the unassuming China Fun, a small Chinese restaurant outside of Towson promising Hunan, Szechuan and Cantonese food. Some of their offerings fall in the dim sum category, though most are tried and true Chinese restaurant comfort foods (I did notice crispy shredded beef, which is more common in England than it is here). As I often do when I try out a Chinese-American restaurant for the first time, I went ahead and ordered that most "Chinese" (note the quotation marks) of dishes, orange chicken. Although it wasn't a weekday, they still let me order from the lunch combo menu, which also got me my choice of white, fried or pork fried rice for only $5.25. For an extra $1.25 I ordered a shrimp egg roll. After tax, the total was $7.

The wait for the orange chicken wasn't terribly long - just your average 10 minutes. I sat at one of two very spartan tables, waiting for my take out order in a room whose only non-utilitarian decoration was a massive painting of a group of people punting down a large tree- and rocky ledge-lined river. If this is a painting of China, it's a part we regrettably don't see much of in this country.

On the way home, I noticed the strong garlic scent - unusual for orange chicken. But I like garlic so this posed no problem. When I got home I tore into the meal. The chicken had to sit an extra half-hour after I talked to some neighbors about the crazy snow (one is from New England, the other from maritime Canada, and the amount of snow we got was even new to them). But the rice was soft and filling as I had expected, and the broccoli bright green and not too soft nor too crisp.


The chicken, though by no means crunchy anymore, was far from the gummy and overly chewy orange chicken you might find at a restaurant that truly doesn't know what it's doing. The chicken itself was unremarkable, but the goodies surrounding it were what demand attention. The outer coating was satisfyingly hard, and the sauce around the chicken was a wonderful mixture of sweet, tangy and garlicky. Though this is one of China Fun's spicier dishes, I did not find it spicy in the least bit, as I rarely do with orange chicken.

The shrimp egg roll was a nice combination of shrimp and cabbage flavors, with a crispy outer layer that didn't seem too greasy. I was hoping to save a little of the egg roll for the leftover orange chicken, but finished eating the egg roll before I could stop myself.

Soylent beef is people, it's people!!!

This from a Chinese restaurant in downtown Towson, not far from the Farmers' Market:


I consider myself an adventurous eater and all, but still... It was just funny, that's all. And of course, my Chinese will never be as good as this restauranteur's English!

And we all have typos once in a whale ;)

Towsontown Center for the recession, er, holidays

Yesterday was my first chance to head to the mall - any mall, in this case Towsontown Center - for the holiday season. I was curious to see two things: 1) was it really crowded; and 2) were there really massive markdowns? My answer to both would be no. Which means both of two things: people are really waiting for those massive markdowns, and/or they just aren't shopping this season. It probably also means that Towson merchants have either not faced reality yet, or they have, and I'm one of the many people who isn't impressed by the markdowns they have. Pier One, for example, had most things marked down a mere 20%, though there are things in the 40 - 50% range.

I myself went to look, but I did buy one and only one thing: sugar-free peanut brittle ($9, a Christmas present for one family member - okay, this cookie thing isn't working out the way I'd imagined it). The lady at the See's Candies stand mentioned that the few boxes of it that they had left were it. Their supplier wasn't sending out anymore. Another cold reality about the economy today. Maybe when it finally (hopefully) gets better, See's might actually switch its Towson "location" from a seasonal Thanksgiving-to-Christmas kiosk to a full-time store, like they have all over the place in SoCal.

Actually, I did buy one additional thing at the mall, but it was for me, and it was also candy-related. I stopped by the Godiva Chocolatier for just a handful of truffles. I got three, for a total of $6. I liked two of them - their vanilla truffle in dark chocolate was my favorite, while another one enrobed in white chocolate with two different fillings was tasty enough. Their banana truffle, however, was odd-tasting, and I wouldn't recommend it.

I did get around to that brand new section of the mall also - the big, new Cheesecake Factory - Crate & Barrel - PF Chang's annex that also features a Pottery Barn (isn't this Baltimore's first?). I took a trip through Crate & Barrel, bit into a tasty free sample caramel covered in sea salt. That's all I wound up getting. Crate & Barrel is a bit expensive for, well, just about everything. Don't believe me? How about a "mini-sea-salt-grinder" the size of a Magic Marker for "just" $10? And although I didn't buy it, I thought the herb & spice jars with labels that look like they were swiped from the Periodical Table of the Elements ($13) was kind of snazzy.

Mind you, the mall may not have been overly packed, but it definitely wasn't vacant. I parked near Trader Joe's. That was more on purpose than out of necessity - my trip was bookended by TJ's. When I first parked, I went to Trader Joe's first, looking for things for last-minute odds and ends for a dinner I was throwing for friends last night (more on that in the next day or two). One thing I troll for at TJ's, Wegman's and especially Whole Foods are the free samples. At Trader Joe's they had a delicious brie fondue ($8), which was a bit difficult to spoon into individual sample cups. I bought nothing that first time, but stopped by before leaving to get some vanilla extract ($5).

Other photos

Aaaaannnnddd... What is this supposed to be exactly? Other than an "&"?

I'll kick your ass from here to Milan, so don't mess with me, bitch!

Beltway Snacking Redux I: Places I Missed

I haven't spent much time reflecting on my massive schlep around I-695. Okay, I have. I just haven't written much about it since I finished it up last month. But I never really gave it the closure it merits. So over the next few weeks, time and internet access permitting, I'll be writing up a few postscripts and appendices to my Snackin' around the Beltway blog post series.

In this first one, I give props to a few places that I missed on the first go round. If it seems a little heavy on the west side restaurants, it's not an accident. I noticed somewhere around Essex that by the time I had gotten some practice in this Beltway Snacking thing, I had come to be quite thorough in documenting those places I stopped at, and those places I just passed by. I didn't get that thorough at least until the mid-20's off the Beltway. So yes, you will see more stuff in and around Glen Burnie and Catonsville than you will around Towson, Essex and Dundalk. Perhaps those places most familiar to me are the ones I bothered to explore the least!

The following are in alphabetical order.

1. Cajun Blu Restaurant (Exit 7B) - I pretty much gave up on finding anything off of the BW Parkway. Had I headed into the city and stopped in Cherry Hill, I might've come across the Cajun Blu Restaurant (map). I've found no reviews for this Cajun/creole place. But hey, there was something you could only access from 295 after all!

2. How'd I miss all those places in Glen Burnie? (Exit 3B) - There were exits that I analyzed the heck out of, and exits of which I barely scratched the surface. My excursion into Glen Burnie wasn't the most thorough one. While I slurped on pho at Pho Miss Saigon I passed by more than a few places, particularly Maria D's Sub Shop right next door (map), and the Thai-Gour Café (map) right across from it (Perchi's? I've mentioned it before. Good chicken). When you're driving around Crain Highway, make sure you stop in Martitha's Mexican & Salvadoran Restaurant (map) which is almost invisible online, the Seaside Restaurant & Crabhouse (map) and the Greenhouse Grill (map). Yes, I missed a few other places. I can't mention everything, sadly.

3. Ice Cream Cottage (Exits 10 & 12A) - I've been here before. I think my sister and mother took my niece and younger sister here for an ice cream after buying their Christmas tree last year. It's easy to miss this little Ice Cream Cottage (map) across from Arbutus' fire house and next to the Arbutus Town Hall / Tackle Shop (just kidding - the closest tackle shop is in Lansdowne). Also nearby, Mike's Pizza (map) at the corner of East & Linden. I have been passing by it for years and years, since I was a child, and I still have never ventured in. Now's as good a time as any to change that.

4. Italian delis on the northeast side of town (Exits 31A & 32B) - There sure are molti, molti Italian delis near the northeastern part of the Beltway. Pastore's has not gone unmentioned. But commenters have had to bring others to my attention (the Italian 37 1/2 % of my ancestors are spinning in their graves - Mi dispiace!). And yet I still have to make it out to Mastellone's Italian Deli (map) in Parkville, not too far up Harford Road (soooo close - hat tip to Baltimore Diary). A few miles away is the northeastern branch of Route 1, which takes you into Harford County. Next time I'm around there I need to make a pit stop around Canella's (map) in Perry Hall, whose Italian Hoagie is highly recommended by commenter Chodite.

5. JAD's Caddyshack (Exit 36) - Had Exit 37 ever been completed, perhaps it would've emptied out near here. A few places in and around the Back River Neck/Middleborough part of Essex are worth mentioning, though the one I had the chance to visit is JAD's (map). I had a very good Reuben here for their lunch rush once. They also carry everything from steamed crabs and shrimp to their 10 ounce "Colossal Crab Cake". I've been told that the nearby Pizza John's (map) - not in any way affiliated with Papa John's Pizza - is a favorite with the locals.

6. Kitchen of India Restaurant (Exits 30A & B) - I thought I knew where all the Indian restaurants were. Of course, I thought wrong. Kitchen of India (map) has gotten good visitor reviews, which is enough incentive to visit for me! It's right on Joppa Road in Parkville, near all the big Perring Parkway plazas, so it's easy to miss amid the car dealerships and big box stores.

7. Moxley's (Exits 25, 26 and 27A) - I don't know why I haven't stopped in for ice cream at Moxley's (map) before. Most online users like the place. Moxley's has been around for years, though I rarely buy ice cream out. Maybe this is an excuse to buy some this time. They also sell ice cream cakes.

8. Oh the stuff I missed on Frederick Road! (Exit 13) - It amazes me just how many places slipped me by when I was busy stuffing my face in Catonsville with that delicious cake from Sugarbaker's and that awesome Reuben from Taneytown Deli. Just a floor up from Sam's Bagels is Little Phoenix (map), where I realized one evening that Chinese takeout is MUCH cheaper for lunch than for dinner. Little Phoenix is okay, but I'll have to go back for lunch to see how their lunch is. Further up Frederick Road, among others I hate to leave out, are the Jennings Café (map), Ships Café & Pub (map) and Matthew's 1600 (map). This last place has a popular brunch and regular holiday-themed happy hours (there's a Halloween one coming up soon). Continue west along towards Historic Ellicott City and you reach the Candlelight Inn (map) at the intersection of Rolling and Frederick Roads. A few people were surprised that I had not visited before. It's a lovely yet pricey place, good for your anniversary I would imagine. One place I could not help but miss didn't even exist when I reviewed Exit 13 - the newly opened El Nayar Mexican Restaurant (map) is in the spot where the old Pinocchio's used to be.

9. Peju's Kitchen Restaurant and Lounge (Exit 17) - Peju's (map) is a Nigerian restaurant in Woodlawn that I didn't even know about until someone at the Great Tastes Show in February recommended it to me. I still haven't stopped in yet, but since it's one of a very few West African restaurants in the area, it merits a visit soon.

10. pit beef truck, near Washington Boulevard and Lansdowne Road (Exits 9, 10) - When one thinks of Baltimore's cuisine, several things come immediately to mind. Sadly, pit beef is not one of those things, which is a shame since it's pretty good. But think about it: the pit beef stands and restaurants are everywhere, man! Sure, they're not as ubiquitous as the crabhouses, but I rarely drive a mile in or around this city without stumbling across a hot, steaming pile of pit beef. As native son Steve Raichlen puts it, it really is Baltimore's version of BBQ. One of the first that I had ever encountered is right in Lansdowne, now across from the mega Walmart that just opened up. If I remember correctly, this pit beef stand was reviewed in the City Paper a few years ago. It used to be on Route 1. Now it's up a few car lengths on Robert A Young Way, easily visible from Washington Blvd (map).

11. Scittino's Italian Market (Exit 14) - Not all the Italian delis are in the northeast. Had I driven past the godawful Hunan Joy far enough, I might have found Scittino's (map). It's not like I've never been here, but it's been a while. On the order of years. As I remember it, Scittino's was a small but pretty well stocked Italian deli. I think this merits a revisit. Also nearby is the Caton Tavern (map).

12. Sea King (Exit 15A) - You know, it would be an exercise in futility to list every crab and seafood joint in the Baltimore area. The Sea King Seafood Market (map) is Catonsville's resident crab shack, almost directly across from St. Agnes Church.

13. United Crab and Seafood (Exit 18B) - I pretty much wrote off everything along Liberty Road between the Beltway and Northern Parkway. All I found was a New York Chicken. No excuse here for passing the United Crab & Seafood (map) by! An African market is somewhere across the street.

This is just a smattering of what I missed when I was coasting around the Beltway. Have I missed anything? Please post it in the comments below. But make sure I really have missed it by checking the Beltway Snacking exit posts on the right (or left if I've changed the format of this blog at some point in the future). I eagerly await y'all's input!

Places I failed to write about, whether I have since visited them or not -

Cajun Blu Restaurant (Cajun / creole) - 1810 Cherry Hill Road, Baltimore, MD 21230; Phone: (410) 347-2266

Candlelight Inn (American) - 1835 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 788-6076‎

Canella's Italian deli (Italian / deli) - 9944 Harford Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 661-3089

Caton Tavern & Restaurant (American) - 1705 Edmondson Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 747-6437

El Nayar Mexican Restaurant (Mexican, with another location in Elkridge) - 801 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 788-8198

Greenhouse Grill (American) - 6914 Ritchie Hwy Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Phone: (410) 787-9880

Ice Cream Cottage (ice cream) - 1348 Stevens Avenue, Arbutus, MD 21227; Phone: (410) 247-3620

JAD's Caddyshack (crabs / seafood / American) - 137 Back River Neck Road, Essex, MD 21221; Phone: (410) 686-2816

Jennings Café (American) - 808 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 744-3824

Kitchen of India (Indian) - 1842 East Joppa Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 663 6880

Lansdowne pit beef stand (pit beef) - near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Robert A Young Way, Lansdowne, MD 21227

Little Phoenix (Chinese) - 730 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 788-8687

Maria D's Sub Shop (Italian / pizza & subs) - 111 Crain Highway North # 2, Glen Burnie, MD 21061; Phone: (410) 766-9850‎

Martitha's Mexican & Salvadoran Restaurant (Mexican / Salvadoran - also in Annapolis) - 602 Crain Highway North, Glen Burnie, MD 20161

Mastellone's Deli & Wine Shop (Italian / deli / wine) - 7212 Harford Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 444-5433

Matthews 1600 (pub / American) - 1600 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 788-2500

Mike's Pizza of Arbutus (pizza) - 1306 Linden Avenue, Arbutus, MD 21227; Phone: (410) 242-2515

Moxley's (ice cream) - 25 Allegheny Avenue, Towson, MD 21204; Phone: (410) 825-2544

Peju's Kitchen Restaurant & Lounge (Nigerian / West African / Caribbean) - 1724 Woodlawn Drive, Woodlawn, MD 21244; Phone: (410) 277-9779

Pizza John's‎ (pizza / Italian) - 113 Back River Neck Road, Essex, MD 21221; Phone: (410) 687-7733‎

Scittino's Italian Market (Italian / deli) - 1701 Edmondson Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 788-2369

Sea King Crab House (crabs, with another location in Ellicott City) - 5230 Baltimore National Pike, Catonsville, MD 21229; Phone: (410) 747-5858

Seaside Restaurant & Crabhouse (American / crabs / seafood) - 224 North Crain Highway, Glen Burnie, MD USA 21061; Phone: (410) 760-2200

Ships Cafe & Pub Incorporated (pub / American) - 828 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228; Phone: (410) 744-1838

Thai-Gour Cafe (Thai) - 7477 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Glen Burnie, MD 21061; Phone: (410) 761-8399‎

United Crab and Seafood (crabs / seafood) - 6010 Liberty Road, Gwynn Oak, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 298-1100

Teavana

Teavana is finally open in Towsontown Center. I was wandering around yesterday clothes shopping and saw the little store next to the massive third floor food court and thought it was about time to go in and experience "tea-vana".

Teavana is based in Atlanta and numbers almost 80 locations around the country and seven locations in Mexico. As the fella behind the counter noted, it sells anything you need to make tea. If you have a match, you can even heat it on one of the more expensive tea sets (we're talkin' hundreds of dollars here, complete with teapot, cups and saucers, tray and burner). Most of their tea sets tend to be in the three figure range than not, but most of them are pretty fancy. We're not talking the cheap stuff you'd find at K-Mart.

The place smells lovely, like tea (duh). And you can get some free samples of a few select teas. Their wall of tea canisters behind the counter ranges from white to green, black, oolong and herbal, and so many more. And of course there are their blends, all loose leaf. The cheapest teas are in the neighborhood of $3 per 2 oz, with many priced far higher ($10 or $15 per 2 oz). You can buy buy the 2 oz bag, or by the 1/4-pound or more. They will open each canister for you and flash their tea know-how while waving the canister lid around to get the smell of the tea wafting out to you faster.


After having a few lids waved near my face, I decided to go with one tea that was part of a featured blend, the MatéVana a choclately/coffeeish blend with milk, nuts and herbs in it. This is one of their cheaper teas, at $5.80. For another $5 I bought some self-fill tea bags. The tea tastes, to me, somewhat chocolatey, again due to the chocolate in it. I didn't put any sugar in - yet - since I wanted to taste it straight up. If you want, they have that, too. It looked as if they sold little lumps of crystallized sugar ready to plunk into your tea. I fear that it is also pretty not-cheap.

Baltimore Restaurant Week: Vīn

Restaurant Week is upon us, and I started it off last night with a few friends as we went to Vīn. I had never been, and neither will you if you don't go this week - once Restaurant Week is done, they're shutting the place down for renovations for the next few months, as Towson begins work on that new traffic circle. So if you want a taste of what you'll be missing, and at $30.08 a pop (before tax, tip and drinks, of course), get to Vīn sometime this week.

My buddies Alan & Eric were quite impressed with the deal on wine: many of their bottles sell for half price this week. They ordered a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Charles Krug Winery, which normally costs about $60 but they got it for $30! Plus, they liked this wine. No, I am not usually a red wine person, but I had a little of it and I did like it.

Our wine. I only had a wee bit of it.

As with most Restaurant Week menus, the one at Vīn gave us a few choices for dinner (they don't offer a Restaurant Week lunch menu so you will need to get there in the evening):

• Appetizer: either the "Vīn Salad" of baby greens, endive, toasted walnuts, red grapes, apple vinaigrette, or the PEI Mussels in a lemongrass, ginger and coconut milk broth (my choice);
• Entrée: either Hangar Steak with grilled asparagus, "cheesy mash" and bleu butter; or the Tea-brined half chicken with roasted red bliss potatoes, baby zucchini and "natural jus" (my choice);
• Dessert: either a Whipped Chocolate Ganache with candied orange peel or; the Peach Cobbler with Butter Pecan Ice Cream (my choice)
  

After our complementary pita strips with garlic hummus, I got the Prince Edward Island mussels. It's like the mussels were sitting in a tom kha kai sauce. This was a tasty dish, with a good helping of mussels - about 20 or so. The mussels were tender and the broth, which is something I've never tasted with mussels, went beautifully with them. Those who ordered the salad liked it as well.

My chicken was big enough that I had to take half of it home. The flavor was difficult to place. I'd love to know what kind of tea this was braised in. It had an almost caramel-y, even chamomile-like flavor, though that may not at all be the tea they used for this chicken. Anyway, it was a delicious chicken. I'm so rarely sold on chicken because it's so easy to mess up. It's always cooked to be either dry or flavorless (usually both) wherever I eat it. So I just don't order it. Here it was cooked tender and juicy, with a fascinating flavor, echoed by the potatoes. The dark meat was even more tender than the white. Okay, that's like saying, "Wow, ice cream is cold!" but the difference doesn't usually jump out at me, because - again - most chicken I eat out is usually dry and/or flavorless, so the dark usually ends up stringy and greasy while the white just ends up crumbly and nasty. Not this chicken, that's for sure.

Everyone else got the hanger steak, a popular cut in other parts of the world but absolutely not so here. It's not the most tender part of the steer, and Americans usually prefer our steak to be as tender as possible. One of us couldn't finish his and since he's on a low cholesterol diet (he splurged, alright?), he just chunked half of his hanger steak onto my plate. Pretty tasty, though they all thought it needed just a little salt.

Vīn tried to make up for the larger size of our entrées by giving us microscopic desserts. Still, I'm not disappointed, because Americans eat way too large portions anyway, and who wants to follow up 20 mussels and half a chicken with a TGI Friday's-sized portion of peach cobbler? Okay, I know a few people who would, but I don't. So while the portion size was a little funny (funny ha-ha, not funny odd), it wasn't disappointing. The cobbler itself, though, could've used more of a crust. I know: not easy to fit any crus in that itty bitty teacup. There were some good slivers of peach in there, but only one little crumb of cobbler crust that I found. The miniblob of butter pecan ice cream on top was tasty.

My total cost was $36 after tip - wait, guys, I didn't give you money for tax! Oh well, I'll give it to them the next time I see them. The grand total for the four of us, before tip: $160, for four Restaurant Week prix fixe menus, one bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and six cups of coffee at $2 each (each of them had two, I had none). Again, a good deal for a usually much more expensive restaurant. But get over there this week if you want any of it any time soon: not only is Vīn closing for renovations next Sunday but Chef Chris Paternotte is leaving to pursue other ventures. So the menu is changing, too. Experience it before it's gone for the summer.

The restaurant isn't usually this pale - I just didn't use a flash.