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

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

Sushi Hana, Thai Arroy, Indiclub Triple Play

I haven't eaten out much this past week, which is saving me tons o' money (yay)! Some thoughts on the few places I have eaten at over the past week.

Sushi Hana

I didn't think I could eat anymore after the Great Tastes Show, but Cathy and I thought we could squeeze in a little sushi at the Sushi Hana last weekend - she wanted to do her taxes after the show, and I had TurboTax on my computer. We were hungry afterwards and Sushi Hana was close.

We got more than we thought we would, especially since Cathy was convinced to order a second roll (against my urging - you can't really bag this stuff, can you?). It was Sushi Hana's "I Like It Roll" - sliced and wrapped in seaweed, with fake crab and avocado, tempura-fried, and topped with crab. It was tasty but I had to take mine home. At least it was cooked. The other one, whose name I forget, was pretty good too, covered in raw tuna and black fish eggs.

This is that last roll.

Of course, the tempura ice cream was a requirement. It's perhaps my favorite dessert, period. The fizzy marble water I got with it was interesting. You have to go through all this trouble to push a marble into a bottle of soda and then it gets fizzy. Don't ask.

Grand total for everything: damn, I don't remember. Each roll was about $10 and the sashimi appetizer was about $7.

Thai Arroy

Cool Thai art greets you at the door.

My friends Eric and Alan are surprised I have kept with this blog, which I told them about a while ago Most bloggers give up the enterprise in less than a year; the fact that I've stuck with it as long as I have bodes well for the BS.

Hey, my acronym is BS! That only just hit me :|

So Thai Arroy: Very crowded place in Federal Hill. But Eric sent the rest of us to reserve a table while he found a place from which he wouldn't get towed. Looks as if Thai Arroy is frequently among Baltimore's Best, and it shows in the food. Some of what I enjoyed:

• Some spring rolls with a really good peanut sauce - actually the peanut sauce was the part I was impressed with. The roll was standard. Tasty, but like many I have had at Thai and Vietnamese spots before.
• My tom kha kai soup. It's difficult to do tom kha soup wrong. I say this because I have rarely had a bad one. This one also pleased. Consistent and delicious.
• My main course, the pa nang kai (pa nang chicken), more coconutty goodness, with chicken, carrot and green beans. I don't like green beans because they usually taste too fresh. I know this sounds strange, but it's almost as if they are undercooked, and I just don't enjoy them. Not these - these were good. I had plenty left over for dinner in the week.
  

Indiclub

Could someone tell me why the hell parents would allow four children to go running, screaming, fighting with butter knives, stopping at other diners' tables and almost running underneath the waiter's legs to go unchecked while they just chit chat and wait for their food. My God, they even thought it was cute!

Apparently there was little that Indiclub could do (would do?) to stop them. It was a table of twelve adults who obviously didn't notice this bullshit. And I can ignore most stuff that happens out when I'm eating - crying babies, arguing diners, even someone getting sick. But twenty minutes of this squealing, yelling, playground behavior and my sister saw me transform into Mr. Restaurant Rage. Fortunately, I kept it to the table, but I had to say something to the waiter, who apologized and said he had asked them to stop. And it didn't really stop until the waiter talked to them after I mentioned something to him. We thought we were in the Twilight Zone for a while, since we seemed to be the only people who were bothered about this. Until a gentleman behind us mentioned with to a fellow diner, not long before he left, "It is too much noisy in here." HA! Thank you!

But DAMN! Parents, either force your children to stay at the table, find a babysitter or take them to Cheeburger Cheeburger where they're allowed to act like maniacs.

Ahem.

Aside from that, the food, which I've talked about before, was pretty good. My favorite part of the meal was the crab masala (about $7), which was new, creative and very tasty. That appetizer went too fast. My achaar gosht ($13), or lamb in pickling spices (I love Indian pickle - pungent), was not quite the same I used to get at Indian Delite in Catonsville, which has since stopped serving it. It was part bitter, part salty, and quite hot. I probably wouldn't order it again, but I will definitely finish what I did get. The kulfi ice cream was so dense and delicious, very cardamom-my. Very satisfying, despite the kinderexplosion at the other end of the restaurant.

IndiClub (Indian / South Indian / Pakistani) - 1660 Whitehead Ct., Woodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 594-9600

Sushi Hana (Japanese) - 6080 Falls Rd., Lake Falls Village, Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 377-4228



Thai Arroy (Thai) - 1019 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21230; Phone: (41) 385-8587

Exit 17: MD-122 (Security Blvd, to Woodlawn)

Exit 17 branches off into two distinct directions - towards Security Square Mall, and into Woodlawn. Since I knew of good places in either direction, I broke this up into two trips.

I don't really know Woodlawn side of Exit 17 as well as the Security Square Mall side. I do know that there is the big City View Bar & Grill (map), which seems to offer just about every generic item of American (and specifically Maryland) food there is. But I've never gone in. I almost did, however, until I caught a gander of a brand new Indo-Pakistani buffet across the street. Since I'm a sucker for South Asian food, I headed right, to the IndiClub.

A combination banquet hall and restaurant, IndiClub (map) - which looked emptier than it was, probably due to the size - serves foods from all over South Asia, with specific Southern Indian foods I had never before tried (and I've eaten a lot of Indian). Best was the uttapam, a savory pancake with leeks and other vegetables inside. A bit more sour was the idli (rice cake), though the texture was unusual and interesting. I didn't like that too much, but it wasn't awful, and everything else was quite good. I liked their sambar (a type of curry) quite a lot.

Other items in the buffet were a bit more familiar to me - two types of naan bread, chicken tandoori, various curries and vegetarian dishes, chutneys, basmati rice and the standard desserts (including a very satisfying gulab jamun). All of this came to a mere $8.95 (is that the set price for Indian buffets in Maryland? It seems like it). And, as I did, you can get the buffet as take-out, only in this case (as with most carry-out buffets) it is all-you-can-fit-into-one-styrofoam-container, instead of all-you-can-eat.

A few days - okay, a whole week - later (I've been busy, alright? Don't judge me!!!) I headed in the opposite direction. I could've headed towards Security Square Mall (map) again, but mall food is not typically on my radar (it's just not very good), though there is a restaurant or two I should probably explore, including Shaheen (another Indo-Pakistani place; mall map), and maybe the Cactus Willie's (mall map; I've talked to people that like the place, but I have never bothered to try it out). And of course, there is the Seoul Plaza (mall map), the City Paper's Best Ethnic Shopping Enclave of 2006, which has tons of goods for the Korean-American crowd. Nearby are some strip malls with other places to eat, one with a Panera Bread and a deli, still another up Rolling Road with a halal market and deli, next to the Salvation Army.

I, however, headed up Dogwood Road for some restaurants I had seen before and wanted to try out. Two on my list (map for both): Buon Giorno (traditional Italian food) and Lake Trout (traditional, well, lake trout, with various Southern and soul food accoutrements, even though lake trout itself is typically found farther north). I opted for the latter, and headed in for some lake trout.

A report some years ago in the City Paper mentions what good lake trout should be like: fried on the spot, with two pieces of white bread, as few bones as possible, etc. and so forth. At this Lake Trout, which is apparently the third location in what is now a local chain, they did indeed fry it up on the spot. For the price, I got a good bit of food - $6 or so bought me two pieces of trout (they also offer whiting), with two sides (I went for the greens and cornbread), plus a 24-oz Diet Pepsi for which I paid extra. I got it back to work and started in on it.

In retrospect, looking at the criteria for great lake trout, this didn't really fit the bill. Every other bite - I am not exaggerating, every other bite - had lots of little bones and often some bigger bones. Maybe my idea of "as few bones as possible" is different from most lake trout aficionados, but by most standards, it had a lot of bones. For the amount of work I spent picking bones out of my fish (and spitting them out of my mouth), I had relatively little fish. There was no way I could expect to eat this on the bread they gave me. Well, that is what the cornbread was for anyway, but it was small, dense and sweet, kind of like a cornbread brownie (a cornie?) than anything else. The one real bright spot was the greens, which were butterier than I normally expect greens to be, but quite tasty anyway.

I don't know. Maybe next time I'll just head back on over to the IndiClub.

Places I visited:

IndiClub (Indian / South Indian / Pakistani) - 1660 Whitehead Ct., Woodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 594-9600

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

Lake Trout (lake trout / seafood) - 6860 Dogwood Rd, Woodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 265-0122

• Would I eat there again? Maybe to try the whiting
  
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Um, no

Places to look up later:

Buon Giorno (Italian) - 6860 Dogwood Rd, Woodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 298-7781

Cactus Willie's Buffet and Bakery (American) - located in Security Square Mall, 6901 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244; Phone: (410) 265-1205

City View Bar and Grill (American / Maryland) -6700 Security Boulevard, Woodlawn, MD 21207; Phone: (410) 944-4013

Seoul Plaza (Korean market) - located in Security Square Mall, 6901 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244

Shaheen (Indian / Pakistani) - located in Security Square Mall, 6901 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244; Phone: (410) 265-6666

* Exit 17 sign adapted from http://www.aaroads.com/mid-atlantic/i-695e_md.html.