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

Snacking State-by-State: New Jersey III: Triple Bypass and make it snappy! (or "Now we're on a [pork] roll")

Once you cross the Mason-Dixon Line, you enter a world of meats that you don't really see too often in Baltimore.  There's scrapple (ick), which is not uncommon in Baltimore but still more of a Pennsylvania thing.  And there's the pork roll (the South Jersey name for what is known in North Jersey as "Taylor ham").  Pork roll is a New Jersey original, which I had seen on occasion at the Eddie's of Roland Park.  But apart from that, I had absolutely no clue what it was.  It was time to find out.

Official Name: State of New Jersey

State Nicknames: The Garden State

Admission to the US: December 18, 1787 (#3)

Capital: Trenton (10th largest)

Other Important Cities: Newark (largest), Jersey City (2nd largest), Paterson (3rd largest)
Region: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic; Middle Atlantic (US Census)

RAFT Nations: Clambake

Bordered by: Delaware and Delaware Bay (southwest); Pennsylvania (west); New York (north and northeast); Atlantic Ocean (east)

Official State Foods and Edible Things: honeybee (for the honey, not the bee); brook trout (fish); knobbed whelk (shell)

Some Famous and Typical Foods: Italian, Italian, and more Italian; diner foods; pork roll (aka Taylor ham); "ripper" dogs and various preparations thereof; very diverse cuisines (including Italian, Indian, South American, etc) around Philadelphia (southwest) and New York City (northeast); Did I mention Italian?

What exactly is this "pork roll" thing?  Well first of all, as Jane & Michael Stern point out in their 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late (I love this book), not all Jerseyites call it "pork roll":  In fact, they refer to it by the North Jersey name of "Taylor ham"

Taylor ham, which is what Spam would be if it went to the gym on a regular basis, is a big, coarse-textured sausage that arrives in burlap and is sliced thin like bologna - but not too thin - and pan-fried like bacon... [It] is a wanton comfort food that no high-on-the-hog pork can match. [Stern & Stern 2009:111]

Surprise of surprises, there is actually a pork roll page.  And they point out that the "pork roll"/"Taylor ham" divide is pretty much through the middle of the state, with folks closer to Philly calling it "pork roll" and those nearer to New York City calling it "Taylor ham".  The Jersey Pork Roll page suggests that maybe Middletown (actually in North Jersey but you can draw a line northeast-southwest to Trenton from there) is the dividing line?  From their page:

A few weeks ago [Me: around 2005, week unknown] I heard from two different people originally from Brooklyn, NY, and they both called it Taylor Ham, but a woman in Queens knew it as pork roll. [JerseyPorkRoll.com 2005]

If anyone has any thoughts about where the pork roll/Taylor ham mini-Mason-Dixon Line lies, the author Kate gives her email on the same page if you want to let her know.


The Jersey Pork Roll page also has many recipes for this first cousin to Spam and bologna.  But I was inspired by the Sterns and the Roadfoodsters, as I have been with so many sandwiches (note: Illinois' Horseshoe sandwich, Indiana's breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, Iowa's loosemeats, Missouri's St. Paul sandwich, etc, etc. Hey, why are all these sandwiches from the Midwest anyway?)  They talk about a diner favorite, the combo of pork roll, egg cooked however you want it, and yellow cheese in a hard roll.  This sandwich is known as the "Triple Bypass" in diner speak [Stern & Stern 2009:111].  And why not give a nod to the diner, seeing as how New Jersey is the diner capital of America, if not the world?

The Recipe: Pork Roll (Taylor Ham) "Triple Bypass"

For this sandwich - which you must eat in moderation, since three slices of pork roll amount to about 200 calories - you will need just a few ingredients:

* pork roll/Taylor ham (one sandwich typically has three slices of pork roll, pan fried.  It is becoming more common to see it here in Maryland, though I've never really seen it except in the Eddie's of Roland Park or Graul's (where one enthusiastic cashier told me how he grew up on the stuff in Jersey and just loves it.  Apparently they sell it in large loaves that you can slice yourself.  I've only ever seen it in the pre-sliced format through the Taylor pork roll company, for about $4.  Also note: Jerseyites point out that "Taylor pork roll" is just a brand name, while "Taylor ham" is the North Jersey name for pork roll).
* eggs (a sandwich may have two eggs, cooked to specification.  I default to "scrambled" in this situation)
* yellow cheese (two slices, or more if angioplasty sounds like a good thing for the future)
* butter (this isn't health food here, people.  Just give up and fry the damn thing in butter.  I used a tablespoon)
* hard roll (one per sandwich)

Take out three slices of pork roll...

...and score them.  This is what cooks in New Jersey typically do to their pork roll slices to keep them from curling at the edges.  My mother, who hasn't heard of pork roll before, used to fry up bologna when I was much younger and wrap it around a hot dog.  However she never scored it, so it did indeed curl up around the edges.

Melt your butter in a pan.

Scramble those eggs (or cook them some other way that is conducive to being placed on a sandwich)

When the eggs are done, put the pork roll in the pan (really, I don't think it matters if you do the eggs or the pork roll first).

See the scoring?  I see why they do that now.

Fry until it is done to your liking.  This looks good for me.

Melt the cheese, preferably not in the pan like I did.  If for some odd reason you do this leave it in the pan literally for three or four seconds before removing.  Or just melt it on the roll in a toaster or microwave.

And now for the assembly: slice your hard roll and put the cheese on one side.

Place the pork roll slices on top.

And then add the eggs.  This is my guesswork here.  Perhaps it's layered in a different way.  I don't know.  It's all going to look the same going in.

I felt a little guilty eating this.  It was so buttery and fattening, and the pork roll does taste like a cross between Spam, bologna and Canadian bacon, and about half as soft as Spam.  I'm probably not going to buy lots of this stuff in the future, but at least I know what the pork roll tastes like!

UPDATE - As Minx pointed out, she has never had any trouble finding pork roll locally.  So I tried to find it at my local Giant.  BAM! There it was, AND not just the pre-sliced Taylor brand but also the unsliced blob.  I guess I just never knew to look for it, so I didn't know it was there.  Silly me!

Sources:

Accidental Scientist (Exploratorium).  "Saltwater Taffy Recipe".  Date unknown.  © The Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu, 2011


Cristaldi, Justin R.  "Little Italy Across the Hudson".  PRIMO Magazine, September/October 2001.  Copyright Cristaldi Communications 1999-2001.


Giudice, Teresa, with Heather MacLean.  Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It - Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too!  Hyperion: New York, 2010


Jersey Pork Roll (JerseyPorkRoll.com).  "What is pork roll?"  Published 2005.  Copyright JerseyPorkRoll 2011.


Schwartz, Arthur.  Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania.  HarperCollins: New York, 1999.


Stern, Jane, and Michael Stern. 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Boston, 2009.


Virtual New Jersey Shore (VirtualNJShore.com).  "Salt Water Taffy at the Jersey Shore". Published 1999.  Copyright New Jersey MetroNET, Inc., 1999.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "New Jersey" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "New Jersey".

Pride Weekend Eats

There's a popular saying from Fran Leibowitz: 'If you removed all of the homosexuals and homosexual influence from what is generally regarded as American culture, you would pretty much be left with "Let's Make a Deal”' While I don't know about that - and while I'm flattered to think that could ever be the case - her quote sure as hell does not explain the culinary wasteland that is the typical gay pride festival. This is why it is so fortunate that at least the Pride Fest Block Party on Saturday is centered around Mount Vernon. There, the food is a bit better than the "crab on a pita drowning in melted cheese" I had at the Sunday festival in Druid Hill Park a few years ago, and which many people will have chosen again for this year's Festival in the Park. It's disappointing that Pride Fest coincides with the African American Festival at M&T Bank Stadium just about every year. I would hope that the food is a good bit better, and hopefully not of the "crab on a shingle" variety.

And so, because gay (truly, LGBT) pride is truly not a foodie event, you have to avoid most if not all of the kiosks and head for the restaurants. Which I did.

• City Café - I must say, this is quickly becoming a semi-regular hangout for me. It's always a good place to go on a weekend night for a cappuccino and some sort of dessert. The problem for me lies with the entrées, because they're often pricier than I want to spend. (The expense in general is also why I don't eat out that much anymore.) But I did something different on Friday night and just had some appetizers, always a good idea if you're trying to save money and sample the food at the same time. I was not disappointed with the appetizers I got. The first was a fried green tomato with crab meat plate ($11): two slice o' green maters in sweet lump crab with a lemony beurre-blanc. It didn't look like much, but I did not exactly snarf it down. The coating on the fried green tomato was dark, dense and crispy. I found that it overpowered the nice sour tang of the green tomato just a little bit, but it was something I could deal with. It was a lovely dish, but what really stood out were the grilled lamb chops ($11): four small "lollipop" lamb chops with a limoncello glaze, sprinkled with pecans and dried apricots. the lamb chops were almost caramel-like in their sweetness, and packed a good amount of juicy, tender meat. Even these two appetizers together cost $22, but it's a bit cheaper than either one of these plus an entrée, which would set you back at least $30.
  
• Lunch was a half-buffet/half-fixed menu outing at Indigma. They're trying something I've never seen at an Indian restaurant before: their "table side buffet". Here's how it goes: 1) Choose one of three prix-fixe lunches, veg, non-veg and mixed, each of which consists of eight Indian tapas in small square bowls (including the rice), with hot naan. You get as much as you want, but it may fill you up; 2) then go to the buffet, which includes salads, chutneys, raitas, pickles and desserts. I ordered the mixed combination for the surprisingly low price of $10, plus a ginger lassi for $4. The lassi was a little thin, and the ginger was subtle. Really, the lunch offerings overpowered it. My favorite among the tapas was their fenugreek (methi) chicken. It was so juicy and not at all tough or dry, with a nice color and texture. It was chicken the way I would always like to eat it. A potato fritter went all too fast (maybe I should've eaten another one) and the butter chicken had a nice, buttery sauce. There also was a lemon pickle I got at the salad bar that was very different from most Indian pickles I have ever had. The food was pretty good but for the price it was amazing.

• Dinner was at Minato, where I met up with several friends, including my neighbor, for sushi. This time I let them choose what to get, and they made no mistakes. I just can't identify the rolls but we had the typical sushi-sashimi platters. My share was around $30 or so. That includes a sake and plum wine martini that gave me all the sake I needed without having to order my own bottle, and at $7.25 it was cheaper than most of the good cold sake they have. Again, I left satisfied. For me, Minato never disappoints!

Of course, the festival itself didn't exactly please me food wise. I got an okay crab cake sandwich for $7, and a cold sweet tea which, depressingly, was neither all that cold nor all that sweet. Add to that a $6 piña colada in a peensy plastic cup that had less alcohol in it than if I had just asked them to give it to me "dry" and hold all the rum in the first place. At least we in the Men's Chorus went out to Tamber's afterwards. I ordered the chicken tikka ($14) which tasted more like a barbeque fajita than anything Indian. But still it was so much more preferable to the eats at the festival in Druid Hill Park. Yes, even then my theory was confirmed: the typical Pride Festival is itself a culinary wasteland.

Return to Exit 1: Cookie's City Line Diner

Before you start scratching your head, let me get right out there that I am not going all the way around the Beltway again. What I am doing is revisiting the place that became my inspiration for driving around to look for out of the way places to eat.

Cookie's City Line Diner (map) is only open Monday through Saturday, and only for breakfast and lunch. When I first started my Beltway Snacking series in May of 2007, I did some initial reconnaissance to see just what was off the very first exit off 695. It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, and I was hungry. After passing by a none-too-promising gas station - thinking "Is this the type of place I'll be writing about - gas stations?" - I had hoped to find something a bit more promising after that. Lo and behold, the clean, crisp, kitschy Cookie's City Line Diner. But there was nobody there! So I came by the next weekend - this time, Saturday afternoon. It must've been, like, 3 PM, because they had just closed an hour earlier, as I was to find out well over a year later. Frustrated, I realized that food was not to be found within a mile of the Beltway, prompting me to drive further and further into Curtis Bay and Severna Park. Had Cookie's been open that day, this Beltway Snacking series might have taken a totally different turn. I might've only visited places within a minute or two of the Beltway, thus keeping me from finding much of anything off of many exits.

It was about 16 months later that I finally got back to Cookie's. I mean, no need to rush when you've got another 43 exits to go to, right? (Again, 60 counting A's, B's and C's.) It was still just as clean, just as crisp and just as kitschy as it had looked from my car window. Even better, though, it was not just as closed as I had remembered: Cookie's was open for lunch.

To see Cookie's from the inside is one helluva trip. A humongous Betty Boop greets you at the door, graced by several smaller Booplets all around her (these must have been her conscience). Interesting objects dangled from almost every foot of the ceiling, from little-old lady ornaments to, um - actually the little-old lady ornaments are the only ones I can distinctly remember. But there sure were a lot of these things! And it seemed as if every table was different. And every chair, for that matter.

I only had to wait for about five minutes - or maybe it was longer, but it didn't seem so. I was too busy admiring the big round tabletop covered in Orioles baseball cards that were shellacked in place. Maybe the life-sized little old lady doll was also staring at the same thing. Or not.

Hey, haven't I seen her on a witty series of irritable, irritating old lady greeting cards?

The menu is typical diner food, and I treated myself to lunch and dessert all at once. I ordered a burger with my choice of toppings (fried onions and provolone cheese), and fries (about $7 if I remember correctly). With that I ordered a nice slab of lemon meringue pie (about $4). Total after tax was about $12.

Cookie's burger

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I started reaching into the bag for some French fries. They were really good, among the best I have had from a diner in ages. Cookie's fries were almost like normal fry-shaped Western fries. I almost put the entire bag in the back seat to keep myself from nibbling on them all the way home.

Both the meat and the cheese of the burger tasted great, and stood up well to reheating, which I had to do once I got it home. What can I say? It was a pretty good burger. It wasn't the biggest I have ever had, but there is something to be said for portion control. The roll was thick but not too thick. All in all it was a burger I would eat again. Maybe next time I'll actually sit down in one of the many tables to eat it fresh on the spot.

As for the pie: it was a typically good pie. I hadn't had lemon meringue pie in a while so this was a nice dessert. I wanted to save some of it but I ended up eating it all. Ah well, portion control out the window.

Places I visited -

Cookie's City Line Diner (diner / American) - 6407 Ft. Smallwood Road, Curtis Bay, MD 21226; Phone: (410) 354-3004

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

Exit 40 - MD-151 (North Point Blvd)

As I've mentioned before, this part of 695 is one of those corners of the Beltway where the exits all take you to more or less the same place (see: Exits 2 - 4, Exits 8 - 10, Exits 20 - 21, Exits 34 - 35). Driving around looking for places to eat, usually the first step in the journey that is this post, I found very few places off of Exit 40 that I didn't already find off of 39. What's worse, You only have to drive about a mile before you run into Exit 41 (Cove Road). So for this post, I am looking at everything along southbound North Point Boulevard (MD-151), including the side streets, stopping at Cove, where the next post picks up.

This is also where the Maryland Transportation Authority starts messing with your mind. No simple relationship between the inner and outer loop exits here! The inner loop Exit 40 takes you to southbound North Point Boulevard. The outer loop, however, off of which the exit numbers go down (easy mnemonic device to tell them apart: the outer loop makes you feel "down and out"), takes you to two places: northbound North Point Boulevard (MD-151), and westbound Eastern Boulevard (MD-150). To make matters worse, there is no Exit 38A or B - but Exit 38E is there to take you eastbound on Eastern. Got all that?

I think I'm insane now.

Apart from that, outer loop Exit 40 takes you to Eastpoint Mall and pretty much the same places that Exit 38A off the inner loop takes you. The one different place I can mention is the Best Buffet (map), one of the only non-chain buffets I know of in the area. It looked pretty full about the time I passed by there.

Back to the inner loop: Whereas Exit 39 yields an embarrassment of riches (food-wise), Exit 40 doesn't yield very much at all. Truth be told, you are the one who has to yield, since the exit turns into a merge from the left into oncoming traffic. Cut across too fast and you may get hit before you get to the Wal-Mart/Aldi's shopping center - just across from the big sign commemorating the Battle of North Point, which occurred around here in September of 1814, during the War of 1812. This is the same shopping center with the North Point / Plaza Flea Market complex (map), that also includes Charlie & Lena's Seafood & Produce and an Amish Farmers Market. I stumbled upon it on Sunday, just as it had shut down for the day. Also recall, as I found off Exit 39 as well, that Caldarazzo's Pizzeria (map) is much easier to get to from this exit. It's next to the Aldi's.

Cruising down North Point Boulevard you find little else before you hit Cove Road. Turning down the side streets just takes you to North Point (or Old North Point) Road - at Cove Road you can make a sharp right turn from North Point Boulevard onto North Point Road. Along the journey from North Point to North Point, you find a small handful of non-McDonald's eating establishments. Perhaps your best bets along North Point Road are the aptly-named North Point Diner (map), and Papa Leone's Spaghetti House (map). The former is a small diner in a red brick building that's pretty easy to miss if you pass by too fast. The latter was pretty empty when I got to it. I don't know much else about it. Another establishment, the Left Field Pub (map), borders both North Point Boulevard and North Point Road. So does the North Point Flea Market, which will inevitably come up on your right.

Much of what you can find to eat, or drink, is along the more well-traveled North Point Boulevard, including Journey's (map) and Michael's Halfway House (map), two taverns that the internet has precious little information about, except that they are places to find karaoke. For lunch and dinner, more promising establishments can be found on the other side of Cove Road (again, see Exit 41).

On the Boulevard side of Left Field Pub lies the Little Village Pizzeria (map). This unassuming little place is your standard pizza and sub shop, bright and clean inside with a television currently tuned into the Olympics (event on screen: men's water polo. Damn those guys can fill out a Speedo). The Little Village was also empty at the end of this lunch hour - a few more cars at the Left Field next door. Less of a wait for me I suppose. A few of Little Village's offerings, as I perused their take-out menu for a while: no slices of pizza but you can get a 12" cheese-only pizza for $7. most specialty pizzas cost just a few dollars more. Also on the menu are stromboli (between $10 and $11 each), subs in three different sizes (the smallest, 8" one will be about $7), salads, fish and gyro platters, shakes in three flavors, and desserts ranging from baklava to cake. I finally settled on the 8" pizza sub ($7) with small onion rings ($3) and a can of Diet Pepsi, which I was surprised to hear referred to as "pop". This must have been a lunch special as my bill totaled just under $10, and I know they added the soda. In ten minutes, as I was told, my order was ready.

The 8" sub is too much food for me. Another thing to point out: they sure know how to keep it hot, wrapping it (as you should) in paper and then foil. It was still hot half an hour later when I got it home (The onion rings? not so much). So the roll was, understandably, soggy when I got it home - and no, it would not have been soggy had I eaten it there.


The chopped meat was juicy and pretty tasty, the cheese was gooey, and the tomato sauce was mostly on the roll. I can't say I enjoyed the onion rings, which tasted like your standard frozen onion rings just out of the fryer. They should change the brand because it's not a very good onion ring.

All in all, Little Village is worth going to, though I wouldn't drive half an hour to get to it.

Other photos:

The memorial sign pointing out that you are driving by history here - the Battle of North Point happened near these parts

This is the photo I had up on the Exit 39 post. Not much more activity at the tail end of the Sunday shopping festivities.

Walk past the Aldi's from the farmers market and you can get pizza! Though it's probably cheaper frozen at Aldi's.

No I don't need any. But it's still good to know it's here, alright? And yes, I know I need to wash my windows!

Places I visited:

Little Village Pizzeria (pizza and subs) - 3819 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-9488

• Would I eat there again? Probably
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Probably not
  

Places to look up later:

Caldarazzo's Pizzeria (pizza / Italian) - 2315 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-3354

Journey's (pub) - 2701 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-0699

Left Field Pub (pub) - 3813 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-1691

Michael's Halfway House Tavern (pub) - 3814 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-9573

North Point Diner (diner / American) - 2701 North Point Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 477-1000

North Point / Plaza Flea Market (market - local foods) - 2401 North Point Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-4504

Papa Leone's Spaghetti House (Italian) - 2713 North Point Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-9770

Exit 39 - Merritt Blvd (to Dundalk)

My next stop off the Beltway is Exit 39, and here I am back in unfamiliar territory. I admit that I hardly ever get to Dundalk all that much, so for me, Merritt Boulevard really is uncharted wudder, hon. Pretty much all my exposure to Dundalk is of the "Hey Hon, Take a Walk Down..." variety (too bad I can't find it anywhere on the internet - and I mean anywhere).

Exit 39 only exists along the inner loop. The outer loop skips right over it from Exit 40 to 38E (or B, or whatever). Exits 38 through 40 are another group of exits that seem to take you to more or less the same place. One notable landmark that is pretty tough to miss are those big twin domes that are impossible to get away from in Dundalk. You know - these:


What are they for again? Not being snotty. I'm just from the other side of town, so I really don't know.

The first thing you notice once you get down onto Merritt Blvd are the strip malls. Sooooo many strip malls here on your way to CCBC Dundalk (map), where I ate once during a day of meetings. The food is cheap and not very good, as with most college food. Theirs is about on par with the other two CCBC campuses, at Catonsville (Exit 12C) and Essex (Exit 34).

As for those strip malls: again, most of your dining options lie in those malls. I was surprised to find any free-standing places to eat (NB: that does not make them better or worse than strip-mall eateries, so don't say I said that). One of the most prominent and popular of restaurants in the free-standing category is the Boulevard Diner (map). I wanted to go here, and I would have. But to be honest, I've been eating at so many diners lately that I just wanted a break. So the Boulevard Diner will have to wait. Maybe when I'm done this Beltway Snackin' series I'll pull a Guy Fieri and visit the diners of the Bawlmer area (only I'll be less irritating than he is - really, he's becoming Rachael Ray with a goatee).

Back to the strip malls. They all look pretty easy to get to, though I can't vouch for the food (reviews on some of the below links are pretty mixed):

• The requisite Chinese places include the House of China (map) in the Lynch Manor Shopping Center on Wise Avenue, and the New China Restaurant, né China Garden (map) on Merritt. I can find no info about New China whatsoever.
• A few pizzerias are in and around Merritt, including Filleti's Pizza (map) - just a hop, skip and a jump from the New China Restaurant - and Caldarazzo's Pizzeria (map) near the Aldi's and the Walmart. (See UPDATE II below).
  
• Captain Harvey's Submarines (map) - in Danville Square, one of the brighter strip malls in the area. They have their own website, touting current contests where you can win a free (of course free) sheet of chocolate chip brownies if you can guess the total number of chocolate chips therein. Sounds like a plan, yes?

There is indeed a sufficient amount of sit-down restaurants around here that also caught my eye. Most of them are not in strip malls, including a few restaurants that clearly don't fit the "hole in the wall" category:

• The Poplar Inn Restaurant (map) has been serving Dundalkers for fifty - no, fifty-five years, hon. They have live music every Friday and Saturday night. I love their website - it has to be one of the best I've seen for a local restaurant. Check out their daily specials.
• The City Paper clearly seems to prefer the nearby Scoozzi Restaurant and Lounge (map), at least for its "down-home bar food", of which they say Scoozzi's has the best in the area. Can't say I'm a big fan of their website, though. They got some purty crabcakes in their photos.
• Merritt House Restaurant (map) is one of the few that is in a strip mall (again, not that there's anything wrong with that). You have to go past the Boulevard Diner and the big, welcoming "Welcome to Dundalk" sign to get to it. It's in the big, gloomy looking strip mall past the intersection of Merritt and Holabird/Wise, but the few reviews I found were pretty good, so maybe this is a well-hidden place worth getting to.

A few other places of note off this exit:

• Howard's Pub (map) serves your standard American food, and has a DJ and (of course) happy hour.
• Dundalk Xpress (map), which doesn't look like a Damon's Grill from the outside, has hot wings and the like. At least I think it does. Next door is the snowball stand du jour Moochie's (same map). (UPDATE OCTOBER 5, 2008: the website is changing soon, and Dan from Dundalk Xpress, who noted to me that they do a bang-up business in wings and ribs, let me know that DX is not affiliated with Damon's Grill. Thanks, Dan.)
• Several places to buy fresh or cooked seafood, including the Shore Produce and Seafood (map) - which is almost impossible to find online; the Wise Avenue Crab House (map) - next to an Icy Delights ice cream and snowball place (same map); the Crab Net Inn Dining Room (map); and Ross' Seafood (map). This last one is right on North Point on your left as soon as you get off the exit.
• Also check out the massive North Point / Plaza Flea Market complex (see UPDATE II below)-
  
• There are also a few bakeries to take note of near Merritt Blvd. The Cake Connection (map) has gotten a few reviews - all positive from what I can tell. It's conveniently located on your right as soon as you leave 695. And then there's the difficult-to-miss multiply-rounded roof of Herman's Bakery (map). The Urbanspooners - ummm - don't seem too keen on it but there are indeed positive reviews.

I stopped in Herman's, and the place is just a field of cakes, cookies and other sweets. I got a few things. I kept my eye open for my favorite kind of cookie, but alas, no chocolate tops. They did have a round cookie with a chocolate dot in the center which was okay, but it tasted very almondy. You may love it for that very reason, but I'm not big on almonds, so I wasn't a fan. I did also pick up a black bottom to kill for, and would gladly get it again.

Here they are: Herman's cookies...

...and black bottom.

Unlike most bakeries, Herman's had several slices of sheet cake laying amongst its mock-ups of wedding cakes. Probably, somebody never bothered to pick it up. Lucky me that I got to taste one of their sheet cakes without buying the whole cake. The buttercream (not Bettercreme, God forbid - I hate the stuff) was white, an end piece with a red rose. Both the icing and the cake were buttery and moist and so together were much better than any random slice of cake you'd find at Giant for twice the price. Altogether, the cookies (about 4 of them), black bottom and cake were a few nickels shy of $5. Pretty sweet deal (sorry, had to go there).

Herman's slice of cake, with real buttercream frosting. Honestly, I have no idea why people like the flavor or feel of that Bettercreme sh*t.

My final stop in Dundalk was the eye-catching Weenie World (map), another favorite of the City Paper. Next door to a Rita's, it is a nice little place to sit in or outside with a hot dog or two. Oh my God, the variety of hot dogs easily outdoes Zack's of White Marsh, which is saying something. In addition to their standard corn dogs, footlongs, kielbasas, and Italian sausages you'll spot many varieties of regular hot dogs piled with quite a bit of things. Among the more sinful selections I spotted, both on a massive black chalkboard and the easier-to-read take-out menu, were their Junkyard Dog (a hot dog covered in pork BBQ), their Reuben Dog (a hot dog with Reuben toppings), the Weenie Burger (a hamburger shaped like a hot dog), their Bull Dog (steak and cheese and hot dog on a potato roll), and - I love this one - the Politician ("bologna wrapped around a weenie").

My selections

I opted for a Volcano Dog (chili, jalapeños and Tabasco sauce) and a simple corn dog (grand total: about $3). Both were amazing. They pride themselves on using all-beef hot dogs. I wish I knew the brand, because it's a delicious one. If you choose the right frank, then you are one step closer to a great dog. Their chili was delicious and the jalapeños and Tabasco didn't make it too challenging for me - throw on some habaneros and you'll have me in real pain. As for the corn dog? A little greasy (as are all corn dogs fresh out of the fryer), but crunchy and juicy and hot. That was the best part about these weenies - they were both hot. Granted, it was painful to eat them, but I'd rather have hot and fresh than lukewarm and, well, blah.

UPDATE I - A few of you mentioned Squire's (map), which is indeed in Dundalk. I looked it up and it turns out that I didn't get far enough on Holabird to get there. But it looks rather easy to get there from Exit 44 (Broening Avenue) so instead of listing it here as a place to visit off Merritt, I'll just save it for my Exit 44 excursion. In fact, thanks to y'all there's now one place I already have on my agenda to try out when I get that far - which shouldn't be too much longer. The Beltway only goes up to 44. I am nearing the end of my mission. Thanks to Minx and thanks (and apologies) to I Am So Wise.

UPDATE II: Driving around today, I just discovered how much closer to Exit 40 the North Point Flea Market and Caldarrazzo's are. I don't usually do this but I have since removed them from this post, and am featuring them in the next one (for Exit 40), since it's right there on the exit.

Other photos:

Welcome to Dundalk, hons!

My humps, my humps - my lovely bakery humps!

The Poplar Inn Restaurant. Every little town has a place like it. This is one of Dundalk's.

And the invisible-to-the-internet Shore Produce. Since it's not easy to find online, here's a photo.

Places I visited:

Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk Campus (cafeteria food) - Building K, 7200 Sollers Point Rd, Dundalk, MD 21222

• Would I eat there again? Only if I had to
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Um, no.

Herman's Bakery (bakery, with locations in Dundalk and Towson) - 7560 Holabird Avenue, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-5590

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

Weenie World (hot dogs) - 1099 Merritt Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-9495

• Would I eat there again? Oh, yeah!
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Definitely

Places to look up later:

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

Cake Connection (bakery) - 700 Merritt Boulevard #A2, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-2064

Captain Harvey's Submarines (subs) - 1543 Merritt Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288 8990

Crab Net Inn Dining Room (crabs) - 7703 German Hill Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-6267

Dundalk Xpress (subs / wings) - 7620 German Hill Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-0902

Filleti's Pizza (pizza / Italian) - 1784 Merritt Boulevardl, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-5628

House of China (Chinese) - 7820 Wise Avenue #B, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 284-2288
Howard's Pub (bar / pub) - 7312 Holabird Avenue, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-6050

Icy Delights (ice cream) - 7812 Wise Avenue, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-3400

Merritt House Restaurant (American) - 1780 Merritt Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-2321

Moochie's (snowballs; next to Dundalk Xpress) - 7620 German Hill Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-0902

New China Restaurant (formerly China Garden Restaurant - Chinese) - 1163 Merritt Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-0191

Poplar Inn Restaurant (American) - 7700 Wise Avenue, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 285-2590

Ross' Seafood (seafood / crabs) - 1109 North Point Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-1200

Scoozzi Restaurant and Lounge (American / seafood / Mediterranean) - 7625 German Hill Road, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-1060

Shore Produce and Seafood (seafood / crabs / produce) - 7802 Wise Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 288-2547

Wise Avenue Crab House (crabs / seafood) - 7812 Wise Avenue, Dundalk, MD 21222; Phone: (410) 282-5275



for Herman's Bakery



for Weenie World