Lucy’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
21 N Eutaw St
Baltimore, MD

On my final night in Baltimore, I went to the restaurant I could not visit the previous night: Lucy’s Irish Pub and Restaurant. The reason was almost straight forward: who does NOT want to go to an Irish pub? Well, I found out it was not a pub in the straight sense of the word but a full blown restaurant.

Not sure if I was completely disappointed it was not a pub; however, the fact the restaurant was a bit busy was a good thing.

The ambiance, on the other hand, was odd… As you can see, the lightning really does not help to take pictures; of course, to the average person that is not an issue. Also, I was expecting something more hectic. Regardless, the layout works for me.

OK, I know I will be disappointing some people here. If you are in an Irish pub, Guinness ought to be the drink of choice, right? Well, yes, but I wanted something “lighter”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Guinness, just that I was not in mood for it.

As for the food, I started with crab and corn chowder:

Although it was good in its own way, I think it could have been better. But, then again, this might have been due to my expectations. See, in the case of creamy chowders, I expect it to be, well, creamy. In this case, it was still on the “light” side. The corn was fine; the crab was, well, missing in action. What made this dish really different was the pop corn. I am not sure how to describe it. Unlike, say, croutons, which would be garlic-y, or crackers which is bland (in my opinion), the pop corn’s taste mixed well with the taste of the corn in the chowder.

FINALLY, a restaurant in the US sensible with the bread given at the table!

As for the main, I had…

A lamb stew. OK, second time in this trip I had lamb/sheep/goat/mutton (same family). But, then again, this dish spells Irish, right? As for the dish, I will have to say it was slightly bland for a stew. True, it was hearty, the vegetables made it so; just that the chunks of lamb did not make the dish outstanding.

Overall, not sure what to think. I wanted to like it but was disappointed with both the ambiance and the food. Is there something better in Vancouver? Can’t say for certain but, regardless, expectations were not met.

Lumbini
322 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD

For other reasons (which can’t be disclosed), on my fourth night in Baltimore, I was exhausted. I had plans for a restaurant – which I eventually went the following night, that post will be up tomorrow, and instead I went to a one closer to the hotel. I am sure some of you could have said “but, you can have a meal in the hotel itself!”. Sure, I could have but, c’mon… Anyway, the closest place I could remember was Mick O’Sheas, which I blogged previously, and while walking there, I noticed an Indian restaurant. It wasn’t the “Indian” part that caught my attention, rather it was the Nepalese part. That’s how I ended up in Lumbini.

It is just me or it seems almost all Indian restaurants have buffet?

Just like in my visit to Akbar a couple of nights before, the restaurant was almost empty. Actually, there was another table occupied, yet I was afraid of a repeat experience. Déjà vu, anybody? Although late, by the end of my meal (around 8:30 p.m.), a couple other customers had walked in.

My first look of the menu was extremely disappointing. The promise of the restaurant was for both Nepalese (which I had absolutely no idea about) and Indian (which I have had some, despite not necessarily the authentic version); yet almost all the menu was Indian based, i.e., curries, tandoor dishes, etc. It was not until I hit a section of the menu labeled “Bhojan” that I saw some glimpse of hope. But, to start, the drink…

Mango lassi. Called it profiling or what not; but this drink seem to appear in every single Indian restaurant. The funniest thing? Every single place I have been, it taste exactly the same! I guess that, rather than using fresh mangoes, canned pulp is used; hence the consistency.

Along with my lassi, I got some “free” appetizer in the form of papadum:

Along with the some chutneys:

The twist here is the one on the left. It wasn’t a sauce in the straight sense of the word; rather they seemed to be pieces of marinated bamboo shoots. It had a strange texture but enjoyable nevertheless.

As for the main…

Daal Bhat Masu Thali. As per their menu, it is a “typical Nepalese dinner included white rice, dhal, chutney and choice of chicken or mutton curry”. If you have read previous post, you could easily guess what I had… Yup, I had mutton. (Depending on the country/classification, mutton is a sheep, though it could also be a goat). Yup, the plate looks hilarious in a way. I don’t remember using one like that in ages. Now, a close-up of each component.

Again, the bamboo shoot chutney.

Dhal. Yup, that’s a chili in it! I have mentioned previously my love for legumes. However, even with that bias, I must admit it was really good!

The mutton curry. I am not sure how to describe it other than a more gamier (?) version of lamb, which, I assume, it is expected. Now, unlike lamb curries, in this case, it was bone in, which gave it even more flavour. It was great!

For a change, to finish the meal, I asked for something sweet. When I looked at the menu, one item caught my attention: Mango khulfi, described as “traditional unchurned, indian ice cream mixed with mango”. That’s the menu description; my description would be more on the lines of small chipped chunks of mango flavoured ice cubes. Heck, even ice shaving work as well. On top of it, some small raisins. As for the taste itself, the comment on the mango lassi applies, i.e., it tastes a bit too similar… Now, I could live with that; however, it was way too sweet. I couldn’t finish it.

Overall, I am both happy and disappointed at the same time. On one side, the food was better than expected. On the flip-side, it is too “Indian” (i.e., more Indian based than Nepalese, as it was described). Nevertheless, there was enough “twist” to it and, as a result, a worthy meal.

Babalu Grill
32 Market Pl
Baltimore, MD

After two sub-par meals, I was looking forward to redeem myself and choose a good restaurant. Again, using Urbanspoon as a resource, I desperately wanted something different, walking a lot farther if necessary. That’s how, eventually, Babalu Grill caught my attention…

No, this is not Babalu Grill, rather of the area called Restaurant Row.

If it is called with such name, it better be good, right?

A lot of people complain about service in restaurants in Vancouver. If they only had to deal with what I went through in Baltimore… The previous night I had to spend several minutes waiting at the front area and, alas, something similar happened, though with its own twist. This time, the dining area was quite busy, so I though, hey, service should not be a problem right? Well, no. Instead, I had to again stand there waiting to be seated for almost five minutes. In the end, somebody noticed and told me the dining area was closed for a private party (which explains why it was so hectic on a Tuesday). At that point I was fuming. If you have a private party, why don’t leave a sign outside? That way, I won’t have even bothered to wait. In the end, I was told I could go to the bar instead, which I did…

Now, I did notice something: the restaurant was not completely full. Hmmmmmm… Not good, not good… Some of you might be wondering, if service so far has been so crappy, why stay and not just walk out? For one, I usually don’t care about service; however, in this case, it was the service (or lack of) that almost prevented me from having my meal, hence my additional notes about it. Also, in this particular restaurant, I had a small reason to be so obstinate: its cuisine is Latin American (and non-Mexican on top of it!).

So, first, the drink, Miller draft:

No particular reason why I chose this as a drink, other than the fact it was the special of the day. Yes, it was bubbly enough.

I switch temporarily to the 18-55mm, the 50mm lens to the top right.

I apologize for the following pictures. As you should have noticed on the picture above, the light conditions would make taking the pictures somewhat difficult. Sure, I could have used the flash but I stubbornly refused to do so. I hope the pictures provide a good idea of my meal… First, the appetizer:

Seafood ceviche on a bed of mashed potato with plantain chips. Any seafood lover will love this dish. Pieces of seafood marinated in an acid solution (usually lemon juice) with other condiments and ingredients (depending on the place, in Panama, it was usually onions). The seafood used here included pieces of shrimp, fish (most probably cod) and I think squid. Though the size was small, I brought a lot of memories. Something similar with the fried plantain (a more starch-y version of a banana), which was quite crunchy.

For entree, I had Lechón Asado, or rotisserie pork, with yuca (aka cassava roots) and rice and beans (similar to rice and peas).

First, the sides, yuca, aka, cassava roots. This root vegetable is not something you usually find in North America, since potatoes reign supreme. Except, of course, in ethnic restaurants… As for the yuca itself, the best way to describe it is a more fibrous, starchier version of potato wedges.

The rice and beans is something I grew up with. In this case, they have it mixed, which does not bother me at all, as one of the Panamanian versions of the dish (arroz con guandú, or rice with pigeon pea) is exactly like that. The only comment I can provide is that I could not taste coconut, as arroz con guandú uses coconut milk. But, then again, this is due to where I grew, not that it is bad in any way!

Finally, the pork itself… Well, I think it is a bit difficult for me to describe it. The best comparison I can make would be Chinese style roasted pork, yet, it is different at the same time. For one, there was no pork rind; also, it had a sweet taste… As if orange juice was used to baste it. It was REALLY good.

Overall, despite the crappy start of the dinner, the food managed to redeem the night. Probably this is due to personal bias but I am sure anybody would appreciate this food. Having said that, based on this single experience, I will highly recommend it.

J Paul’s
301 Light St
Baltimore, MD

After my sub-par experience the previous night, on night #2 in Baltimore, I chose to visit “known” places. OK, not really, rather, I chose to go to restaurants close to areas I have visited before. While walking by Inner Harbour, where I had dinner in Phillips Seafood, I found J Paul’s, which happens to be just next to Phillips Seafood.

The dinner did not start well. I was standing at their front station for at least 5 minutes before a server noticed me. OK, it was Monday and it was slow, so they could have gotten away with a skeleton staff. However, there should be somebody checking if there would be new customers… Anyway, once noticed, I was guided to the dining room and given the menu.

Did somebody mention… Empty?

In some restaurants, some drinks are almost automatic. In the case of North-American ones, I always have to check. In the past, the automatic answer was “Diet soda/pop”; however, no longer. Since I did not know what drinks they have, I started with a glass of water. It was nice it was given with a lemon wedge.

But, in the end, I settled for Heineken.

OK, I have mentioned by low alcohol tolerance; in this case, I wanted to take my chances; mainly because I needed something to “help” me sleep once I got back to the hotel (note, it did not help).

As a “free” appetizer, I was given pretzels.

With a side of yellow mustard.

Now, that was an interesting departure of bread (sure, still it is made out of flour, but it is a different twist, if you know what I mean). Just like bread, bagels and other bread-like dishes, you can prepare it in a lot of different ways. I myself am not fan of pretzels as I find them too heavy for a snack, though, in the odd times I eat them, I like them with a crunchy exterior and fluffy interior. Something like a light bagel.

Unfortunately, it was a bit “dry” to my liking – almost as “hard’ as a cracker. If you check the picture above, notice how the pretzel was “broken”, i.e, rather than strands as in bread, it almost broke cleanly. Now, for my entree…

Pulled pork. OK, I should have gone for seafood; however, I prefer not to for several reasons. They include my not-necessarily-good experience in Phillips Seafood and the fact it was Monday. What Monday has to do? Well, if you have read Kitchen Confidential (by Anthony Bourdain), it makes reference about seafood on Mondays, i.e., chances are it will be what has not been sold from their last order (most likely Friday). Sure, others might argue things have changed but I chose not to in the end. Along with the pulled pork, I had the option for two sides and I had…

Creamed spinach with a really interesting twist. As you can see above, it was prepared in a ramekin and baked, resulting in a light cheese “crust” on top. It was interesting.

Caesar salad. OK, that was a bit… Pathetic. Reality is, I wanted some veggies and that was the only one I could imagine (though, after re-checking their menu, I realized there were better options). The salad was just average.

Let’s go back for a moment to the pork. How was it? Unfortunately, not good. If you notice the colour of the pork, you would think it is a bit odd, as if it was smothered with a tomato based sauce. If that’s what you think, then you are not far – it was smothered with BBQ sauce, to the point it masked most of the pork flavour and/or any smoky-ness it might have had. Heck, the one I prepared not long ago was better than theirs! And, even if that was not the issue, I found it slightly dry to my taste. In other words, I have had better, in less fancy places. Overall, this was strike 2 of the trip…

[First of all, to those who read yesterday's post, I am truly sorry for my edit mistake. I will try not to make the same mistake... -_-;;; Now, back to our regular schedule!]

Akbar Restaurant
823 N Charles Street
Baltimore, MD

Just before my second trip to Baltimore, I made some research on the restaurants to visit. Last time, in addition to seafood, I had some ethnic cuisine, with the results being one hit (Ban Thai Restaurant – Thai) and one miss (Edo Sushi – Japanese). I was decided to go for ethnic again, this time for Indian. Based on my research on Urbanspoon, one of the Indian restaurants close to my hotel was Akbar Restaurant…

Due to the wacky weather on that weekend (I was flying on Sunday), I arrived to the hotel at around 7:30 p.m. and, after quickly checking in, I walked to the restaurant. When I walked in, not sure if to my surprise or as should expected, it was empty. There was one other table but it looked as if it was guest of the owner/manager rather than customers. Definitely not good… Of course, I should not make judgement based solely on this, specially considering the day and time so I asked for a table for one and sat down.

A quick glance of the menu yielded the usual round of suspects of an Indian restaurants (the full dinner menu is available here). The dilemma of course, what to order? In occasions I have been in Indian restaurants, if by myself, it was buffet and, if with somebody, we usually end up sharing dishes. Trying not profile, I did not end up ordering a curry. More on that in a moment… Now, the other “dishes”, first a “free” appetizer, papadum which was served with three dips

If I am not mistaken, the top right one was a tomato based chutney, the bottom left was tamarind and the third one might have been a mint-based. I am sure about the tamarind one; not about the rest. I did not enquire much as was uninteresting (in the sense I have had better). Not long after, I got my drink:

OK, this one is profiling of sorts. Yes, that’s mango lassi, a blended yoghurt drink. Now, the rest of the dishes:

Mulligatawny soup. I will admit it, I love legumes. Be it beans, lentils, peas, peanuts, I eat almost all forms in almost all preparations. And because of this bias, there is almost no way I will say this soup is bad, not even so-so. In this case, this blended soup had a smooth consistency and the lemon gave a light citrus-y taste.

The main dish came with rice but no vegetables so I also asked for a salad; in this case, katchumber salad. When I received the dish, the first thing that came to my mind was Greek salad sans feta cheese. However, the spices added did not make up for the feta cheese. Either because of that missing element or because of the lack of a tasty vinaigrette, I found it a waste of money.

As mentioned above, the main dish came with rice. For a single dish, that’s a lot of rice! Unfortunately for me, I found it too salty…

Finally, the main: Tandoori Mixed Grill. OK, the picture above does not really show all the individual pieces… Aside from the onion and peppers, there was chicken tikka, tandoor chicken (don’t ask me for the difference between the two…), a piece of lamb, a kebab and one shrimp. It came in a sizzling plate of sort. That is, it came in a sizzling plate; however, rather than leaving the plate with me, all the components were served on my plate.

As for taste, the overall dish was big but not among the largest I have eaten. Having said that, I could only eat half of what I was served. True, I already ate a lot (soup, salad, mango lassi) but I was starving (I did not really have anything since leaving Vancouver almost 8 hours earlier). The fact I could not eat more meant I was not that interesting in the dish. Yes, I totally regret ordering this.

Overall, despite their own claims (and that of local newspapers/news sources), I find this restaurant lacking. However, I might be at fault here by comparing it to the restaurants found here in Vancouver. I did found the answer later and I will have to say that was NOT an unfair comparison.

A couple of months ago, I was in Baltimore due to work reasons… And, yes, as you can guess, I was there once again! Unlike my last visit, this time, I had a better idea of my surroundings and what would be my “walking distance” limit; so, that gave me a better opportunity to plan my meals. Just like last time, I will start with my breakfasts…

Unfortunately, breakfasts is not that much of a surprise. How so? The places I visited last time were blogged here and… I went to those places… Again… I have to admit it, in the morning, I had to rush to my customer’s place so there is not that much of an opportunity. So, here again, the places I went:

Au Bon Pain

Just like last time, I went for something light, either porridge (no pictures taken) or just some yoghurt and boiled eggs. Nothing extraordinary for breakfast but, let me assure you, the sandwiches there are killer!

Rosina Gourmet

On the days I wanted something “slightly heavier”, I came here, Rosina Gourmet. Again, their sandwiches are killer. Their breakfast sandwiches would be a notch up from MickeyD’s breakfast sandwiches but, alas, they aren’t that cheap…

Finally, on one of the nights, I stopped and grabbed a snack on my way back to the hotel. So, here is the basic question (to those of us in Canada): How does Tim Horton’s donuts compare to other donut shops? I had the ones from Krispy Kreme once and found it extremely heavy (not that the ones from Timmy’s are light either). So, how does Dunkin Donuts stand?

I was close to say a donut is a donut is a donut other than at the last moment I found it too sweet, to the point I couldn’t finish it. But, otherwise, it was similar to the ones in Timmy’s. Again, not a fan of donuts so I would rather not make a judgement here… ^_^

Phillips Seafood
301 Light Street, Baltimore, Maryland

While in Baltimore, a lot of people (both local and from other places) mentioned I must have crab cakes. When I asked the locals, there were back and forth arguments as to where to have some. In the end, I left it to fate: I walked again by Harborplace (since there were so many restaurants there) and noticed there was a seafood restaurant. That’s how I ended up in Phillips Seafood.

No, there is no need to ask: I did not go to Hooter’s…

Please do not let the picture above fool you. It was around 8:00 p.m. and the restaurant was at least 3/4 full. As per personal policy, I tried to take a picture of the restaurant without taking a picture of other customers.

On the table, in addition to the regular salt and pepper, there was a quite particular additional condiment. In this case, their own seafood seasoning.

Based on the ingredients list, the first one listed (hence, the one with the greatest percentage) is celery salt followed by celery seeds. I tried it with the food and was, well, nothing spectacular.

For drinks, I asked for their “fresh squeezed lemonade” ($4). I am not sure how well the picture above captured it but, unless “fresh squeezed” means squeezing a mix from a bottle, it barely had any lemony flavour. Instead, I could feel some powdery, crunchy and extremely sweet granules.

I will admit that night I was a bit hungry but, even if I wasn’t, I would have gone for broke. After all, it was my last night in Baltimore and was under meal allowance. I might as well “eat well!”. So, to start, I order their New England clam chowder ($6/bowl), which came with some oyster crackers. Not sure about you but would you say the visual of the soup looks like vomit? No, that really did not help… It was barely warm, a bit too thick and the taste was on the lines of being non-descriptive. I could tell there was some fish but not sure about other seafood. I found this disappointing.

Now, here is something I hate about restaurants in the US. In restaurants, quite often you are given some bread, probably a piece or two per diner. Would you believe the whole bun above was just for me? C’mon, since I was a single diner, at least you could have asked! Anyway, I had a single piece and left the rest. It was meh… Such a waste…

Here is my entrée, their broiled seafood platter ($30) which is made up of a crab cake, some garlic shrimps and a piece of fresh catch of the day. The shrimps were well cooked (i.e., not extremely cooked); however, I had barely any shrimp-y taste. Nothing spectacular. The fish was salmon and, although flaky, it suffered the same fate as the shrimp, barely any salmon-y taste. For some odd reason, I had the impression it was farmed salmon rather than wild. This might not be a surprise… The asparagus and fried onions were quite decent. And, finally, the main item…

I left the crab cake for last… And it was worth it! It had a crab-by flavour but not overpowering. While chewing a morsel, I was already anticipating the next. I finished this crab cake in almost no time and wishing I ordered an additional pieces!

Overall, despite the crab cake was quite good, I don’t think I would come back here. I mean, it was a $30 dish and I had high expectations. The main part, the crab cake, delivered; however, when you brag you have the best seafood (see sign in the first picture), all other parts should deliver as well. In this case, they did not.

As a side note, I must add I went to the main restaurant. After I left and walked around, I found they also had an express outlet and a buffet. In the case of the later, the admission price was about the same price as my entrée; even if I found out at first, I don’t think I would have gone there anyway.

Edo Sushi
201 E Pratt St
Baltimore, MD 21202

A lot of out of town friends and acquaintances have told me sushi in Vancouver is great. I have always wondered why. I mean, there has been a lot of complains regarding the quality here which means we see things in a completely different perspective. That is, either their sushi offerings in other places are so bad that average ones found here are extremely good; or most of us have become extremely picky and the sushi here is indeed good.

With that in mind, when I was in Baltimore, I had to visit a sushi restaurant just to check this. Fortunately, by Wednesday, the weather improved and could walk a bit farther from my hotel. In this case, about 10 or so blocks from the hotel is Baltimore’s Harborplace and here was a block full of restaurants including Edo Sushi.

When it comes to sushi, I am not sure if it is something that can be made into a chain. After all, one of the pros of a chain is standardization; however, while it is relatively easy to accomplish with beef, pork and vegetable, I have some doubts when it comes to seafood. No, I am not saying it is not possible to do, as some local eateries are proud of the fact they can procure seafood from far away sources. It is rather the difficulty which they can rotate them. In the end, I put those thoughts aside and give it a try without any bias.

To people critical of the ethnicity of the chef in a Japanese restaurant, here is the bad news. In this place, there was none. If you look closely in the picture above, they were Asian but I was able to overhear them talking in Cantonese. Now, to those who “complain” the staff is neither Japanese, more bad news: the rest of the staff was a mix of African-American, Latino and other (non-Japanese) Asian. While some of them were a bit too casual, the service provided was acceptable.

BTW, in the picture above, you might have noticed something that I will have to admit I was a bit wary during my visit. Although it was mid of the week, the restaurant was almost empty. Aside from myself, there were three other tables. The restaurant itself had 20+ tables so that did not really sound good, specially considering The Cheesecake Factory (see first picture above) was almost packed full.

After I was seated, I was given a warm towel to clean my hands, something you don’t always see in restaurants here. Oh, well… While waiting for the food, I started filling up some postcards and, once done, noticed the view of the harbour:

With my meal (more details below), I could either have a salad or miso soup. I chose the soup as I also ordered a salad.

This is the first time I was served miso soup with a spoon. That was really odd…

I was really curious about this bottle. At first, I thought it had sake. Actually, this was the soy sauce. Strange…

This is the salad I ordered, spinach with tofu and sesame sauce ($5). Now, the menu said it also had peanuts but those were MIA. At first, I was expecting this to be something akin to gomaae and, well, you could easily say gomaae it was not. The sesame “sauce” did not have the sesame punch and the texture was odd. BTW, I am sorry about the colour/hue of the picture above. I tried to adjust the hue/saturation and did a lot of tweaking to show the bed of spaghetti-like daikon radish but, alas, I got a bit too tired trying…

Here is my meal, deluxe sushi, which is made up of 8 nigiri pieces and one spicy tuna roll ($22). I will admit visually it is good. But, can you say the same after the close-ups?

Still nothing? OK, here is the deal: When you slice fish (or meat in general), you should start seeing really small bubbles starting to show up, basically moisture “leaking” out from the recently sliced section. The problem I couldn’t see any was making me a bit uncomfortable. How fresh was the fish being served? After my first bite, my worst fears were realized. Aside from the dubious fish, the rice was slightly dry and not acidic enough (probably due to the lack of vinegar). Out of all the pieces I had, the only decent morsels were from the roll.

With the bill, I was given these:

Actually, these were quite decent. However, the fact these are store bought does not really help.

In the end, out of the two options above, if this restaurant is representative of the average sushi restaurant outside of Japan/Canada and outside from major cities (San Francisco, New York, etc.), then it explains why visitors are amazed with the sushi in Vancouver. It is not necessarily because the sushi here is good (this is a YMMV situation), rather because a lot of restaurants out there is not  close as the one in Vancouver. As for Edo Sushi in Baltimore, that’s a definite pass.

Side-note: I am not sure if this chain is related to the Edo Sushi restaurants found in Canada.

Ban Thai Restaurant
340 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201

On my second night on Baltimore, although weather improved a little bit (but not by much), I wanted to play safe so, again, I ended up dining in a nearby place. Sure I could have gone to Mick O’Shea’s again, why not try somewhere else? So, again, on the same block, I went to the next busiest place: Ban Thai Restaurant…

I have had a suspicions of how Thai dishes are prepared here in Vancouver. In a trip I made to Seattle last year (again, work reasons), my work colleagues and I went to a Thai restaurant and ordered dishes like Pad Thai, a staple in most Thai restaurants. I was surprised it was different to those found in Vancouver. For example, Pad Thai here is, more often than not, reddish (most probably thanks to a tomato-based sauce) and a mild sweet taste, while the one in Seattle had a dark hue (think tamarind) and slightly spicy. Because of this I started to wonder how much Thai cuisine has been “adjusted” to the local taste. With that in mind, I gladly walked in to this restaurant and try how is Thai cuisine on the US East Coast.

Call it camera effect but it was not as bright as the picture above might make you believe. And, not it was not empty either. Compared to Mick O’Shea’s the previous night, the restaurant was about a quarter full (please keep in mind it was Tuesday).

I was prompty seated and given the menu. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to double check the special (written in a board at the entrance) so instead I ordered from the menu. For appetizer, I ordered their “Famous Thai Shrimp Cake – minced shrimp breaded in bread crumbs served with plum sauce”. It was $10.

It was quite good but, then again, when fried food does not taste good? Hehehehehe. One thing that could have improved the dish is a lemon wedge. A bit of acidity in hot fried food does wonders. Also, I was impressed by the workmanship with the carrot…

And, despite what I said about Pad Thai at the beginning, I am sure a lot of people would have expected I order Pad Thai, right? Sure, I could have but one dish caught my attention: Guay Teow Kee Mao – $12, described as “sautéed rice noodles with chicken or beef with hot chili and sweet basil leaves”. So, if the description is correct, it switches shrimp, egg, peanuts and bean sprouts for chicken (my selection), hot chili and basil. If that’s the case, in principle should similar, right? If that’s applicable, I must say I was quite impressed with the dish. It did not feel oily and, while spicy, it not overly hot which was nice in this case. Furthermore, the iceberg lettuce at the bottom gave a contrasting crunchiness to the soft rice noodles.

The bill. Don’t ask me what is written…

Despite this restaurant is not located in a main street, I must admit I was quite impressed with the food. It was quite good. I only wished I had dinner companions that night and try other dishes. Oh, well… One final note, in an odd way, it confirmed to an extent that Thai food in Vancouver has indeed been tweaked. Whether it is good or bad I won’t say but, next time I end up in a Thai restaurant, I will certainly be more wary.

Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub
328 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201

I arrived at Baltimore Washing International airport (BWI) at around 7:00 p.m. but did not get to the hotel until 8:20 p.m. It wasn’t because it was far but rather the confusing directions in the airport. It took me a while to find the baggage area and after that find the appropriate way around to get transportation to the hotel. In the end, I managed to find an information kiosk and, as per their suggestion, I ended up taking a shuttle. It was $14, which is not bad considering I paid over $40 in cab fares on my way back from the hotel to the airport on my last day…

Anyway, after checking in, I was wasted. I hadn’t had anything to eat since a scone I had almost 11 hours earlier. I was willing to walk a bit to find a good place to eat however, given the time and the weather (it was quite windy and raining lightly), I had to settle for anything close by. And that place close by was Mick O’Shea’s, a pub a block away from the hotel.

Now, I must admit I walked to other places in the same block to ensure that I least ended up in a decent place. Compared to other places, this was a bit more packed than the others. The fact they had the World Series running might have been a factor. Anyway, it took a while to catch their attention and get a table, but once I was seated, everything went smoothly.

I did not take a picture of the bar area itself as it was packed full and didn’t want to take my chances of getting myself kicked out of there. Anyway, their Monday’s special was burger, fries and a draft for $7. Although there were quite interesting items in their menu, I was too tired to think and ordered that. As for the draft, I had…

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I am sure that in an Irish place, this is a no brainer: Yes, it was a Guinness. As for the food…

I also asked for a spinach salad ($4.50 for a small). Again, sorry for the fuzzy picture. It was quite good, as it had a quite interesting mix of flavours: slightly sweet from the cranberries, crunchy from the carrot and onion, buttery from the walnuts and bitter/pungent from blue cheese. And then, the burger.

At this point, I decided to use the flash as, given the light conditions, I knew it was darn impossible to take a decent picture without it. Fortunately, nobody was bothered by that and took my time to take and re-take it. Still the fact I was tired, messed things up a little bit and the picture did not come up as focused as I wished.

The fries were decent, not exceptional. The fact it was a spear pickle was interesting but I was not crazy about it. As for the burger itself, it was decent but not superb. As seen in the picture above, it was still pink; however, it was a bit dry, i.e., no running juices.

Overall, it was not bad but is not good either. Had the burger being juicier (i.e., running juices), I would have had enjoyed it a lot more. However, I must keep in mind it was only $7. I would go there again if it happens to be under the same conditions (i.e., windy and rainy), otherwise, I think I would rather go to Harbourplace. But, for a cheap meal, this place is nice.