Sotto Sopra

Certainly not a planned visit, my daughter and I decided to have lunch at Sotto Sopra because of its proximity to the Walters Art Gallery, which we visited on Thursday, August 14th.

The outside is cute with a canvas canopy overhanging what could be a sidewalk cafe. Inside we were greeted with a very artistic room full of painted walls, tall ceilings, and mirrors. The building appeared to be mid to late 19th century in age and was very interesting. The tables were close together giving us adequate access to conversations on both sides of us. And one of our neighbors must have thought that everyone in the restaurant wanted to know about his life in the theater and music industry.

We were quickly seated by an extremely sweaty waiter with wet arm pits. This helped to quell my hunger a bit. The restaurant was fairly crowded and it appeared that only 2 waiters were working the entire floor.

After viewing the lunch specials, we decided on our meal. My daughter chose the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, fresh herbs, and lemon aioli with a mixed salad. I picked the Cappellini al Pomodoro fresca, which is Italian angel hair pasta with roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic. My daughter asked for water and since I was driving my child, I chose a water, too.

The food took about 15 minutes, a bit longer than I would have hoped. We were really hungry. And thirsty as they didn't refill our water glasses as regularly as would be expected. Perhaps they poo-poo water drinkers. I do tip as if I had purchased a soda.

When our food was served it was definitely hot. My pasta was decent. It definitely tasted like fresh homemade pasta, but the flavor of the overall dish was somewhat bland. The portion was not that great, either. I was definitely still hungry when I finished.

My daughter's meal was a decent portion, but she said that the chicken was dry. Additionally, the mixed salad was somewhat on the bitter side. At meal's end she said it was okay, but knowing my daughter she was just being polite.

Overall, I was not impressed with our experience. The bill totaled about $35, which is fine, but I want to come out of a restaurant either full or satisfied with a good tasting meal. This time, neither of my hopes were fulfilled. Perhaps you can have a better experience with dinner. I would not recommend having lunch there.

Lebanese Taverna

719 S. President St
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 244-5533

This is the second time I've visited the Lebanese Taverna in Harbor East. One of the most striking things about this restaurant is its very modern, sleek and ethnic décor. You instantly feel hip when you walk through the doors.

My friend and I sat at the bar for awhile waiting on our other friend and I have to say, I would definitely come back here just to meet friends for a drink. I love the atmosphere. It also helps that the staff is incredibly nice and attentive. They offer a variety of flavored mojitos (I love a good mojito) and I decided to try a melon mojito. Delish! My friend got a raspberry mojito and it was also delicious (but I'd recommend the melon!).

Once our friend arrived, we were quickly seated for dinner. I wouldn't necessarily say that the server was fabulous but she wasn't awful. She brought out some fantastic bread with olive oil. A friend complained that the bread wasn't served warmly and I have to sort of agree here. We were served warm bread AT THE BAR.


One thing I love about this place is that wide variety of menu options. They have your meats, seafood and vegetarian entrees. I ordered the FATTEH BEL BATHENJAN - eggplant and chickpeas, topped with toasted lebanese bread, smothered with warm yogurt and sauteed pine nuts garnished with pomegranate seeds, when in season ($14).


It was good although a little too creamy for my palate.

My friend ordered the FATTEH BEL DJAJE - seasoned chunks of chicken breast layered over chickpeas toasted pita, smothered with warm yogurt sauce, pine nuts and garlic garnished with pomegranate seeds, when in season ($15).


I think she liked it? I didn't hear any complaints!

My other friend decided to order some tapas for variety. She got the FALAFEL - chickpea and fava bean fritters served with tahini ($6), BABA GHANNOUGE - eggplant puree with tahini, lemon juice and garlic with olive oil ($6) and (I think) the KIBBEH YOGHURTLIEH - small kibbeh balls topped with pita, yogurt, butter & pine nuts ($6).


I sampled some of the bab ghannouge and it was fabulous. She also seemed to enjoy her meal very much.

Overall - I'd recommend this restaurant. It's located in the uber hip Harbor East so parking may be somewhat of an issue but they offer valet! Even if you don't want to stop here for dinner, it would be a great start point for drinks and there are plenty of other restaurants in the area.

I do feel it necessary to mention, however, that my husband wasn't a big fan of this place the first time we tried it. I do have to agree that the food doesn't match the ambience but I still think it's worth checking out if you're in the area.

One World Cafe

100 West University Parkway
Baltimore, MD 21210

My husband and I decided to give One World Café a try mostly because I had decided to go vegan for the week. Sadly, Baltimore doesn't offer many vegan-friendly restaurants. One World happens to be 1 of 3 vegan friendly restaurants in the city.

Regardless - we made the trek across town to check it out. I hadn't visited this place in over 7 years and didn't remember it being anything but a coffee house/bar. I looked it up and was pleased to see that it offered so much more! Although some of the reviews weren't very promising. One of the biggest complaints was in regards to parking since it's located right by Johns Hopkins University.

We were surprised that we were able to park so easily, closely and for free. My husband pointed out that school wasn't in session so this was probably why it wasn't a problem.

We walked into the restaurant and were quickly seated. I thought our server was attentive and nice. She wasn't super friendly but I don't usually expect anyone to gush or hang about to make small talk.

Their menu is very user/vegan friendly and they clearly mark all menu items with a small "V" to indicate if the dish is vegan or not.

We started off with the Mexican refried pinto bean dip ($4.95) - Topped with house salsa, fresh cilantro & tortilla chips.


The dip was great. Our only complaint was that their chip to dip ratio wasn't very good and we were scooping a TON of dip onto one chip since there weren't enough chips.

I decided to get the Steamed Veggies & Ginger Baked Organic Tofu ($9.95) - served over organic brown rice, topped with tangy tahini sauce.


I thought the dish was good. Plenty of food and chock full of vegetables. I wasn't crazy about the ginger flavor or the tahini sauce but I should have known better. I wasn't really in the mood for something so "creamy" and that's exactly what the tahini sauce is. I think on another day, I would have loved this dish.

My husband went with the Lasagna ($13.95) - made of specialty cheese and pasta loaded with vegetables and made completely from scratch.


He liked his meal but said, "I wasn't overly impressed."

I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and have to say this was fantastic! It's not often that I get to eat lasagna that is full of vegetables. Most likely - I would order this the next time I visit.

Overall - I'd recommend One World Café for vegans, vegetarians or those who have a vegan/vegetarian in their lives but who are omnivores. They have a wide variety of menu options that looks like it would satisfy all palates.

Pasticcio Italian Kitchen

2400 Boston St.
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-522-7700

My husband and I are always on the lookout for a good pizza place. What can we say? We love pizza. Pasticcio's was recommended by some pals whose food critiques we fully trust.

One a particular weeknight, we were craving pizza but wanted to try our hand at a new place (instead of the usual place we love). Since we were curious about Pasticcio's, we thought it was a great opportunity to pop by.

Upon entering Pasticcio's, we were surprised to see that it was a sit-down restaurant (with carry-out) since the restaurant prior was more of a self-serve type establishment. The interior reminded me of a pizza parlor that would be located on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Take from that whatever you will…

We shared a Greek salad as a starter.

The salad was okay and I have no real complaints about it. I mean, we ordered a salad in a pizza place - what do you expect? I was incredibly disappointed in the bread that they brought out with the starter. It reeked of frozen Italian bread (or at least national chain brand that you buy from the grocery store). It was hard and tasteless.

Onto the main course. I'm not quite sure why neither of us opted for pizza since that was what we were originally craving. I ordered a penne pasta dish that consisted of artichoke hearts and mushrooms.



I was served a pasta dish whose cheap-o canned sauce was watered down and tasteless. To make matters worse, it was served with what appeared and tasted like frozen Italian bread! I was incredibly disappointed.

My husband claimed that his cheesesteak was equally awful. That was about the only word he used to describe it and he's got a pretty unpicky palate when it comes to junk food.


While our waitress was very polite, she wasn't very attentive and after waiting for about 15 minutes for our check - my husband walked up to the counter to request it.

My friends were surprised that I didn't like this establishment so I'm willing to give it another shot - but I'm definitely going for pizza! We noticed a lot of customers picking up pizza so perhaps it isn't so bad.

My husband isn't quite so willing to go back and has deemed this place "Nasty-ccio's". Proceed with caution.

Memsahib

400 West Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 576-7777
Buffet Lunch - Mon-Fri: 11:30AM - 2:30PM
Dinner - Tues-Sat: 6:00PM - 9:00PM

This might be the worst good review I have ever written and it should be reason enough that I shouldn't wait so long to post a review on a restaurant.

Last week, Baltimore hosted its semi-annual Restaurant Week. This generally gives people a chance to branch out and try restaurants they either wouldn't normally try or it just gives people the idea that they must eat out as much as possible during this week.

My husband called me at work this past Thursday and asked if I was interested in trying out this restaurant. We're big fans of Indian food so finding a good Indian restaurant in the city is very exciting for us. He e-mailed me their sample menu and I was pleased to see vegetarian options (although most Indian restaurants are vegetarian-friendly).

The restaurant is located just outside of the famed Lexington Market (and was ridiculously difficult for us to find). While the area surrounding Lexington Market is a bit sketchy at night, there is a parking garage located directly across the street for customers.

When we walked into the restaurant, we were quickly seated at a u-shaped table. It was a bit strange to be sitting next to my husband while eating (since we normally sit across from each other when dining out). The restaurant was dimly lit and decorated with exotic pillows, lights, etc and was playing Indian music videos on a large projector screen against the wall.

The waiter was incredibly friendly and attentive.

Now here's the part where it helps to write a review the next day. Due to the dim lighting, I wasn't able to take any pictures therefore I don't really remember what I ordered. I can tell you that all of their orders are customized to the customer's preference (i.e. you can order something very spicy or mild).

Everything we tried was amazing. My husband's dishes were so spicy that he was sweating about 3 bites into his meal and he loved every bit of it. Between the appetizer, naan, entrée and dessert - it was impossible to finish everything so we requested a take-home bag.

The waiter neatly packed our leftovers and we were pleased to discover they he included an ice pack! We've never had that before.

We're definitely going to revisit Memsahib and highly recommend that everyone give it a try.

Liquid Earth

1626 Aliceanna Street
Baltimore, Md 21231

I have found Vegetarian heaven in the form of Liquid Earth. Liquid Earth is located in Fell's Point directly across the street from the very popular Blue Moon Café. I find this to be particularly funny because Blue Moon Café is known for using tons of butter and meat while Liquid Earth boasts fresh, natural and vegetarian menu options.

I had been meaning to try this place for awhile now but it wasn't a big priority since they didn't appear to be a restaurant to me. We were looking for a place to grab lunch on Sunday and generally just pick up a sandwich from Whole Foods. On this particular day, Whole Foods was out of my fave sandwich so fate led me to Liquid Earth.

When you walk into Liquid Earth, it's very charming. You can tell the owners are big believers of reusing and recycling as none of the chairs match, there are a lot of interesting knick-knacks and my coffee was even served in a mug you would generally find in someone's home (and not just a plain old white mug or a specific restaurant mug). I liked this place already.

There is a large chalkboard that features all of their drinks/juices and it can be a bit overwhelming. Luckily the staff is very patient and very friendly. We sat down to eat our lunch and I was thrilled that I had more than 2 options to choose from! They had a section on their menu dubbed "Vegetarian" and one dubbed "Vegan". While the Vegan side is a bit smaller, there is a note under the Vegetarian section that you can substitute Vegan cheese for a slight increase in cost.

I ordered the Raw Vegetarian Roll which is described as an "oversized spinach flour tortilla layered with hummus, slivered red cabbage, organic carrot strips, organic sprouts, cucumbers, green bell peppers, radish and button mushrooms". I was surprised by the size of this meal and appreciated the presentation. And the taste? Incredibly light and fresh. I was practically licking my plate clean.


My husband ordered the Liquid Earth Club. This vegan sandwich consists of their organic fake bacon organic baby field greens, red onion, avocado, sprouts and tomatoes stacked on multigrain bread with Nayonnaise (vegan mayo). My husband enjoyed his sandwich and agreed that he would come back to Liquid Earth (and this is a big deal since he's a meat-eater!).


I ordered a cup of coffee with soy milk and my husband decided to go for one of their juice drinks. He tried the Facelifter (honeydew melon, mint, ginger, orange and grapefruit). They served it in a measuring cup and a glass. I liked this presentation because it gave you an idea of how much you're drinking. I took a sip of this drink and loved the light fruitiness of it. It's a great summertime drink.

Before we left, we noticed they had a large display of desserts. We decided to try a vegan chocolate chip cookie and a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie. Delish! You wouldn't even guess they were vegan.


Overall - I would definitely recommend this place and it will probably become a regular Sunday lunch spot for me. If you're not so into the vegetarian thing, you should at least stop by for a juice! Maybe next time you're waiting in the ridiculously long line at Blue Moon Café, you can pop in for a juice.

The only thing to keep in mind is that this place is CASH ONLY. But being in Fell's Point, there are ATMs abound so there is no real inconvenience.

Jack's Bistro

3123 Elliott St
Baltimore, MD 21224
410.878.6542
info@jacksbistro.net

I had heard a lot of good reviews from friend's about this fairly new Canton neighborhood restaurant. I was pretty excited when my friends agreed to meet up for dinner here.

It's a cute little corner bar/restaurant with lots of kitschy-ish and swanky-ish artwork/décor all around. I can't think of a good word to describe it so you're stuck with those words. While we were waiting on one person to arrive, 3 of us sat at the bar to enjoy their Happy Hour special:

2 happy hours every day- 5pm-7pm and 11pm-1am
$2 off apps, beer and glasses of wine

My friend was drinking beer from the cutest little glass featuring an owl on it and being the true beer connosieur that I am, I decided to give it a go. I hope you picked up on the sarcasm - I picked a beer based on its graphic. Come on! Hitachino Nest-White Ale ($6.50). It was a very light Japanese beer and it didn't disappoint this non-beer drinking gal. But I think the cute little glass helped.

My husband tried the Rogue Smoke House Beer and said it reminded him of a campfire. I don't know if that's good or bad but the other word used to describe it was "bacon" so I didn't try it.

Because we were starving, we split an appetizer of grilled cheese and tomatoes. I'm not sure what the cheese was (provolone, maybe?) but we were served 2 mini grilled cheese sandwiches that appeared to have been cut from the bread with a biscuit cutter on top of a layer of tomato soup. It was very creamy and very good.

When our friend arrived, we all sat down in one of the booths and continued drinking and eating. I was told that we had to try the Mac and Cheese and Chocolate ($8.50). It consists of: Shell pasta, 5 cheese sauce, And Belgian Milk Chocolate. Sounds gross, doesn't it? It was actually pretty good. Weird but good. I don't think I could have eaten an entire bowl of it but it was the perfect appetizer to split with another person.

My friend ordered a tomato and mozzarella tower app that was also delicious. I'm not sure what the official name of this appetizer was but it was tomatoes stacked on top of mozzarella cheese. You know what I'm talking about!

We were also served some rolls with a homemade horseradish/cheese spread. Delish.

For dinner, I ordered the Bohdi Dal ($14). It is the only vegetarian entrée the offer and it consists of mild Indian curry, lentils, squash, tomatoes, and pita bread. Very good! It wasn't too spicy but it wasn't bland at all. It was the perfect balance for my palate.


I also ordered a side of the battered eggplant fries ($6) because it sounded interesting. I love eggplant so I was curious was eggplant fries would taste like. Salty friend deliciousness. Order some!

My husband ordered hangar steak (I think) and enjoyed it very much.


My friends ordered the Bistro Crab Cake ($18.75) that contained Dijon horseradish sauce, salsify fritter, and purple Okinawa yams as well as the BBQ'd Short Rib ($17.50) with Merlot Dijon BBQ sauce, French coleslaw, jalapeno, bacon and smoked gouda grits.

Everyone was quite satisfied with their meals and I saved enough room for dessert. S'mores. Yes, you read that correctly - they have a s'mores dessert!


It's a marshallow coated in graham cracker crumbs and covered in chocolate sauce. Talk about amazing. It's also served with chocolate ice cream. I was in heavan!

As for the service…
The bar service was good. Our bartender was nice and mentioned that the cute little Japanese beer glasses were the only 2 they had. Perhaps she overheard me gushing over the glasses and said it as a warning to not take one home with me. Ha!

The beer my husband had ordered wasn't chilled yet so she said she'd put one on ice for him while she got him something else and I thought it was nice of her.

Our table service was good but the server was just a little strange. I can't complain too much though because he was quick and attentive.

Overall - I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone. Next time you're in Canton, you should drop by. Just note that they only accept reservations for parties of 6 or more people. However, we dined there on a Thursday night with no problem (there were only 4 of us).

Annabel Lee Tavern

Annabel Lee Tavern
601 S. Clinton Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-522-2929

I recently had the pleasure of dining at the Annabel Lee Tavern last Saturday (6/14). This tavern used to be a little dive bar known as the Clinton Street Inn that I never bothered to check out. Once the new owners moved in and it became the Annabel Lee, friends raved about this place.

The tavern itself a bit small with a narrow walk through the bar in front. The back of the tavern opens up slightly to accommodate several tables for dining. I would guess (I didn't count) that there were probably about 6 small tables in the back? You can also dine at the bar.

The decor of the tavern lives up to it's name in that it is dedicated to Edgar Allen Poe. The walls are painted a deep burgandy with the words of Annabel Lee painted across the tavern. The mood of the bar is that of a very cozy study.

My husband and I were starving when we arrived (approximately at 9:30pm). We didn't have reservations but we had 2 very patient friends waiting at the bar for us for about 2 hours. My guess is that you should probably make a reservation if you're going to dine there on a Friday or Saturday night as the tavern was packed. The staff was very friendly and made great suggestions for meals.

We started off with the Baked Brie en Cruet (Phyllo encrusted with brown sugar and pecans) for $7.50. It was A.MAZ.ING. We commented that it seemed more like a dessert than an appetizer but that doesn't mean we won't continue to order it everytime we go back to this tavern.

My husband had also ordered the soup du jour and I can't remember for the life of me what it was. He enjoyed it very much.

For dinner I ordered the Spinach and Portabello Burrito with roasted red peppers rojo salsa ($10.75). Again, amazing. I love when a vegetarian entree isn't smothered entirely in cheese or cream sauces.

My husband ordered a fillet of meat and also enjoyed it very much. And I don't remember what my friends had ordered but they are regulars at this tavern so I can tell you right now they loved their meals.

We ended our meal with the Edgar Allen Pate. It's a tri-chocolate pate served with maderia raspberry coulis ($6.50). My only complaint? There isn't enough of it! It was delicious and it was probably a good thing that the serving was a bit small (because in actuality it was just the right amount to satisfy my craving).

Overall I would recommend this restaurant to anyone. The staff is friendly, the cuisine is fantastic and because it isn't located in the uber popular area of Canton, parking is quite easy. You can check out their menu online but they also offer different menu items daily (posted on the board behind the bar).

The only downside of my experience here was that the service was a bit on the slow side but my friends assured me that it was only due to the high volume of traffic. Regardless, if you're in the neighborhood - check this place out!

The Black Olive

The Black Olive
814 S. Bond Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-276-7141

I had been dying to try out this restaurant for a long time. It is located in Fell's Point along one of the cobblestone roads that make driving it a pain in the ass but look very pretty. Being a vegetarian makes going out to eat a little difficult because it's hard to find a restaurant that offers a palate of vegetarian options outside of a salad.

I met up with a group of friends (there were 5 total). We had a reservation at 6pm on a Sunday evening and were surprised to find the restaurant quite empty. A few friends waited at the bar for us and mentioned that their drink choices were fabulous (one had an organic white wine and the other an organic beer (Pinkus).

We were promptly seated at a table near a window. The inside of this restaurant reminds me of an old stone cottage. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. The windows were arched and had old vases in them. And the chairs were cushioned! I know it sounds ridiculous to compliment a chair but it was very comfortable.

The waitress was friendly and happily answered all of our menu questions. She also mentioned that if we wanted fish, we could take a look at them? As a non-fish eater I didn't quite understand this but I guess if you're a fish-eating connoisseur, this is a big deal.

They brought out some bread for the table with olive oil. The bread was amazing! Very dense, almost cake-like and delicious.

My husband and I split an appetizer of the village pie upon the waitress's recommendation. The village pie consists of spinach, red swiss chard, leeks, sheep’s milk cheeses in a homemade phyllo. Very greek and very delicious.

I ordered the "vegetarian special of the day" which consisted of grilled mushrooms, green peppers, onions, zucchini on a kabab with some roasted beets, hummus and an eggplant dip on the side. Very good although not really worth $28. I think I'm used to equating high cost with big quantity or perhaps a more exotic flavor. Like I said though, it was very good.


Amongst my friends, they ordered free range prime beef tenderloin grand filet ($38), Grilled yellow fin tuna steak, sushi quality ($29), the Black Olive Special Grill ($34) that consisted of Lobster, octopus, clams, sardines, scampi, shrimp, mussels, calamari and scallop on the grill and the Appetizer Combination ($20) that consisted of A beautiful plate of our four traditional spreads: tarama, tzatziki, melitzanasalata and hummus, with olives and feta cheese.

Everyone was very satisfied with their meal and the waitress kept up stocked with breads and beverages.

For dessert, my husband and I tried the Rein de Saba ($9). It's description sold us:
Flourless chocolate cake made with Belgian chocolate, roasted ground hazelnuts
and a rich ganache frosting, lush beyond belief.


I don't quite know what "lush beyond belief" really means but the cake was very good. Very chocolate-y although not quite as creamy as cakes made WITH flour (I'm guessing that was the difference?).

My friend sampled the pear tarte tartin ($9) and seemed to enjoy it as well.

Overall I would highly recommend this restaurant. Make reservations though because it seems to fill up! Halfway through our dinner we noticed quite a large crowd filling up the restaurant. They offer a large variety of food and boast organic ingredients.

The Schmitter Sandwich: Philly Goodness on a Roll

I admit it openly, I am not a native Baltimorian. I am instead a Philly Boy. I have been raised on cheesesteaks with sliced steak and processed liquid cheese and pretzels that you buy on the side of the road. Nothing warms my heart more than the site of a Wawa and the blissful thoughts of Rita's Water Ice. There is just something about Philly food. It is food for the people. One of the best examples of this is the Schmitter Sandwich.

The Schmitter, originally created at McNally's Tavern, is one of the specialty concessions served at Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The sandwich is considered by some to be one of the best cheesesteaks in the city. While I am a traditionalist who likes my "Cheesesteak, Wiz, Wit" the Schmitter holds a special place in my heart (mostly the clogged Artery part). The sandwich is comprised of some fantastic guilty pleasures, all Philly favorites. Yum. Just take a look at this artists representation of all of the goodness that goes into each one of these handfuls of deliciousness.

As you can see the Schmitter is no kids sandwich. Three slices of cheese, sliced steak, fried onions, grilled salami, and special sauce with stars in it (okay, so the stars are only in this representation, but boy are they delicious). There are tomatoes, clearly there to ensure the nutritional value of this monster. Overall it is one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

The Schmitter is one of those food items that people travel to get. Either at McNally's or the stadiums, people come for the sandwich (the also potentially come for Beer and Baseball/Football). One of the nice things is that the Schmitter has taken a little bit of a tour in recent memory. The Florida debut happened at Superbowl XXXIX and took a trip up I-95 to be enjoyed by those crazy and annoying Mets fans at Shea Stadium (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

If you get the opportunity I highly suggest getting your hands on one of these delectable sandwiches. They are a real unique Philly treat.