China Best

As I mentioned in the Dave's Famous BBQ post, I asked my daughter what she wanted this week and the other was to eat sushi. She's never had sushi, though she thinks that California rolls are sushi, which they are not.

Not ever having real sushi, I thought it best to take her somewhere that serves a variety of food choices including several different kinds of sushi and some Chinese food. This led me to China Best in the St. Thomas Shopping Plaza in Owings Mills.

China Best has an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, which in sushi world means crap sushi. It's not really crap, but it's not super great either. There were about 15-20 different kinds of sushi to choose, including several salmon, tuna, and white fish. There was one trey of shrimp sushi and one with octopus. However, about half of the choices were either shredded fake crab meat or whole fake crab meat. Most of the rolls included cream cheese or avocado. One tray had some hot melted sauce on top. I'm not sure what it was, but it was tangy, like a Thousand Island dressing, but at the same time slightly salty like a cheese.

My biggest complaint about the sushi is the size. These rolls are huge. I have a difficult time getting them in my mouth. My daughter didn't even try to get them in her mouth. She had to cut them in half. I've had sushi at several other restaurants and they are always smaller. But for some reason China Best seems to think they need to be the size of McDonald's hamburgers.

In addition to the sushi, we also had a cup of Hot and Sour soup. It wasn't too bad. I've had it before at China Best and it tasted like ass, meaning it was probably from the bottom of the 5-day old pot and slightly watered down. However, this time it was plenty hot and contained generous portions of mushrooms and tofu.

We finished the meal with our orange-flavored fortune cookie. Mine read, "Help, I'm being held captive in a fortune cookie factory."

The decor of the restaurant is old. I don't think it's been updated in 20 years. Maybe 30 years. It's very dark. The buffet is about $8 per person. Since it is close to work, we use China Best as the 'I'm hungry and want a ton of sushi' choice. On the other hand, if we want quality sushi, we will go to either Edo Sushi or Yuki sushi.

My daughter liked the sushi, so the next time we will try one of the other places.

Dave's Famous BBQ

With my kids off from work this week, I decided to take off. When asked what they want to do, my daughter said that she wanted to go to Famous Dave's restaurant. So there we went.

Located in Owings Mills near the Best Buy and a host of other restaurants like Qdoba, Noodles & Company, Tahinas, and Chick-fil-A, Famous Dave's serves a wide variety of meat. Non-meat - not so much.

Adorned with the southern BBQ pit motif, there are paper towel racks on the table along with a half dozen bottles of assorted barbecue sauces.

My daughter and I both chose the lunch combo platter. Our choices were St. Louis style ribs, BBQ chicken, sweet water catfish, Texas beef brisket, Georgia chopped pork, hot link sausage, and rib tips. I chose the Georgia chopped pork and the rib tips and my daughter got the St. Louis style ribs and Texas beef brisket. Each meal comes with a freshly baked cornbread muffin, a half ear of corn, and a sides. My daughter chose french fries and I chose spicy Wilbur beans.

Additionally we got an appetizer of sweet water catfish. For drinks I got iced tea and my daughter got root beer. I couldn't be drinking as we were going bowling afterward and who can bowl a good game after a brew?

After we ordered my daughter slyly asked, "What's better than ribs?" "Nothing!" I proudly retorted. "Wrong!", she exclaimed. "More ribs!"

The appetizer was quickly brought to the table with the drinks as if they knew we were going to order them. And they were GOOD. Hot, spicy, and good. And did I mention good?

Not long after that the main meal arrived. Served on a large round platter-sized plate, it was stacked high. The meat sat on a soggy piece of toast and my beans in a side dish. The corn was mushy, but sweet. The beans tasty, but still beans. Both of my meats were juicy and sticky and hot. My daughter loved hers.

Meanwhile, the waitress was very attractive. Why would I mention this? Because I said that she would be even prettier if she smiled now and then. My daughter then said that she wouldn't smile if she worked there because it would be torture to serve all that food and not be able to eat it.

Half way through the meal it was like an episode of Man Vs. Food. We hit that proverbial wall. We could eat no more. Our finely tanned waitress brought us a to-go box. And man did we stuff that thing with a lot of food. We probably should have had two boxes. And let me tell you it was just as good on the second day, if not better.

All in all, a good meal. Famous Dave's is not a place for vegetarians and I would have to say that the only non-vegetarian option is the Classic Caesar Salad. And that's not vegan.

So if you're in Owings Mills, check out Famous Dave's. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Nino Taco

I love me some good Mexican food. Or is it Texican? It really doesn't matter to me.

Recently, a couple friends of mine and I went to the Nino Taco in Owings Mills for lunch. The restaurant is located in a stripmall near Stephenson University Owings Mills campus, just off of Owings Mills Boulevard. Also in the same center are Bonefish and Outback Steakhouse.

The restaurant is a bit small. If you arrive late (post-noon) or any time on a Friday, you will have a hard time finding a seat. There are probably only about 30 seats in the entire restaurant.

The décor is Tex-Americana. There are colorful Spanish tiles and posters of Ravens players.

The menu is limited and printed on a laminated placemat. There are several meal deals, but nothing fancy. You can get meals like tacos, quesadillas, burritos, nachos, and enchiladas. Nothing fancy.

I ordered the chicken fajita quesadillas and a diet drink. One of my friends ordered a diet drink, the 3 tacos, no cheese, and an order of nachos with cheese. Yeah, don't ask. My other friend ordered the burrito, with a side of refried beans and a diet drink. Yes, we're all in our mid-to-late 30's and we think we are fat. We need to get ready for bathing suit weather. Who am I kidding? We're all married and our wives are stuck with us, but I digress.

There were 2 servers working the whole restaurant and perhaps 2 working in the kitchen. Needless to say they were all very busy, especially when you factor in the take-out counter. The drinks were promptly served. The meal took about as long as you would expect during a lunch rush, not extremely quick, but not long enough to get me upset.

The meal is served a-la-picnic style - paper plates and plastic utensils. My meal was hot. And BIG. The quesadillas were fat with chicken and tons of cheese, which I love, and were served with a side of salsa. Too hot to eat with my hands, and perhaps a bit too messy, I cut it up with my fancy plastic knife. The taste was incredible! So good. Just salty enough and the chicken was tender, not dry. The tortilla wrap was just crispy enough, but not to the point where it was flaking apart.

My friends enjoyed their meals, as well. One was eating there for the first time and he was thoroughly impressed. He said he would definitely come back again.

The only downfall of the experience was the time it took to get someone to refill our drinks. We only got one refill, which should be enough for a normal person, but no one ever said I was normal. I would have liked a third serving of the carbonated diet corn syrup. However, based on how quickly the 2 servers were moving, I cannot blame them for poor service. They were plenty busy. The restaurant could use a third server during the busy lunch period.

The fair is fairly priced, ranging about $6 - $15. I think the quesadillas were about $8, are great bargain. Our meal for 3 came to about $30.

I give Nino Taco high praise for their food and look forward to dining there again. Unfortunately they do not have a website, which means there is no online menu. That would be nice.

New Town Diner

11316 Reisterstown Rd
Owings Mills, MD 21117
(410) 654-0066

Legend has it that there exists a place where no man dares to go. Only blind fools and weary travelers venture into the darken spaces of their inner walls. Unfortunately, on Wednesday I fell victim to one of these places. I'd like to think of myself as the weary traveler.

On Wednesday I went to the New Town Diner in Owings Mills on Reisterstown Road with two of my friends. You see - I had a coupon. You know the coupon - the scourge of mentally deficient cashiers. But this one seemed straight-forward. If I purchased one meal at the regular price the second meal was free. Sounds simple enough, right?

We arrived at 12:15 and were immediately seated at a booth next to the front window. As we were being seated the hostess and one of the waitresses began to bicker. They didn't try to hide the fact that they were mad at each other. If I'm not mistaken, the waitress cast no shadow. This should have been my first sign.

Another waitress came and took our drink orders quite quickly. Coke, Diet Coke, and ginger ale. She returned in a quick moment and took our orders. My friend requested the egg salad sandwich on a Kaiser roll, I got the open-faced ham and Swiss sandwich with fries, and my other friend got an Italian hogie and an order of fries.

My hogie friend quickly realized that his ginger ale was flat. The waitress took it and replaced it with Sprite. At this time I begin to scout out the restaurant. There are not many people there. Perhaps 6 tables are occupied out of the 20 or so. I recall that the diner used to be a lot more crowded for lunch.

Our conversation is animated as we discuss our plans for Black Friday shopping. IPods and plasma screen TV's for one, digital gadgets for the other, and pretty much nothing for me since I can no longer afford to purchase anything beyond food and gas.

15 minutes have now passed and we are REALLY hungry. We start looking for the waitress. She has disappeared. 20 minutes have passed. 25 minutes. This is getting ridiculous. Everyone else now seems to have been served. Finally, a little past 30 minutes from arriving our food is finally brought to us. We are famished. It is now 12:45.

My friend begins to eat his egg salad sandwich. He says it's okay. Not bad, but nothing special. Hogie guy likes his sandwich.

I look at my open-faced sandwich. It's a foot long toasted sub roll with 3 slices of deli ham and a slice of cheese. Are you kidding me? The bread has been toasted to the point where it has no moisture and is like eating an over-sized Saltine cracker. After 3 bites I surrender 2/3 the bread and put the whopping 3 slices of ham on what would be the size of a dinner roll. My fries? I think they were cooked in yesterday morning's sausage grease. They are an orange-ish-brown color and lack something called flavor, unless you consider burnt fat a flavor. But I'm so darn hungry that it doesn't matter.

Plus - there's that rule - never send any food back. You know they're going to take a dump on it or something. So I complacently ate my giant saltine and ham and cheese.

Since we had about 5 minutes left for our lunch break we practically had to swallow our food and run out. I presented the coupon to the cashier. He was an older man. He read it and said, "I'll have to get someone else to take care of this." What? Is this something new?

I glance around the counter and there are signs everywhere about using said coupon. So obviously this is not a new coupon. I even noticed a sign that says, "Give us your buissness card and you can win a free meal." You read that correctly. Buissness. How do you stay in buissness when you can't spell business? I really wanted to give them the buissness.

Another cashier comes and reads the coupon. She reads it over and over. "I guess one of the meals is free?" she asks. "Yeah, I guess so." I'll give you one guess as to why she's not a rocket scientist.

So - overall - the atmosphere of the restaurant - gloomy. A lot of unprofessional hand-written signs on the wall. With misspellings. The service - the waitress was really nice, but the wait time was totally unacceptable. The food - my friends said their food was fine, but they are not writing this blog , so I'll say the food was abysmal. For $9 I got 3 slices of ham and a slice of cheese on an over-toasted foot-long sub roll. Who wants that? I sure don't.

I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Avoid this place at all costs. It's a waste of your money, a waste of your time, and a slap in the face of your intelligence. The best thing that could happen to this place is a meteor shower hits it in the middle of the night and totally destroys it and the employees find jobs outside of customer service. Grade - F.

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.