Liquid Assets, Ocean City, MD

I spent the first 22 years of my life in Ocean City, so I get a little disappointed when there are restaurants that I have not tried.  Luckily, my parents still live there and I am slowly checking all of them off of my checklist.  One that I had been wanting to try for years was Liquid Assets.

I guess it was a little bit intimidating to me when I was in high school. It's definitely not a typical Ocean City restaurant.  When my mom and I walked in, it was like being in a completely different city.  It's half restaurant, half bar/store.  The atmosphere in the dining room was a little bit strange; it was really dark and felt empty on the day that we were there.  That probably changes during the summer and at night, but for lunch it was odd.

We both opted for the $8 Lunch Combo.  I got the andouille sausage macaroni and cheese and roasted veggies.  My mom got the veggies and a cauliflower soup.  Everything was fantastic, especially the veggies.  It was a blend of brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, and other fresh local veggies.  The portions were not large, but satisfying.  I think a dinner bill could probably get high very quickly.  But the quality of food here compared with other OC restaurants is worth the price.

Alewife, Downtown

The first night that we tried to go to Alewife, we were turned away at the door because they had no tables and did not expect to have any until 8pm, when the show at the Hippodrome started (silly us, we were going to the show and should have known better).  We made a reservation for 6 the night after that and had much better results.  We got there about 20 minutes early and the same man was at the door.  He tried turning us away, but we explained the reservation and he reluctantly let us go in to the bar area.  It is a beautiful space and has been converted really nicely.  All of the beer selections are written on a chalkboard wall.  It was very crowded and we sort of felt like we were in the way.

The  majority of us ordered the smoke burger:

An 11oz House Ground Ribeye, Brisket, Skirt and Filet of Beef Burger, Smoked Gouda, Gruyere Cheese, Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Caramelized Cipollini Onion, Chipotle Aioli, Brioche Bun, Duck Fat Fries

It was very good.  A few people said that it was the best burger that they had ever had.  The fries were also good, but they were cold.  The server was not great.  We sort of lost him after he brought our food and we're pretty sure he left.   Overall, it was a great experience with very good food.  They just need to work out a few kinks with their staff.

Olney Ale House, Olney, MD

I was happy to be eating at Olney Ale House for many reasons.  My aunt and my mom were visiting so it was a nice treat to have lunch with them.  I didn't have to pick the place where we were going to eat (I am notoriously bad at this).  My mom used to eat there when she was in high school and that made it seem cute and special.

It was actually very cute.  They had a fireplace and it felt like a cozy log cabin.  It was very busy, but the service was great (this is always a huge plus for me).  We all ordered a salad that they had on their specials which had pears, dried cranberries, pecans, feta cheese and grilled chicken and had a loaf of their famous bread and butter.  The salads were huge and delicious!  I love fall flavors and this was the perfect combination of ingredients.  The chicken was also perfect, which can really make or break a salad.  In fact the salads were so big that we combined them all for me to take home and I ate it for another two days.  The bread was also very yummy, served with whipped butter.

The Olney area seems to have a lot of restaurants popping up, but I recommend trying the Olney Ale House if you're out that way. 

Good Stuff Eatery and 2 Amys, DC

I am so backed up on my reviews. I can't wait until I graduate. But that's another tale...

We went into DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity.  It was a mess.  Such a mess that we decided to pass on the mayhem and wander down the street a ways to Good Stuff Eatery, which we had heard very good stuff about.  The line was pretty much what we expected and we did wait for a while before we got our food (at least we could watch the rally on TV).  We each got cheeseburgers, fries, and marshmallow shakes.  We agreed that the burgers were good, but not anything extraordinary.  I'd rather have Five Guys or Abbey. 

The fries were pretty great, though.  They have a little condiment bar that has different types of dipping mayonaisses to try. I believe we had Old Bay mayo, Chipotle mayo, and pineapple.  They were unique and cooked well.  By far the shake was the best part.  It definitely had marshmallow fluff mixed into the vanilla ice cream and was not as sickeningly sweet as you would expect.  On top were big, toasted marshmallows.  Yum.  I would recommend just going for fries and shakes!



Later on, we had dinner at 2 Amys in Cleveland Park.  It was a beautiful neighborhood and we were very happy with our choice of restaurant.  They are certified by the Italian government to make authentic Neapolitan pizza.  I've never been to Italy, but I imagine that this is what pizza tastes like there.  The service was incredibly fast and before we knew it, we were tasting some of the freshest and purest pizza you could imagine.  This is no-frills food and it is awesome. 

Brasserie 10 South, Downtown

What happened to this place? You can tell from the interwebs that it must have been pretty darn good at some point, but they lost a chef, succumbed to bad location, and just flat out started failing.



I think it should say a lot that I have momentarily come out of blogging hibernation just to review Brasserie 10 South.  I was really excited to try this place and I had been holding on to the Groupon for a while.  The menu looks fantastic; a plethora of southern dishes jump out from the page.  I decided that I wanted to get the shrimp and grits before we even left.  But we were not met with that menu.  We were met with a lunch menu (at 7pm) that had 3 appetizers, a couple of salads, and about 5 sandwiches.  I asked the server if we got the wrong menu.  Nope.  We could see that some entrees (like the shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles) are offered as specials on some nights. 

So how was the food?  I enjoyed the Doritos that my boyfriend picked up after we left a lot more.  I got a chicken caesar wrap that was dry and bland.  G got a burger that was bloody rare inside, even though he wasn't asked how he wanted it cooked.  This may have been the first time in our relationship that I saw him leave a burger unfinished.  A very sad day.

I'll also note that the atmosphere is weird.  It's pretty big inside, and sort of reminded me of being in my grandparents' basement; a little too glitzy and looked like it could hold a huge party, but there were only 2 other tables there.  Super uncomfortable.

So what's up with this place? Has anyone had a different experience with them?

Mezze, Fell's Point

I missed out on last year's summer restaurant week because we hadn't moved here yet and then we missed winter's because I just couldn't decide which restaurant to try (and I'm a busy grad student!).  But I was determined to try restaurant week this year.  I read all of the menus and made lists of potential places to go until I finally settled on trying Mezze.  Mezze had never really been on my "need to try" list, but their menu looked really good and it was an awesome value; instead of 3 courses for $35.10, you would get about 20 tapas dishes.  Bargain!  And I knew there would be enough to take home. 


Mezze is located in Fell's Point and it's a really cute little place.  We were seated right away with our reservation and were given the choice between inside and outside.  We chose inside, which meant that we were very close to the tables next to us (this seems to be a trend lately).  Everyone in the row of four tables where we sat was also doing the restaurant week menu.  Our server came over right away and explained everything to us.  We each got a glass of red sangria (on special for $5 each) which was very good and fairly large compared to other restaurants' versions.  Then we waited for the immense amount of food to arrive.  First out was some fresh pita bread, which was hot and very good.  I started to get worried here because the tiny table was already almost full with just glasses and plates and pita.


I decided to copy the menu here and just give you a run down of each item.  First out were the dips:

Mixed Olives

These didn't actually make an appearance.  Not sure why, but no one seemed to get them.
 Hummus
This was a really thin hummus, but had good flavor. 

Tzatziki
This was pretty standard, but G loves Tzatziki, so he was happy.

Tabouli
Very good and I had more leftover for lunch the next day.

Next, we got the "vegetable course":

Grape Leaves
I really liked the actual leaves, but the filling seemed a little under seasoned.  Plus for not being too oily.

Spinach Pie

One of my favorites that we had all night.  It was perfectly flaky and the filling was delicious.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Roasted Peppers
I could have taken these or left them.  The filling was mushy and I'm not crazy about roasted peppers.

 

Then came the main course:

Falafel

These were some of the worst falafels that I have ever had.  Very dry.

Shrimp Cakes
Interesting.  I liked them, but didn't feel like I would necessarily order them again.

Fried Calamari
Pretty typical calamari.  Good, though.

Chicken Kabob
The chicken was very moist and flavorful.

Beef and Lamb Meatballs
Very moist and tender.  They were good, but again I don't think I would get them again.

Baby Lamb Chops
My first experience with lamb chops.  They were decent, I guess, but I don't feel qualified to judge.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes
Good for a place that isn't known for seafood/crab cakes.  A little too much filler, but good flavor.

At this point we were stuffed, but the dessert course was on its way and it looked amazing!
Baklava

Yummy, yummy, yummy.  Lots of honey and nuts.
Kataifi
Kind of like the other two desserts combined.  Interesting and different and delicious.
Baked Custard

Probably my favorite of the three.  Delicious chilled custard with a yummy philo-type "crust."

The bill, with tip, came up to around $100.  We had a ton of food to take home, but I still do not think that the restaurant week pricing justifies a visit to Mezze.  You could go there, get only the dishes you want, and go home happy and probably spend less than half what we did.  The food was hit or miss, but the dishes that we liked, we liked a lot.  And like I said, the tables are really small and close together, so I felt like I was doing a balancing act the entire time.  A person at the table across from us did knock over his water and sent it flying every where.  My advice: try Mezze, get what you like, and don't go for restaurant week. 

 

The Dogwood, Hampden

The first thing that you will realize when you step into The Dogwood is how amazingly gorgeous the decor and layout are.  This is seriously a beautiful restaurant with amazing lighting and a perfect spot for a romantic evening.  I wasn't actually on a date when I went there, though; I was with roommate from college and we thought that it was fantastic.

I have gotten several recommendations to try The Dogwood since I moved to Baltimore, but had been putting it off for a while.  When my friend came to visit, I knew that a girls' night would be the perfect time to check it out.  It was loud in there, so be sure that you're prepared to talk loudly.  Our server was very friendly and helpful.  To start each table is given some homemade brown bread with a mango chutney butter.  Mmmmm!!!  Seriously, I could have just eaten this and gone home happy.  But of course, I needed to try more.  For dinner, I ordered the seared Cape May sea scallops ($31) with, sweet corn-local mushroom risotto with baby spinach, apple smoked bacon.  My friend ordered the local corn and mushroom risotto ($18), with baby spinach, garlic sauteed greens, sage persillade, local oyster mushrooms.  We were both so happy with our food.  The scallops were cooked perfectly and the smokiness of the bacon played so well with all of the other components.  I even had some to take home and eat for lunch the next day! 

The Dogwood is definitely a beautiful space with fantastic food, and very worthy of taking company!