thetrain

I have been to this place many times and the food is usually very good, but over priced, especially for Baltimore. Quaint sandwiches are $8 and no longer come with a side salad unless you pay a $1 because they were "throwing too many salads away." Cookies, which are admittedly amazing, cost $2 and have a scant diameter of two inches. There have been a few misses, most notably an asian beef lettuce wrap dish that just tasted like unsalted sautéed beef with a few chiles in it...terrible, and a meh Banh Mi. Even more peculiar was this draconian policy from day one of disallowing all laptop use at 5 pm so the coffee shop could turn into a restaurant. The restaurant is still not full unless there is a special event, i.e. restaurant week, or ramen night. And its nearly empty at 5pm when ask people, who've often just purchased food/beverage to put away their lap tops. They kick out people who want to buy dinner, get a drink, and finish up their work at communal bar seating. Its bizarre. So I haven't posted about the place until now. When I saw this attached instagram I was puzzled. Did the owner of Dooby's previously work at Daikaya? If so, how was one of the asian dishes so bad that it paled in comparison to my admittedly half assed attempts to make beef larb? This place had "Ramen Tuesdays" during the winter that I never tried and now I wished I had just to see how it compared to Daikaya.

Ordering individually is a freedom - one that I'd like to have when getting tacos and baleadas! They seem accommodating though, so I'll ask next time I go.

The City Paper recently gave this place rave reviews. I was skeptical; El Charrito has my pupusa bar set high. But Mi Comalito delivers. The revuelta pupusa is a hair less delicious than El Charrito's, but far above many others I've had. The pork inside was crispy and loaded with cheese. Beans and plantains were almost as good as El Charritos as well. The tamale was average, eh you can't win them all. I'll be back to try the tacos, baleadas, and enchiladas. My major quibble is you can only order pupusas and tamales individually. Tacos come in threes, baleadas in twos.

Bottega is indeed small. A hair bigger than most carryout joints. The menu is equally small. 10ish items in total between the appetizer, pasta, mains and desserts. The food overall was great. Pricewise, an amazing value as well. The pasta dish could have used more sauce, but with the prices as low as they are its just a quibble. A salted carmel pie dessert was the highlight, and I think only 3 or 4 dollars to boot. This place would not be unique in DC, except for its value and BYOB policy, but its definitely a standout in Baltimore.

Yep, fork is used to push food onto the spoon - that is what I was taught by numerous Thais around the country 6 years ago.

The first actual Neapolitan style pizza I've had in Baltimore (when will paulie gees finally open?!). The crust structure was very good, but it could have been less dense. But the flavor was GREAT. Right balance of salt and sour. If the get rid of the slight density issue, I'd say its as good as Edan at Orso. Got my standard favorite toppings, but I'll venture out into one of their creations next time. Minor nitpick, they didn't make it clear which pizzas had tomato sauce and which ones did not (i.e. even the margherita had no mention of tomatoes).

For me, mostly its because they are easily portable and have high caffeine levels. Most, if not all, portable tea and coffee drinks have tons of sugar and minimal caffeine. Also, I think I'm one of the few people that likes the taste of red bull.

Tried out a Jamba Juice energy drink this week, mostly because the four pack I saw at Rite Aid was only $4. The apple flavor tastes like sweet apple juice and has the same amount of caffeine as a small red bull (80mg). At 90 calories, I wish there was a lower calorie/less sweet version, but the price and taste are good enough I'll probably try the strawberry banana flavor.

I've had Thai at a few places in Baltimore, this place having supposedly the best reputation of the bunch. While it was a little better than other places, it is still lacking compared to even the most middling of places in DC. Its not bad per say, but the giant stalks of broccoli in dishes and flavor wanting Tom Yum soup won't have me running back. Is there any decent Thai in Baltimore?

The pizza here (original location) is my favorite so far in Baltimore, Don is right the crust has great char and holds up despite its thinness. I've stuck mostly with my favorite toppings here so far, so I can't comment on some of their crazier combos, but pickled onions are great on pizza. The style is pretty unique, and reminiscent of St. Louis style (Hill, not Imo quality), but without the provel.

Tribeca Coffee Roasters is a small coffee shop just down the street from Brewers Art that puts out high quality coffee. They roast on-site (!), serve cold brew iced coffee (!), have free wifi, and would be mobbed if they were in DC. But they aren't, so if you have a long wait at Penn Station, I'd take the five minute walk down to Tribeca Coffee Roasters.

I'm surprised to see the negative food comments - I've been several times over the last month and had good luck with the pastas and sandwiches. Similar food to Liberty Tavern and similar execution, if I had to rank them Liberty would be better, but not by much. And the beer selection is great, and fairly priced. Sunday's and Monday's all house beers are $3.75 all night. There is no signage, so make sure you know the address. There are usually more seats in the basement, the upstairs is often packed.

Oh and tourist tips for Naples. Naples looks more dangerous than it is, but do your best not to look like a tourist and keep the same level of vigilance as you would in an unsavory part of DC. Castel Sant Elmo had amazing views, a decent small Art Museum (20th Cent. Naples art) and gets you up out of downtown, highly recommended. The subterranean tour is great as well. There is a train station museum by Salvo that looked like it could have been interesting. Also, crossing the street is pretty great once you get the hang of just walking into oncoming traffic.

So I'll start my Europe write-ups in Naples, mostly because I owe pizzaman an update. I relied on his tips and I intentionally just wrote down the names of the places, not what he thought, so I could make my own opinions. I was there for two days and made it to 5 pizzerias. In the order I visited, 1) Sorbillo - I waited over an hour for a spot at 10 pm on a Tuesday, and the street was packed with lots of young locals. $2 wine next store served in the street made the wait a breeze. Quite soupy (which I don't mind), not a great cornicione, not a lot of flavor to the crust, good char, but tasted better than any other pizza I'd ever had. Especially the tomato sauce. 2) Starita di Mater Dei - walk in during lunch, and easily got a seat. Amazing cornicione, crispy and soupy (!), amazing fried items, crust could use more flavor, good char. 3) Pizzeria la Notizia - walk in during dinner, easily got a seat, but mostly because the majority of people eating there were eating in large groups. Decent cornicione, great flavor on crust, great char, pretty crispy, higher quality toppings. 4) Da Michele - walk in during lunch, easily got seat, but I'm pretty sure that's because I'm an American woman, I realized halfway through I definitely got sat before I should have. Terrific char, very soupy, decent cornicione not a lot of flavor to the crust. I'd really caution against double Mozzarella, those pizzas looked like they had a tomato bisque on top bc the extra cheese emitted so much water. 5) Pizzeria Salvo - walk in during dinner, wasn't full while I was there. By far the best flavored crust, good cornicione, good char, high quality toppings, fried pasta carbonara (! delicious), crispy. Other fried items were a step below Starita. Overall Rankings - (the differences between these were not huge) 1. Pizzeria Salvo/ Pizzeria la Notizia - both nicer, more $$ restaurants, most flavorful crust higher quality toppings put them over the top 3. Starita - Best fried items, Great cornicione 4. Da Michele - Best char 5. Sorbillo - Was the best pizza I ever had for a total of 14 hours. The biggest difference from these 'zas compared to the US versions for me was the tomato. Just a completely brighter, better tasting product that made all the pizzas amazing. I'm a huge tomato lover, so I don't know if everyone else will think this difference is such a game changer. I'm going to try and go to Orso or Pupatella tomorrow and see what I think now. Special thanks to pizzaman for quickly responding to my PM and alerting me to Notizia.

Um say hi next time! I was there yesterday...full report of the 5 pizzerias i visited to come...

I've eaten sushi since I was little too, I loved salmon avacado and philadelphia rolls growing up. I agree, its pretty standard these days. Horrifically bastardized sushi rolls are one of my guilty pleasures. Deep fried sushi is not authentic, but it is delicious. I'm guessing I'm not alone on this front.

I haven't seen it yet, but judging by his absence on the casting list, per usual they completely neglect Larry Doby. Many Indians fans such as myself thought Cleveland should have worn 14 on their jerseys last week. On point, I this may just be my imagination, but I remember more vendors coming down the aisles with a greater variety of food when I was growing up. These days I only remember seeing beer, soda, hot dogs and peanuts.

Probably not. I've been a few times to his courthouse outpost, and I've always thought its inferior enough compared to the nearby el charrito not to warrant another visit unless someone insisted. But it was decent, and there are not a lot of 'authentic' taco joints in the highly trafficked areas of DC, hence the buzz.

Fiola.

Interesting, as a non-ethnic looking young white woman I haven't had much of a problem, and even what I'd consider preferential treatment once. They sure are specific with their prejudices. One person has.

I've seen the attitude and behavior Don described towards white men while I've waited...its more common when they are slow. They aren't friendly towards me, but I do get promptly served as a white woman. Once they were closing early on a holiday due to crowds, they loaded up a container for me with what they had left and didn't charge me as much as they should, they are nice on occasion. The special samosa at $3 is one of my favorite dishes in the city and can be a filling meal.

I also use Wells Fargo and might be traveling abroad soon. Last time I did extensive traveling I had a Bank of America account and fees were minimal (1-3%), and according to Joe H's link they still should be. I might open a Bank of America account just for the trip to avoid the fees.

I've gotten good service there, but I have seen what you are talking about. Just be thankful you aren't a young female when you walk by the line of day laborers in that area.

Number one is Eamonn's, Shepard's pie. Arlington. Number 2 is a Latin American restaurant, hole in the wall, so a random guess - Llajtaymanta.

Is that the signature Zaytinya olive oil/vinegar dish I see in the upper right corner in #3?