MissCindy

A good question. This sort of situation really put a damper on a meal I had not so long ago at one of DC’s highly respected, sacred cow type restaurants. I didn’t complain at the time, so I won’t mention the name for fear of being stoned and not in the good way. We had the great misfortune to be unfortunately seated. On one side of us, a man and woman were having a surprisingly loud and painfully dull business discussion. On the other side, there was a familial gathering featuring a drunk, shrieking matriarch. The decibel level of each table increased throughout the evening. It is disappointing when loud mouthed, self important assholes significantly diminish the pleasure of a $600 dinner. Is it really your responsibility to point out the painfully obvious to the staff? “Uh, excuse me, but the people seated near us are screaming. In fact, one of them is quite drunk and has decided to stand while screaming, as you can plainly see. My husband and I are having a difficult time speaking to one another in a normal tone of voice. The din is also preventing me from fully focusing on the food, which was, believe it or not, the main purpose of our visit. If I had wanted to get drunk and scream I would’ve stayed home and went to one of Baltimore’s many neighborhood bars where that type of behavior is often tolerated. Thank you.”

I love Dangerously Delicious Pies, chocolate chess is my fav. It is a small operation and I have heard in the past that he gets quite overwhelmed during Thanksgiving. Perhaps he is better prepared now (this was a few years ago) but I must admit that it would give me pause. Rodney does make a kick ass pie, though.

I swear I think I recall this thread on egullet and if I'm correct, it was Helen's Garden. She was fully warned. Barbara clearly enjoys the company of her relatives almost as much as I enjoy the company of some of mine.

Hmmm...too much filler in Faidley's jumbo lump. That's disturbing. I thought that Ms. Devine still made the crabcakes every day but who knows. I believe the current and long standing owners, Bill and Nancy Devine, are somehow related to the Faidley family, btw.

Glad that you loved the atmosphere, so do I, but I have to ask...did you get the jumbo lump crabcake? It has very, very little filler. If it did, something was awry.

We managed to get a lunch reservation for L'Astrance the last time we were in Paris and it was well worth the effort and expense. It is the only restaurant where I've ever been asked to guess what I just ate.

I will come to the defense of the “ambiance” at Faidley’s, not to pick a fight (honest), just to share an opposing point of view. I’m a bit sentimental about it but Faidley’s really is one of the last standing representatives of the old fashioned seafood joint in Baltimore. For me, it represents an entire culture that is slowly but surely fading away—today more than ever—as an astonishing number of million dollar condos are being built along with waterfront. Would I go there to celebrate an anniversary? Hell no. But, would I go to wile away a cloudy Saturday? For sure. One of the many things I love about Faidley’s is the notable absence of b.s. Absolutely none. Crusty guys gutting fish, scales flying over your head while the women behind the crabcake counter won’t hesitate to yell at the customers, if they have it coming to them. I love the fact that it has been around since the 1880’s and relatives of the original family still own it. And, speaking of that family, I love it that Mr. Devine can usually be found, wearing that incredibly silly hat, on one side of the store, helping people select fish, while his wife is on the other, overseeing the crabcake production. They are there nearly every day and have been for as long as I can remember and I’ve lived here my entire life. I love the signs touting muskrat and raccoon. Those signs scared me as a child and I still feel slightly uncomfortable when I look at them. I love that. And, I love it that you stand there, eating one of the best crabcakes on earth, drinking bad draft beer, while striking up conversations with people of every imaginable stripe. When I get tired of the trendy, the generic and the self-satisfied, Faidley’s fixes it. In short order.

This question hinges on the “decent” atmosphere part of the question since the vast majority of restaurants in Baltimore have crabcakes on the menu. It pretty much runs the gamut from Lexington Market to Charleston (not open for lunch). My favorite crabcake in town is the jumbo lump at Faidley’s in Lexington Market. Probably not what you have in mind for a friend’s bd, unless your friend would be into standing up at one of the tables and drinking bad draft beer…you could follow it up with a Berger cookie cake from the Berger stand in the market. That actually sounds like a really good time to me but I'm probably in the minority. Cross Street Market is also a fun place for crabcakes and steamed shrimp and is a step up in atmosphere but I’m still not sure whether it meets the “decent” criteria. Mama’s on the Half Shell in Canton is a favorite seafood place for many and it has a pleasant but not fancy atmosphere.

Curious to know who the crazy guy is...my guess is Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes. His cakes are never dull.

We’ve been spending a lot of time in DC recently and so far, Palena’s front room is the one place that I really, truly loved. If we lived down there, we would be there frequently. The roast chicken was everything it’s been cracked up to be.

I haven’t been to Pazo in awhile myself but I do plan to go sometime very soon. I really crave Pazo’s food in fall and winter – their meat dishes, like the slow cooked lamb, for instance, are my absolute favs. Of course, off nights are always possible but I’d be surprised (and deeply saddened) if it goes seriously downhill. I think Tony Forman cares too much and works too hard for that. Spotted him, btw, last weekend at the downtown farmer’s market, very early, picking out apples.

I saw Cornel West there a week or two ago having brunch.

I can top that - 14 - and I live in Baltimore City. I'm proud to say that Baltimore residents tend to fight the Starbucks invasion every step of the way. I fear that we will soon start losing the battle, though.

Kaddo borawni appetizer at the Helmand in Baltimore. Pan fried pumpkin with a yogurt garlic sauce. Good.

I ate at the bar at Babbo a year or so ago by arriving very shortly after they opened. It was an early dinner but it was hassle free and enjoyable. The bartender was nice (when we told him we were from Baltimore, he couldn't stop talking about how much he loves Peter's) and he took good care of us. One strange thing did happen - my husband went to the bathroom and the minute he left a waiter approached, handed me a Babbo card with his name and cell number written on the back and told me to call if I ever need reservations. I threw the card away or else I'd pass on his number.

We will be going to Mexico in January, splitting our time between Mexico City and Oaxaca City...any and all tips would be appreciated.

Have to agree with that. My husband and I once had dinner at Il Mulino and became totally transfixed by the table next to us. Two big, middle aged guys with slicked back hair and super thick gold chains with their two bleached blonde puffy hair, middle aged dates. One of the guys, in the thickest, nastiest New York accent you can imagine, at full volume, attempted to impress his date by insisting that he had recently had surgery without anesthesia. "I don't need no fucking anesthesia, doc." Highly entertaining.

I looove that place. The tortillas have become a staple for us—they are good with nearly everything. And, I am mildly obsessed with the carnitas tacos. I get wild cravings for them and nothing else will do. They are also my favorite hangover remedy.

I took a look too and noticed that Cafe Zen in Baltimore was on the list last year. It is gag inducing. This year Chinatown Cafe is on the list and it is not horrible, much better than Cafe Zen, but I don't think it is great by any stretch.

A few friends and I had dinner at Queen Makeda a little while ago prior to a show at the (what I still think of as the new and not nearly as cool) 9:30. People have described this place as third world (accurate) but also as serving some of the best Ethiopian in DC right now (can’t say how accurate that is) so I had to give it a go. We walked into the unlit room and found one other person, an Ethiopian guy who appeared to be having a bad day. Possibly a bad life. He was sitting at a table, watching television and drinking what I presume was one of many beers he had enjoyed prior to our arrival. A woman came out of the kitchen, turned off the tv, ordered him to move and sat us down at the table where he had been sitting. The table was covered with a filthy tablecloth that had sizable chunks of dried crud on it. The crud had made itself at home, it was not fresh crud. The intoxicated man was clearly not happy about something--the seating arrangements, the turned off television, the weather--who knows. The woman got us beers and put a tape of Ethiopian music into the cassette deck. Rock-n-roll. We settled in and asked what was good. She told us chicken and greens. Ok…but, are there any lentils? No, no lentils. Ok, that’s fine, just feed us. She goes away and after a time, a long time, like an hour or so, heavenly smells begin to waft out of the kitchen. In the meantime, we drink our beers and become surrounded by swarms of aggressive fruit flies. And, interestingly, we watch as intoxicated man morphs into Angry Man. Angry Man occasionally looked our way and stammered “ridiculous” in a tone that could easily be interpreted as hostile. Later, he got up and paced the hallway a few times, muttering that same “ridiculous” mantra each time he passed our table. It was charming. The woman finally brings our food and God bless her, she has made lentils. She looked at us with jaundiced eyes and smiled sweetly, revealing shockingly gray gums. She spooned out the lentils, ground beef and doro wot onto the injera. But, no greens. I didn’t bother asking. A few minutes later, just as we were digging in, she brings out tripe. I liked everything with the exception of the tripe — it is a texture thing with me - but I did love the carrots that came with the tripe. The sweet woman seemed genuinely happy when we told her how much we were enjoying the food. The doro wot was particularly good, the chicken was very tender and the flavors were big--full, intense and earthy. Darkness came. Outside and inside. People started filing into the room from upstairs and a spirited discussion at least and a fairly serious argument at most, ensued. Angry Man pointed us out to the newly arrived crowd and once again proclaimed us “ridiculous.” It was the only word he spoke in English the entire evening. The upside of the dark room was that it was suddenly very easy to avoid eye contact with Angry Man. The downside was that it became challenging to swat the fruit flies. I suspect we consumed a few. Six beers and dinner for three were $42.00. We tipped generously. Despite the less than top drawer conditions and a pesky lingering thought that we should’ve had a vaccination or two prior to our visit, we enjoyed ourselves. Not something I’d be in the mood for too often but I liked the food and loved the strangeness of it all.

Perhaps Tony and Cindy should consider replacing their staff with robots. They could be programmed to answer any and all queries with politically correct, focus group approved answers. That would eliminate the possibility of human foible, whether it is evil, innocuous or just plain dumb. Then, Tony and Cindy would only have to concern themselves with continuing to turn out their incredibly fabulous food. People. No telling what they’ll say. Get rid of them all. Now.

My thoughts exactly. Generally, service at Charleston is quite good so what is the point of including this incident? (I think the "incident" was unfortunate, awkward and unnecessary but not sinister, btw.) Perhaps he included it because it cost them a fourth star, I dunno. Not to launch a star discussion but I think they have to be disapointed in a three star rating. Pazo received three and while I'm very fond of Pazo, Charleston is a step or two up for sure.

Yea, I'm sure you're right. Like I said, some of it is subjective. And, I know that other people have had good experiences at the Black Olive. I'm sure that I'll lift my moratorium one day and give it another try.

Strange enough, I have been to Trattoria Alberto. It was many moons ago and I recall that I was not impressed. And, the name really reminds me of those old VO-5 commercials. I wonder if they still make that stuff. The Black Olive is a whole other discussion - it is in Fells Point, not Little Italy. I've been there several times and haven't liked it. The fish was good but I have several problems with the place, some subjective, others less so. First, I don't really like being paraded around to look at the fish on ice to select my dinner. I'm a bit of a hypocrite about eating meat--just give it to me, don't make me finger it. Second, I just don't dig the atmosphere although I haven't been since they expanded. And, most important, I've experienced truly hideously bad service there. I haven't been back since the night that my party of four was left sitting at a table with no water, wine or bread for a crazy long time. Fortunately, we were seated fairly close to where the kitchen was assembling the bread baskets so I reached into the kitchen and helped myself. That would be the one and only time I've ever done something like that in a restaurant. If you are going to keep me waiting, give me wine and bread and I'll be pretty happy. No wine, no bread, no dice.

I honestly don't know of anyone in Baltimore who is truly interested in food who eats in Little Italy. (Not including a little Indian place, India Rasoi, that some people like but I still haven't tried.) I literally cannot recall the last time I ate in a restaurant there and I see no reason to change that anytime soon. We consider it--drum roll please--a tourist trap. I usually catch one or two of the films they show over the summer, which is a lovely thing, but that's about it. On those evenings my meals consists of gelato from Cafe Roma. It isn't bad.