Thursday Thirteen
Mar. 9th, 2006 08:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bks |
Thirteen Things about jmc 1. Gabler’s. Used to be a crabhouse up on the Bush River in Harford County. You could drive there, and it felt like you were driving to the end of the earth. Or you could sail there, and tie up on their pier. When I was a kid, we would eat crabs and French fries and drink Coca-Cola out of little glass bottles. Afterward, we would have a Zero Bar (kept in the fridge so it wouldn’t melt) for dessert. (Gross in retrospect, but it was ambrosial then.) There was no AC, just open windows and ceilings fans. The Gabler family sold the land for mega-bucks a few years ago, but not before I took my two best friends there to celebrate their upcoming weddings. One told me privately that it was the best pre-wedding meal/celebration that she had :), in part because of the friends and the location but also because the crabs were perfect. 2. Haussner’s. A combination German-seafood restaurant where the waitresses wore white uniforms and called everyone “hon” in their Highland town and Dundalk accents. M’s dad took the two of us for lunch there when I was a sophomore in college, and forever ruined me for strawberry shortcake. Best meal: Crabs Clinton. Dessert: double bourbon chocolate pecan pie. The Haussner family closed up 5 or 6 years ago, after 80+ years in the business. When they announced that they were closing, people lined Eastern Avenue to get in to have one last order of weinerschnitzel. The art collection, which was vast and catholic, ultimately sold at auction by Christie’s or Sotheby’s for multimillions. Dunstin's, a steak house, is in that space now, but I don't have the heart to go in and try it. 3. Henckel’s. A hole in the wall sandwich shop down off of Rte. 32, it made the best sandwiches. Nothing but meat unless you asked for it in the garden, which meant please add lettuce and tomato. And the gravy fries were good, too. Did a huge amount of business. Had dinner there one week, went back the next week and there was a sign on the door – closed for business. Don’t know what ever happened there. 4. G&M Restaurant. Still in Linthicum, doing good business. Excellent crabcakes. The waitstaff is pure South Baltimore-Glen Burnie, with big hair and black and white uniforms. They do a huge business in seafood and plain fare, and they ship crabcakes all over the place. I like to get the platter: I eat one crabcake at the restaurant and have the other for lunch the next day. Even my mom and her SO, a retired commercial fisherman, like G&M...and they are picky about their crabcakes. 5. Broadway Diner. Over on Eastern Avenue, near the entrance to I-95. Lots of good food, but their breakfast is best. Pigs in a blanket: large sweet Italian sausage, wrapped in oblong pancakes. You get three, but I can only eat two, and take one home for later. A friend of mine knows the head cook, and I’m hoping to someday learn what is in the pancakes, because they are magnificent. 6. Double T Diner. Service is iffy, but the Monte Cristo sandwich is amazing. An open faced sandwich made on French toast made from challah bread, layered with ham, turkey and Swiss cheese. Ham sliced from an actual ham (not lunch meat) and turkey from a roasted turkey. Plus fries and soup, all for less than $8. Can’t beat that with a stick. 7. Matsuri’s. Mmmm, sushi. I avoided sushi and Matsuri’s, despite the fact that I lived across the street (literally) for years, until a colleague from LA took me there. He said it was the best sushi he’d eaten since leaving California. I still tend only to eat the rolls and not the sashimi. My brother-in-law and sister, both sushi connoisseurs, stop at Matsuri’s whenever they are in town. 8. Petit Louis Bistro. Tuesday night, their special is cassoulet. Oh. Mah. Gawd. The portions are right sized normally – enough to eat and feel full, without leaving a lot of left overs. But the cassoulet has enough for two people to eat until they are in pain. And you want to keep eating, because the beans and the sauce and the duck and sausage are so good that you can’t help it. Plus, the wine selection is excellent but not too spendy. The same chef owns/runs Charleston, a power restaurant in Baltimore, but it is way, way beyond my price range. 9. Big Jim’s in the Cross Street Market. Corn beef on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing. And Berger cookies for dessert. I don’t generally like Berger cookies, but it’s tradition. 10. Tio Pepe’s. It has declined in the minds and hearts of Baltimorons in the past few years, in part because of location, I think. But the sangria is excellent, as is the sole with bananas. And the pine nut cake. The law firm I worked for took me there to celebrate passing the bar back in the day, so I remember it fondly, although I don’t get there very often. 11. Patisserie Poupon. On Baltimore Street downtown, in a not so great neighborhood. But worth stopping in for any of their tarts or cakes. I think it is family owned. The woman who usually waits on me seldom speaks, and then with a French accent. She looks like it pains her to sell her tasty French bread and pastries to this uncouth American who will not properly appreciate it. My favorite for a lazy Saturday morning: the pear croissant. But you have to get there early to get one, because they disappear quickly. Hmmm, haven't had one in a while, may have to get one this weekend. 12. Holy Frijoles in Hampden. Excellent margaritas, good Mexican food, and even better, they’ve expanded and have much more seating that they used to. 13. Mama’s on the Half Shell. Seafood over in Canton, on O’Donnell Square. Run by the same people (I think) who own Nacho Mama’s, another excellent restaurant. Try the orange crush and the fish and chips. Or the mac and cheese, which is a meal all by itself. I could go on. In fact, next week's 13 will probably be about good eats in DC or just generally outside of Balmer. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) |
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Date: 2006-03-09 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 10:33 pm (UTC)Mick O'Shea's on Monday Nights has $5 burger and beer night ... which is you know ... AWESOME (and they were voted best burger joing in The City Paper for BOB 2003)
Nacho Mama's is awesome ... and I agree about the Double T in Catonsville (I hear it's run by the Greek Mafia). I'm also a fan of the Hollywood Diner and James Joyce's pub.
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Date: 2006-03-10 12:36 pm (UTC)I keep driving by James Joyce's but haven't gone in yet. Anything on the menu that you'd particularly recommend?
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Date: 2006-03-10 02:08 pm (UTC)Mick's has got a great fish fry on Fridays (?) though ... (and the wicked cheap burgers) so it's always a toss up for me.
I also really like Spoons in Fereral Hill. It's a cute little coffee shop by Lexington Market that has gelato, great sammys, and in the mornings you can spot novelist Laura Linney (and maybe even talk to her!)
As far as bars go, I don't think you can beat Bertha's in Fells Point. One of my favorite crampped little bar spots.
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Date: 2006-03-10 07:49 pm (UTC)Love Bertha's. It's a cliche, but I even like the bumpersticker. Used to eat at Spoons semi-regularly, because I liked how laid back it was. But then I moved, and I'm too lazy to walk that far for Sunday brunch.
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Date: 2006-03-10 09:01 pm (UTC)