November 16 and 30, 2007
In my nearly ten years in the Frederick area, I've seen Vietnamese restaurants come and go (my wife and I still miss Old Town Saigon on Rt. 40). Lucky Corner, on the corner of N. Market and 7th Street, has been our go-to Vietnamese place for a few years now. On both November visits we started with the grilled lemongrass beef appetizer. The small stuffed beef rolls come topped with fried scallions and chopped peanuts both of which are more than just a garnish. The rolls, topping, and dipping sauce nicely bring together the classic Southeast Asian flavor combination of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. One inconsistency we saw in both visits was that some rolls were moist and some were a bit dry on the outside.
One of my favorite things about Vietnamese cuisine is the combination of Asian and French elements. Sometimes when I order, I seek out such dishes. On the 16th I ordered the Saigon beef stew, which brought together East and West. I chose rice noodles to accompany the dish (egg noodles were an option) and the stew was what I hoped for: chunks of beef and carrots in a sauce but with Vietnamese flavors, including the usual accompanying condiments to pho, such as bean sprouts, lime, cilantro, chile pepper, and srichacha. This dish would be perfect for one who had never had Vietnamese food and was skeptical.
On the 30th, I ordered another special, the fried tilapia. This dish was perfect for someone who was dragged unwillingly to a Vietnamese restaurant - this, however, does not describe me. It was a plate of fried, golden-brown food: fried fish with potato croquettes. Rounding out this highly conservative, very Western dish was a salad with a decidedly non-Asian vinaigrette. The croquettes and salad were fine and uneventful but the fish was another story. It was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, executed well and simply. The fish was accompanied by the only real nod to Vietnamese food, a piquant dipping sauce. The problem with the fish was that the tilapia was unlike any tilapia I've ever had. If it was indeed tilapia, the fish must have been raised in a horribly crowded "farm." I would've been justified in sending it back, but hungry and admiring the crispy crust and moist white meat, I told myself it was fried catfish and ate most of it. After a review of two entree specials in two weeks, I might return with a review of regular menu items. Check back later.
Rarely daring, my wife got the caramel pork in hot pot, which is what she gets every time. One time it was better than the other, owing that to less salt. The dish is fine but it was better at Old Town Saigon, which is what my wife ordered. Always.
Perhaps Lucky Corner's finest attribute is the service. The restaurant is small yet they are always extremely accommodating to our two small children. The service is exceptionally friendly and polite; they seem to honestly care how your dining experience was. They'll gladly steam some plain broccoli (off the menu) for my picky daughter and are there in time to offer me another Singha (Thai lager).
Lucky Corner Vietnamese Finest Restaurant
700 N Market St
Frederick, MD 21701
301-624-1005
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Metropolitan - Annapolis, MD
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Metropolitan is a sleek, modern, multi-floor restaurant on the recently revitalized West Street in Annapolis. I had high expectations based upon what I had heard as well as what the online menu offered. The website proclaims its "pride in ingredients foremost" favoring local organic farmers while "technique and presentation are secondary." The menu, however, bares modern touches like a "strawberry-vanilla air" (accompanying pan seared foie gras) as well as beet and tomato "carpaccio." A restaurant whose mission statement follows Alice Waters' mantra with a menu that bares influences from the likes of Grant Achatz and Michel Richard? Count me in.
The meal got off to a strong start. We were welcomed by an amuse bouche of shot size glasses of a warm spiced cider, which was a nice beginning to a fall evening. Both the sunflower seed bread and focaccia were tasty and were served with orange butter (good) and parsley butter (unexciting, as it tasted like parsley and butter). My brother and sister-in-law enjoyed their well-made cocktails (martini and Manhattan, respectively) and my wife and I were pleased with the selection of Belgian beers (Hoegaarden and Duvel, respectively).
The table decided on the five-course tasting menu, which provides both surprise and opportunity for food discussion. No one got the wine pairing, which seemed expensive for a small amount. Our first course was angel hair with grilled shrimp, tomatoes, and shaved parmesan. It was fine but tamer than I expected. Little did I know that it would be one of the best of the five courses. The second dish was clams on the half-shell with tomatoes. The shells were creatively placed on a bed of rock salt; based on the taste, the rock salt was more than just presentation and was the theme of the dish: very salty. The clams were pummeled by salt and tomato; I didn't finish the course.
Course three: more seafood. The spice crusted monkfish was flavorful and was cooked perfectly. Though three straight seafood dishes were a bit much, the chef knows how to cook the seafood - none were overcooked. The quinoa salad was dominated by parsley (it appeared the chef was proud of the presumably fresh and organic tomatoes and parsley on this night!) and overall the course left me feeling like I had ordered a specifically low fat dish - this not what I'm looking for in a multi-course tasting menu.
The fourth course was one of the better dishes, a lamb stew with baby seasonal squashes. Rich, brown and flavorful, I liked the rustic quality of the dish, however, my wife complained that this was the second of four courses that suffered from a heavy hand with the salt.
The fifth course was a white cake with fruit and white chocolate. It was perfectly passable but it felt like, "Hey, the tasting menu table needs a dessert. Quick, grab something off the dessert cart!"
The service was a young, knowledgeable, polite, and attentive staff. After being asked, however, about the clam dish I did not like, our waiter's enthusiasm sank for the remainder of the meal as if he feared any further criticism. To his credit, he said that he would tell the chef about the dish. It was my mistake that I didn't tell the waiter why I didn't like it.
The meal had its highs and lows but suffered from a lack of cohesion and, at times, execution. The courses were also disappointingly conservative compared to the more ambitious menu. If I ever return to Metropolitan, I'm ordering from the menu (and I'll be getting the pan-seared foie gras with strawberry-vanilla air). $75 was too much for this meal. The multi-course beer dinners at Brewer's Alley in Frederick are better - and for about half the price.
Metropolitan
169 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-268-7733
www.metropolitanannapolis.com
Metropolitan is a sleek, modern, multi-floor restaurant on the recently revitalized West Street in Annapolis. I had high expectations based upon what I had heard as well as what the online menu offered. The website proclaims its "pride in ingredients foremost" favoring local organic farmers while "technique and presentation are secondary." The menu, however, bares modern touches like a "strawberry-vanilla air" (accompanying pan seared foie gras) as well as beet and tomato "carpaccio." A restaurant whose mission statement follows Alice Waters' mantra with a menu that bares influences from the likes of Grant Achatz and Michel Richard? Count me in.
The meal got off to a strong start. We were welcomed by an amuse bouche of shot size glasses of a warm spiced cider, which was a nice beginning to a fall evening. Both the sunflower seed bread and focaccia were tasty and were served with orange butter (good) and parsley butter (unexciting, as it tasted like parsley and butter). My brother and sister-in-law enjoyed their well-made cocktails (martini and Manhattan, respectively) and my wife and I were pleased with the selection of Belgian beers (Hoegaarden and Duvel, respectively).
The table decided on the five-course tasting menu, which provides both surprise and opportunity for food discussion. No one got the wine pairing, which seemed expensive for a small amount. Our first course was angel hair with grilled shrimp, tomatoes, and shaved parmesan. It was fine but tamer than I expected. Little did I know that it would be one of the best of the five courses. The second dish was clams on the half-shell with tomatoes. The shells were creatively placed on a bed of rock salt; based on the taste, the rock salt was more than just presentation and was the theme of the dish: very salty. The clams were pummeled by salt and tomato; I didn't finish the course.
Course three: more seafood. The spice crusted monkfish was flavorful and was cooked perfectly. Though three straight seafood dishes were a bit much, the chef knows how to cook the seafood - none were overcooked. The quinoa salad was dominated by parsley (it appeared the chef was proud of the presumably fresh and organic tomatoes and parsley on this night!) and overall the course left me feeling like I had ordered a specifically low fat dish - this not what I'm looking for in a multi-course tasting menu.
The fourth course was one of the better dishes, a lamb stew with baby seasonal squashes. Rich, brown and flavorful, I liked the rustic quality of the dish, however, my wife complained that this was the second of four courses that suffered from a heavy hand with the salt.
The fifth course was a white cake with fruit and white chocolate. It was perfectly passable but it felt like, "Hey, the tasting menu table needs a dessert. Quick, grab something off the dessert cart!"
The service was a young, knowledgeable, polite, and attentive staff. After being asked, however, about the clam dish I did not like, our waiter's enthusiasm sank for the remainder of the meal as if he feared any further criticism. To his credit, he said that he would tell the chef about the dish. It was my mistake that I didn't tell the waiter why I didn't like it.
The meal had its highs and lows but suffered from a lack of cohesion and, at times, execution. The courses were also disappointingly conservative compared to the more ambitious menu. If I ever return to Metropolitan, I'm ordering from the menu (and I'll be getting the pan-seared foie gras with strawberry-vanilla air). $75 was too much for this meal. The multi-course beer dinners at Brewer's Alley in Frederick are better - and for about half the price.
Metropolitan
169 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-268-7733
www.metropolitanannapolis.com
Monday, November 12, 2007
Barley and Hops - Frederick, MD
Friday, November 2, 2007
On a busy Friday evening, the whole family dined at the Frederick brewpub Barley and Hops. My wife and I started with the classic Maryland appetizer, crab dip. The dip suffered from some of the same problems as many other unimpressive crab dips: too much sour cream and/or mayonnaise and not enough crab. The dip was served with slices of warm, soft, salty, rich pitas, which were a bit much considering the richness of the crab dip. While I'm no stranger to rich and decadent, why must so much typical appetizer fare in basic "American" restaurants be so leaden? The appetizer wasn't bad - hungry, we certainly ate enough - but the dish wasn't memorable.
For my entree, I ordered the smoked meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes. My individual meatloaf arrived with a barbecue sauce. It was what I wanted: flavorful, moist, well seasoned, and with a nice amount of smoke. The barbecue sauce was sweet and tomato-based and tasted like commercial brands, possibly with a bit of oil or butter added for a pleasantly silky texture. The potatoes were flavorful with garlic and the bits of red skins added color and a chewy texture but the potatoes were slightly gluey (whipped by a mixer instead of mashed perhaps?). At $11, however, this is by far the least expensive entree, and overall it works.
The salads are fine - we appreciate the lack of iceberg lettuce (what a worthless lettuce) and we both love the sweet and spicy honey mustard dressing. We had a little problem with service, however. Our salads never came until we asked. Because my wife ordered the soup and salad, well, this is sort of a big deal. The mistake was made a bit worse when our server blamed new employees who were doing the prep work. While that might have been true, that's not my problem. The server is the face of the restaurant for good or ill and an apology without an excuse would have been the better thing to do.
My wife got the tomato-based Maryland Crab Soup with her late salad. She said the crab soup has a decent amount of crab as well as some heat, which too many restaurants seem afraid to do with their MD crab soups. I tasted it and I agree. She's tough on crab soups but is a fan of this one.
On the brewing front, everything seems fine. My Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale was well hopped yet with a nice malt background. My wife said the Tuscarora Red was nice and malty as usual.
Our daughter got the make-your-own pizza, which is a great idea for young kids. She enjoyed it as usual (and left off the pepperoni this time). The large open dining room, which is both helpfully noisy while providing some privacy in the booths, is great for families.
This wasn't the most solid trip to Barley and Hops but we will return.
Barley & Hops 5473 Urbana Pike Frederick, 21704 Phone: 301-668-5555 Fax: 301-668-5550 Open Sun 11-10 Mon-Thurs 11-11 Fri-Sat 11-midnight
On a busy Friday evening, the whole family dined at the Frederick brewpub Barley and Hops. My wife and I started with the classic Maryland appetizer, crab dip. The dip suffered from some of the same problems as many other unimpressive crab dips: too much sour cream and/or mayonnaise and not enough crab. The dip was served with slices of warm, soft, salty, rich pitas, which were a bit much considering the richness of the crab dip. While I'm no stranger to rich and decadent, why must so much typical appetizer fare in basic "American" restaurants be so leaden? The appetizer wasn't bad - hungry, we certainly ate enough - but the dish wasn't memorable.
For my entree, I ordered the smoked meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes. My individual meatloaf arrived with a barbecue sauce. It was what I wanted: flavorful, moist, well seasoned, and with a nice amount of smoke. The barbecue sauce was sweet and tomato-based and tasted like commercial brands, possibly with a bit of oil or butter added for a pleasantly silky texture. The potatoes were flavorful with garlic and the bits of red skins added color and a chewy texture but the potatoes were slightly gluey (whipped by a mixer instead of mashed perhaps?). At $11, however, this is by far the least expensive entree, and overall it works.
The salads are fine - we appreciate the lack of iceberg lettuce (what a worthless lettuce) and we both love the sweet and spicy honey mustard dressing. We had a little problem with service, however. Our salads never came until we asked. Because my wife ordered the soup and salad, well, this is sort of a big deal. The mistake was made a bit worse when our server blamed new employees who were doing the prep work. While that might have been true, that's not my problem. The server is the face of the restaurant for good or ill and an apology without an excuse would have been the better thing to do.
My wife got the tomato-based Maryland Crab Soup with her late salad. She said the crab soup has a decent amount of crab as well as some heat, which too many restaurants seem afraid to do with their MD crab soups. I tasted it and I agree. She's tough on crab soups but is a fan of this one.
On the brewing front, everything seems fine. My Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale was well hopped yet with a nice malt background. My wife said the Tuscarora Red was nice and malty as usual.
Our daughter got the make-your-own pizza, which is a great idea for young kids. She enjoyed it as usual (and left off the pepperoni this time). The large open dining room, which is both helpfully noisy while providing some privacy in the booths, is great for families.
This wasn't the most solid trip to Barley and Hops but we will return.
Barley & Hops 5473 Urbana Pike Frederick, 21704 Phone: 301-668-5555 Fax: 301-668-5550 Open Sun 11-10 Mon-Thurs 11-11 Fri-Sat 11-midnight
Thursday, November 1, 2007
That Cuban Place Cafe - Frederick, MD
Friday, October 26, 2007
I went to TCP Cafe for dinner on a cool, rainy Friday evening. I started by ordering the The Original Cuban Sandwich. One of the owners, Narcisa, suggestively sold me on a cup of the chicken soup. Based on the weather, it was a wise pitch.
The Cuban sandwich, accompanied by a few unnecessary fried potato sticks, is a large, hot pressed sandwich with shredded pork, Swiss cheese, ham, mustard, and pickles. The sandwich press melds several of the thinner ingredients into a rich, tangy whole that becomes one with the inside of the bread. The outside of the bread provides a nice contrast with its crispness. The flavors were great but the pork that night was disappointingly dry.
The chicken soup was more like a stew, which is fine with me. Served piping hot and with crusty bread on the side, it was rich with shredded chicken and potatoes. It was nicely spiced with a little bit of heat, however, it was a bit too salty.
The best dish of the night was a side of fried yucca. I've only had the dish once before at a Peruvian chicken joint in Falls Church, VA, and TCP Cafe's was better of the two. Large chunks of yucca, crispy on the outside (though not greasy) and dense and rich on the inside, is recommended. If you're not familiar, TCP's yucca is a great fried side for someone looking for a new twist on large cut steak fries.
The service is warm and friendly as are the bright orange walls in this cool cafe on the corner of Market and 3rd Street. Narcisa gave me some of the house made hot sauce, a fiery orange concoction with a pleasant, sweet, and surprisingly complex aroma of more than just heat. And Alfredo is the kind of guy who gives you your food while calling you "brother" - and means it.
Overall, the food was solid this night at TCP but it has been better in my previous visits. I look forward to returning.
That Cuban Place Cafe
300 North Market Street
Frederick, Maryland 21701
301-760-7776
I went to TCP Cafe for dinner on a cool, rainy Friday evening. I started by ordering the The Original Cuban Sandwich. One of the owners, Narcisa, suggestively sold me on a cup of the chicken soup. Based on the weather, it was a wise pitch.
The Cuban sandwich, accompanied by a few unnecessary fried potato sticks, is a large, hot pressed sandwich with shredded pork, Swiss cheese, ham, mustard, and pickles. The sandwich press melds several of the thinner ingredients into a rich, tangy whole that becomes one with the inside of the bread. The outside of the bread provides a nice contrast with its crispness. The flavors were great but the pork that night was disappointingly dry.
The chicken soup was more like a stew, which is fine with me. Served piping hot and with crusty bread on the side, it was rich with shredded chicken and potatoes. It was nicely spiced with a little bit of heat, however, it was a bit too salty.
The best dish of the night was a side of fried yucca. I've only had the dish once before at a Peruvian chicken joint in Falls Church, VA, and TCP Cafe's was better of the two. Large chunks of yucca, crispy on the outside (though not greasy) and dense and rich on the inside, is recommended. If you're not familiar, TCP's yucca is a great fried side for someone looking for a new twist on large cut steak fries.
The service is warm and friendly as are the bright orange walls in this cool cafe on the corner of Market and 3rd Street. Narcisa gave me some of the house made hot sauce, a fiery orange concoction with a pleasant, sweet, and surprisingly complex aroma of more than just heat. And Alfredo is the kind of guy who gives you your food while calling you "brother" - and means it.
Overall, the food was solid this night at TCP but it has been better in my previous visits. I look forward to returning.
That Cuban Place Cafe
300 North Market Street
Frederick, Maryland 21701
301-760-7776
Monday, October 29, 2007
COMING UP SOON...
I live and work in Frederick County, Maryland. My other pursuits take me other places. I'll start blogging soon with an intended focus on restaurants in and around Frederick but I will also blog about cooking.
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