Mealtime | The City That Feeds

Mealtime! #20

What: Chicken Kebab on Nan, Pork Dumplings

Where: Silk Road Express (3400 North Charles St., Johns Hopkins Homewood)

How Much: $8.96

Synopsis: Slightly nestled in a courtyard (Martin Center) just off of Charles on the Hopkins campus, Silk Road boasts a wide variety of Asian and Mediterranean cuisine and it is cheaaaap. The pork dumplings (8!) were only $3.95, I figured as an “appetizer” it would be fairly small but it actually ended up being a meal in and of itself. I had to take the kebab sandwich home for dinner!

If you go, try any of their combination platters. Under $6, with lots of sides and options to choose from.

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CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!!!

For some of the tastiest, southernest, saltiest, giant portionest and most affordable food in the city, you’d probably be best suited to head down to Immeasurable Chicken and Waffle (1700 W. Pratt St., Union Square) post haste. They serve southern cuisine primarily but serve a huge variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Here’s some of what you can expect:

	Waffle with Wings ($6.00) – Silly me, when this dish was ordered I figured the wings would be your standard buffalo wing size – horribly incorrect. These colossal wings almost look comical sitting on top of a waffle. And if you’re really hungry, you can get an extra wing (BUT ONLY ONE) for an extra dollar.
	Catfish aka Whiting aka Lake Trout Nuggest ($6.00) – Went to order catfish nuggets, but they were out so we subbed Whiting instead. Well seasoned, piping hot and a pretty perfect side to split among yer freunds.
	The Immeasurable Supreme ($7.00) – ok this thing is ridiculous. 4 slices of seasoned chicken breast atop a waffle, all smothered in their special “Immeasurable gravy.” A dish like this in certain neighborhoods would more than likely cost $10+, but this awesomely delicious meal is ONLY 7 BUCKS.
	Catfish n’ Grits ($6.00) – See that white block in the front of the bowl of grits? That’s BUTTER. REAL butter. I’m just a yankee idiot and I don’t know anything about grits, but the person that ate them, who spent many a year in Georgia, claims they were excellent. The catfish was as you’d expect; salty, fried, well seasoned and fishy.
	Apple Cinnamon Waffle w Eggs n’ Bacon ($5.00) – Again. Five bucks for this. Plus they provided 4 pieces of bacon, while most places you’re lucky if they give you two. Mmm bacon.

MORE PICTURES!!!! Duly noted the fly trap next to a picture of Hepburn (huh?)

Anyway, those pictures ought to convince you that you should be eating inexpensively and awesomely at Immeasurable whenever you get the chance. Alternatively if you’d like to read a 700 word essay on the place, check this out over at CP.

Mealtime! #19

What: Chicken Noodle Soup, Roast Beef with everything

Where: Bouillabaisse Cafe (316 Park Avenue, Downtown)

How Much: $6.50

Synopsis: Bouillabaisse Cafe is a tiny little place tucked away in an area of the city that you’d probably never walk through on purpose, but JESUS for $6.50 you’ll get some of the best soup around and any small sandwich on their menu – and they have some wonderful food. A friend of mine had a cream of crab (for $4.50!!!) and it was tremendously good. If you work anywhere near this place, have lunch there.

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Mealtime! #18 – How much should a turkey wrap cost?

What: Turkey Wrap

Where: Cafe Azafran (3700 San Martin Dr, Johns Hopkins Homewood)

How Much: $8.50

Synopsis: It’s not often that I would use Mealtime! to disparage something I’m eating, but this turkey wrap – despite its decent flavor – was small and exceedingly expensive considering you could just as easily get the same thing one block away at a place like Hopkins Deli. I mean, daaaaayamn it’s expensive. Anybody else out there have an opinion on the matter? How much should a turkey wrap cost?

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Mealtime! #17

Beef Bulgogi

Kimchi Bowl

What: Beef Bulgogi platter, Kimchi Bowl

Where: Jong Kak (18 W 20th St, Charles North)

How Much: $8.50 each (lunch special)

Synopsis: Do you love Korean food? Do you love the most amazing lunch deals ever? Then you should probably check out Jong Kak’s lunch specials on the daily. All of this delicious food you see here is only $8.50 AND it comes with a wide array of traditional Korean sides (Kimchi, fish cakes, veggie bulgogi, etc). The kimchi bowl picture came out BOILING, and contained huge amounts of egg, dough, kimchi and some root vegetables. Oh, and some pork too. Their Korean BBQ is amazing too. SO GO EAT THERE RIGHT NOW!

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Mealtime! #16

What: Flag Pizza (large, 16″)
Where: Joe Squared (133 W North Ave., Charles North)

How Much: $23 (yikes!)

Synopsis: Posting anything about Joe Squared is kind of an afterthought since practically everyone knows it’s a superior place to get a ‘gourmet’ pizza. And this pizza, split into three different pizzas (standard cheese, four cheese, pesto and mozzarella) is living …er, pizza proof of that.

Each section has a distinct flavor, and the 16″ pie was large enough to split between 3 people. Which for $23 comes out to be around 8 bucks a head, which is pretty reasonable. I did note, however, that the “flag” aspect of the pizza is supposed to be Italy (right?) but the cheddar adorning the middle portion makes it yellow, which apparently is the flag for Mali. Eh, whichever continent you’re into, I guess. Thumbs up for this pizza.

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NachoQuest 2009 – Max's Taphouse

And lo, it is with great fatness that I present to you, my faithful nacho enthusiasts, the final official NachoQuest 2009 review. The winner of NachoQuest will be carefully considered and announced around the end of the month.

Ever since NachoQuest began some three-ish months ago, people have been telling me over and over and over and over that I ABSOLUTELY NEED TO TRY THE PULLED PORK NACHOS AT MAX’S TAPHOUSE (737 S BROADWAY, FELL’S POINT) BRO, THEY’RE THE TITS BRAH, OMG OMG OMG.

And for a while, I was pretty excited about doing it, too. They come with salsa, cheese, jalapenos, sour cream and onions AND your choice of chili or pulled pork. The kicker, unfortunately was that according to the website they’re $11 and there was no way I was going to eat them alone.

So, after a million weeks of not eating the nachos at Max’s I finally grabbed a few of my friends and we were off.

And then we were kicked in the balls by the reality of most restaurants not keeping their websites up to date: The nachos weren’t $11. They were $12.50!!!! Plus an extra $4 for chicken! Sorry folks, but that’s blindingly expensive for nachos.

….ESPECIALLY when we discovered a large amount of NAKED CHIPS in the pile. Not cool guys, not cool. Our other companions ordered a separate order of nachos with only chicken and the results were similar. Mostly covered and a decent sized pile, but with some very naked and very expensive nachos at the bottom.

At the end of the day, the pulled pork was tangy and tasty as promised and all of the other ingredients were fine and dandy. But these nachos are easily the most expensive ones I’ve had; the quality prevents them from getting a lower score but if you’re in the market for nachos, go somewhere less expensive.

Three out of five golden nachos (realistically 3.5 out of 5 but I’m too lazy to make the graphic)

NachoQuest 2009 – Kooper's Tavern

Things I learned while sampling the nachos at Kooper’s: 1) The addition of chili, in some cases, can actually elevate the quality of an entire plate of nachos. 2) My camera phone is horrifically shitty and I should seriously just bring my regular camera with me everywhere.

At any rate, the nachos at Kooper’s Tavern (1702 Thames St., Fell’s Point) start at $8.95 and come with the usual cheeses, jalapenos, black olives, scallions, salsa and sour cream. Add grilled chicken, $11.95. Though while I was ordering, I was told that I could either top them with chili or chicken, and could opt for a half portion instead of a whole one. Being tricky like I am, I opted for a half portion with chili – which came to roughly the same price as the standard nachos run. I for some reason was an idiot and thought that half portion = half price – definitely not the case.

The nachos were well loaded with the ingredients listed and salsa came on the side, which I appreciate since you can opt to dump it on the pile or dip individual chips (though if done correctly, the salsa should generally be incorporated into everything else). I think alone these nachos would have been just ok – but the chili really made a total difference. It was sweet, barbeque flavored and loaded with sliced peppers and onions, which really added a lot of flavor – “Zazz” if you will – to the whole mix. The kicker: when I was done with every last chip, there was still chili left!

Long and the short of it, the portion was good and the price was fair. If it were a whole portion for the same price I’d be giving these nachos 5 golden chips so fast it would tear your face off and I’m reaaaaaalllly leaning toward it anyway, but on the whole I’ve had more for less elsewhere.

Four golden nachos out of five

(view the NachoQuest map so far here)

NachoQuest 2009 – Holy Frijoles!

It has been said by some that miracles exist in this world. Sometimes, lightning strikes twice in the same place, or two bullets fired from opposing guns collide, or a dog gets issued a credit card.

This my friends, is one of those occasions.

I have heard from others and personally experienced legendarily bad food at Holy Frijoles (908 W 36th St., Hampden) over the years; tales of dried, cracked enchiladas, hard rice that could chip teeth and stale quesadillas that may or may not have been sitting under a rug some where.

But this time, THIS time. I am blown away. These nachos are fantastic. $6 will get you cheese, salsa, jalapenos, black olives and sour cream. For a buck more, your choice of refried or black beans. And for another added dollar, your choice of chicken, steak, beef, chorizo or veggies (those pictured were $8 with black beans and chicken).

What makes them fantastic? Well, the chips are light, unsalted and toasted to an almost-burnt but still damn fine crispiness. The ingredients are well mixed into the pile and there were no naked chips. The serving size, for 8 bucks, is pretty large – especially with meat included. And the salsa is fresh, with just a bit of cilantro.

But what set the value apart in my mind was this: for $11, you can get the “supreme” version of these nachos with EVERY SINGLE OPTIONAL INGREDIENT. $11 for nachos with cheese, salsa, jalapenos, black beans, refried beans, sour cream, olives, and all four meat varieties – AND veggies? Holy crap! Er, Frijoles!

Caveat – and this may or may not explain the quality and timeliness of service during my visit to this ‘versial establishment: I was the only one there, and it was during lunch. Your experience may vary and I exempt myself from any and all liability. Either way, this specific plate kicked total ass and it’s easily in the top 3.

5 out of 5 golden nachos

(view the NachoQuest map so far here)

NachoQuest 2009 – Paper Moon Diner

It’s like, you know… I tried. I really tried. I tried my hardest to avoid watching the guy behind the counter making these nachos. Throwing a pile of chips onto a plate, throwing on some other stuff and a bunch of cheese, popping it into the oven for a minute or two, then dumping on literally a metric ton of salsa, sour cream and guac and putting it in front of me with a “BAM!”

Needless to say, you can barely see the tricolored chips used as the base for Paper Moon’s (227 W 29th St., Remington) Machos Nachos under so much salsa, and for 9 bucks (add 3 more for chicken or portabello mushrooms) you’d be well served to avoid them.

But for the sake of record, the nachos come with tomato, onion, black olives and the rest of the stuff I mentioned above. And to be blunt, they were hastily and poorly prepared. And very expensive, considering what you can get for less at other places (chart for comparison forthcoming!). In fact, some of the nachos I’ve had as of late may warrant a reevaluation of some of my other scores. This was just… guh.

One thing I would note that might be worth trying for the incredibly curious consumer – they have a variation on their standard nachos called “Vegan Nachos” that use hummus and cucumbers rather than sour cream and cheese, for the same price. This I think could be pretty interesting, but considering the quality of the regular nachos I didn’t want to consider it myself (that, and I was full from eating the ones I ordered)

…at least it’s over with.

Just barely 2 nachos out of 5

(view the NachoQuest map so far here)

The City That Feeds

The Baltimore culinary landscape – without big words.

Mealtime! #20

CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!!!

Mealtime! #19

Mealtime! #18 – How much should a turkey wrap cost?

Mealtime! #17

Mealtime! #16

NachoQuest 2009 – Max's Taphouse

NachoQuest 2009 – Kooper's Tavern

NachoQuest 2009 – Holy Frijoles!

NachoQuest 2009 – Paper Moon Diner

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