World City Guide

Restaurants

When dining in Baltimore, think crab cakes. There are none better, but that doesn’t mean that the city’s other cuisines are wanting. We have listed the restaurants below under five headings: Gastronomic, Business, Personal Recommendations, Trendy and Budget, with three restaurants in each section, thus giving a small sampling of the city’s good food. Price brackets are as follows:

$ under US$20
$$ under US$35
$$$ under US$70
$$$$ over US$70

Price brackets include a three-course meal and the equivalent of one-half bottle of wine but a sales tax of 5% is extra. A tip of 15-20% for the waiting staff is customary.

Gastronomic

Aldo's Ristorante Italiano
From expert cabinetmaker to talented chef, both of Aldo Vitale’s skills are reflected in his restaurant. The intricate woodwork in the elegant but comfortable setting was crafted by him, just like the southern-influenced regional Italian cuisine which he serves there. The menu changes with the seasonal ingredients, but pastas, veal and fried calamari are always available. Diners are welcome to tour the wine cellar and the cheese cave.

306 South High Street
Tel: (410) 727 0700.
Website: www.aldositaly.com
Price: $$$

Hamptons
Candelabras, fresh flowers and a smashing view of the Inner Harbor are features of the posh dining room at Hamptons’, where seasonally changing, unique but classic American cuisine and fine wines are served. Expect impeccable service from the moment you enter. Much praise has been heaped on this award-winning venue and it is well deserved. Jackets are required (with deep pockets, it is pricey) and reservations are advised.

550 Light Street, Harbor Court Hotel
Tel: (410) 347 9744.
Website: www.harborcourt.com
Price: $$$$

Pisces
Huge, revealing windows showcase the Inner Harbor. The multi-lingual din in the dimly lit room cannot subtract from this stunning view, from the award-winning cuisine or the friendly service, for that matter. The house speciality, cream of crab soup, and wilted spinach salad with warm mushrooms and onion marmalade, are amazing. Either will make a perfect first act to the succulent crab cakes or macadamia crusted walleye pike main courses.

Hyatt Regency Baltimore
300 Light Street
Tel: (410) 605 2835.
Website: www.hyatt.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

Business

Phillips Harborplace
Hungry visitors roaming the Inner Harbor for authentic Chesapeake Bay seafood, this is your place. It is easy to find (inside Harborplace) and the food here is consistently good. The huge facility offers indoor and outdoor seating as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet and a la carte. Though all the seafood is tasty, the premium crab cake is stellar.

Lower Level Harborplace Light Street Pavilion
Tel: (410) 685 6600.
Website: www.phillipsfoods.com
Price: $$$

Roy's
Roy calls his blend of European cooking, Asian spices and Pacific Rim ingredients, Hawaiian fusion. Others call it yummy. Hawaiian fusion extends to the décor as well - formal settings and tropical motifs. Though Roy’s reliables (blackened island ahi, macadamia-crusted mahi mahi and miso yaki butterfish) are ever present, the menu often offers surprises. Save room for the hot chocolate soufflé dessert. Roy’s is a chain, but who cares?

720 B Aliceanna
Tel: (410) 659 0099.
Website: www.roysrestaurant.com
Price: $$$

Windows Restaurant at Renaissance Inner Harbor Hotel
One of the most smashing views of the city is blended with a chic setting (huge chandeliers and lots of brass) and American-style food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner usually include fine service and some sort of crabmeat offering. The restaurant’s signature dish, Chesapeake Bay crab chowder, is mouth-watering, but other offerings like smoked-duck and rack of lamb are not too shabby either.

Renaissance Inner Harbor Hotel
202 East Pratt Street
Tel: (410) 685 8439 or 547 1200.
Website: www.marriott.com
Price: $$$-$$$$

Trendy

EurAsian Harbor
Exotic crab cakes? This is Baltimore, after all. Even a European/Asian fusion restaurant has a variation of the creatures. But the softly lit venue with a hint of Asia décor, an open kitchen and a somewhat strident background, offers more than the cakes. Sink your chopsticks into sushi, succulent dishes like miso yaki crusted sea bass in a shitake mushroom broth or a Bouillabaisse simmered in anisette and saffron sauce.

Pier 5 Hotel
711 Eastern Avenue
Tel: (410) 230 9992.
Price: $$$

Sotto Sopra
In the Mount Vernon Cultural District, a traditional, yet hip atmosphere (1940s-type wooden office chairs, a drugstore-tile floor, high ceilings, and huge murals) is the venue for pleasantly palatable pasta and yummy Italian dishes like portafoglio alla Milanese (breaded veal with lemon caper sauce, ham, tomato and mozzarella) or petto di pollo farcito, Fontina cheese-spinach-and-ham-stuffed chicken breast. Every Monday bottled wines are half price.

405 North Charles Street
Tel: (410) 625 0534.
Website: www.sottosoprainc.com
Price: $$$

Tapas Teatro Café
One of Baltimore’s hottest dining spots is the place to sup on tapas - hot and cold Spanish snacks, like mussels and shrimp on saffron rice or seafood paella, and even better with a pitcher of sangria. These ‘small plates, large pleasures’ are served at candlelit tables alongside an open kitchen and large cathedral windows in the revamped Charles Theatre, where waiting diners often trickle into the theatre lobby.

1411 Charles Street
Tel: (410) 332 0110.
Price: $$-$$$

Budget

Afghan Kabob
The small corner restaurant, across from the Legg Mason Building, is a departure from the usual crab cakes and seafood fare. There are only a few tables and patrons order their Afghan specialties – kaddo (yogurt-covered pan-fried pumpkin with ground beef), kebabs, lamb chops and baklava at the counter. Quick service. Take away and delivery are available. No liquor, wine or beer.

37 South Charles Street
Tel: (410) 727 5511.
Price: $.

Faidley's
Since 1886, Faidley’s has been serving my personal pick for the world’s best lump crab cakes. Located inside the bustling Lexington Market, patrons at Faidley’s gladly line up to order and then stand around tall tables to savour these delicacies. Besides the cakes, soup, oysters, clams, shrimp and fish are also available. Generous platters come with a choice of two sides which might be a salad or French fries. No alcohol.

203 North Paca Street
Tel: (410) 727 4898.
Website: www.faidleyscrabcakes.com
Price: $-$$

Jimmy's
Think 1950s diner without the greasy food. You know, the long counter, people reading newspapers, coolers of soft drinks. It’s a Fells Point institution and all the locals rave about the place. Jimmy’s serves up the usual cheap-eat, diner food – hamburgers, submarines, grilled chicken and cheap breakfasts. Soups and chilli are homemade daily and there are always daily specials.

801 South Broadway (Fells Point neighbourhood)
Tel: (410) 327 3273.
Price: $

Personal Recommendations

Gertrude's
The food in this cosy bistro, located inside the Baltimore Art Museum and named for the grandmother of celebrity chef John Shields, is as imaginative as some of the museum’s artwork. Appetisers like chicken fritters and succulent east-west crab cakes (of course) melt in your mouth, while mains like Portobello crab imperial titillate the palate. All is served in a simple setting, which faces the sculpture garden and is highlighted with black, light woods and white tablecloths.

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Tel: (410) 889 3399.
Website: www.johnshields.com/restaurant/rest/gertrudes
Price: $$$

La Scala of Little Italy
Two Baltimore taste treats should not to be missed – crab cakes and dinner in Little Italy. La Scala is a good place for the latter. Baltimoreans give its seafood with a side of pasta raves. Chef/owner Nino Germano serves up generous portions. Don’t fill up on pasta though. Save room for Mama’s special hazelnut-flavoured cannoli.

1012 Eastern Avenue
Tel: (410) 783 9209.
Website: www.lascaladining.com
Price: $$-$$$

Thai Landing
It is just a neighbourhood restaurant, but many say it has the best Thai food in Baltimore. The setting is nothing fancy, and the emphasis here is decidedly more on taste than looks, although some mains are elegantly presented. The sliced duck with carved carrots and floating grapes and red peppers in the sweet sauce on the side is a good example. Daring diners might ask the friendly waiters to order for them, but let them know how much spice you can tolerate.

1207 North Charles Street
Tel: (410) 727 1234.
Price: $$