Grace Garden

410-672-3581

1690 Annapolis Rd, Odenton, MD 21113

Holy crap it looks like these images are from June 23rd, I know it’s been a while, but I didn’t think it was that long ago. Anyway if there is anyone left still reading, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been on something of a hiatus. This can be mostly attributed to major Godaddy problems, but I suspect it’s also related to the malware problem on citypaper.com a while back. Anyway it seems I was infected with a keystroke logger and some asshole bot screwed up my hosting account. Long story short, I’m back and now posting about Grace Garden seems almost passe. But thanks to Dmnkly over at donrockwell.com, I managed to check out this place quite a while before it more or less blew up, having been reviewed recently in citypaper and in the Sun, I think.  The praise is deserved I gotta say, although some of the more gushing reports may be a bit exaggerated.

It’s located in freaking Odenton of all places, which up til just a few years ago I only knew of because my grandfather used to take multiple buses from Baltimore to get his hair cut out there. Never understood why he went to all the trouble, until a) I realized later in life how important a good barber is; and b) there is apparently a mini-Korean business area in Odenton, the current remnants of which consist of a liquor store, restaurant, and a night club, I think. Anyway, driving west on 175 from 95, you’ll pass by the prison and then by a high school, directly across the street from which is Grace Garden on the left.

The dining room is spare but clean, and after all you don’t drive to Odenton expecting ambience. TIP: Ask for the “real menu“. Dmnkly was immediately recognized and we got the VIP treatment as it were, so in addition to the entirely excessive amount of food we ordered, we were treated to some extra goodies, such as taro soup, which was pretty subtle and clean tasting, but a bit substantial for a first course:

the classic stir-fried kai-lan, or Chinese broccoli:

and what turned out to be by far the best dish of the night, a trio of bovine anatomy: tongue, tendon, and tripe that the chef had not yet named and called simply “Lovely”. Now I love tongue, and his was amazingly well prepared, an excellent balance of tenderness and recilience. I’m not crazy about tendon, but again the preaparation here is unimpeachable and the tendon was just the right level of gelatinous. Finally, I usually despise entrails, but the tripe was probably the best I’ve ever had, with 100% of the usual funk eradicated expertly, its spongy texture subsequently soaking up the delectable peppery, savory, wok-hai-y flavors of the dish. Man it was good. In our post dinner re-cap, both Alvina (go-to food nerd and Chinese person)
I agreed it was the pinnacle of the meal:

We thought for sure the star was going to be the tea-smoked duck, which requires 48 hours advance notice. And it was indeed very good, though not spectacular. The duck was well-seasoned, if a tiny tad salty, and really skillfully smoked, and I know from smoking folks. Very light, sweetly fragrant smokiness pervaded the meat, which was tender and moist. Thing was, and this is a problem with all smoked poultry imo, was the skin, which tends to become rubbery in the low-temp confines of a smoker:

Also outstanding was the Taiwanese-style fish, with very fresh-tasting tilapia(maybe?) fillets in an incredibly savory, aromatic, and bracingly spicy broth offset with little bits of Chinese pickles and bright, crunchy celery slivers. I think I liked it so much because it was essentially a Chinese jigae, the meal soup of Korean food:

And the much talked-about fish noodles, which in made from fish paste squeezed out into boiling liquid to form delicate, flavroful protein strands that look like noodles. Pretty cool, taste and texture similar to a quenelle as one might imagine:

In the less than overwhelming category were the kinda interesting but uninspiring hak-ka tofu:

crispy eggplant, which I ordered because I’d heard the chef used to work at Hunan Manor, which used to have an exemplary version of the somewhat touristy dish. It was really, very good, but I was chided to ordering such a pedestrian dish. Whatever yo, it’s one of my favorites, and Grace Garden’s is top-notch, if a tiny bit too sweet:

Perhaps the only real disappointment was the salt and pepper shrimp, which had a batter here, something I haven’t really seen. The few times I’ve ordered in the past I’ve always gotten unpeeled shrimp burnished to a golden brown in a stupid-hot wok with just salt and pepper. The shrimp here had a coating that became soggy and a bit heavy, and the shell was thus not as crispy as it should have been. I got some shit for not eating the heads, as these specimens were head-on, but you know what? Head on shrimp are a tricky thing, and these guys didn’t taste impeccably fresh to begin with (although they were bo no means NOT fresh). From what I understand, head-on shrimp need to be alive or flash frozen and used immediately after thawing lest the flesh takes on that weird, slightly gritty, mushy testure. And these did have that, if only slightly:

The chef very graciously ended to meal by treating us to an unusual dessert, basically a torte of custard, sweet red bean paste, and meringue, garnished with peanuts. He said it was a specialty of northern China, and was indeed a major change of pace from the mostly Taiwanese-style entrees. It was quite tasty, but a bit heavy to cap off the enormous and rich meal the preceded it:

If rumors are to be believed, the lease for Grace Garden’s Odenton space is set to run out. I’d like to say that convincing them to move to Baltimore would be a good thing, but I honestly can’t say if there is enough of an interested or savvy population in Baltimore these days to support this kind of place. Also I must comment on the incredibly efficiency of this guy – his wife and daughters attend to front of house duties, while the chef is pretty much alone in the kitchen. And yet, he manges to execute many, varied, and complex dishes at a formidable clip. Serious skills on display here, yall.

The other, perhaps equally amazing discovery of the night was made at the aforementioned Korean liquor store around the corner. Folks, I’ve had a lot of soju in my day, and the stuff we get here in US is utter crap. Even the cheap-ass plastic bottle stuff in Korea is superior to what they export to us. When I was researching building a soju still a couple years ago, I’d read on some random blog that one of the first exports to the US from the DPRK, or North Korea, was to be the governemt-issue soju, like Stoli is to Russia. Anyway, before we started our meal I walked over to pick up some beer, and lo and behold I see a small display of “Pyong Yang” soju. Pyongyang is of course the capital of North Korea, and I held my breath as I inspected the label – SWEET this was the stuff, straight from North Korea:

I asked to to kids behind the counter in Korean if they’s tried it or heard anything about it. They seemed nonplussed, indicating it was nothing special. Fools! People, this is by a long, long shot the finest, cleaned, smoothes, most delicious soju to have ever touched my lips. Seriously. I’ve seen it at two places now, this one in Odenton and te liquor store nest to Lotte in Ellicott City, but I imagine it’s available at any place that carried soju. It’s $5.99 per 350 ml bottle, which is a ridiculous deal, especially considering that a bottle of the relativley harsh Chamiseul or Green soju will run you over 15 bucks at a Korean restaurant. Stock up, this shit is the shit! But always remember that soju is the ultimate in “creeper” booze, and the smoothness of Pyong Yang could set you up for a major ass-kicking if you’re not careful. By the way, it’s pronounced “PYUNG YAHNG”.

Mc-N-Mc Pit

410-254-9894

6317 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214

Yet another brake-screeching stop in the interest of pit beef. On our way to Big Bad Wolf BBQ on Harford Rd., I caught Mc-N-Mc’s {pronounced “mick-n-mick”) sign out of the corner of my eye. Hopes of stumbling upon the mythical unheralded, really real bbq joint were dashed when we walked in to find what seemed to be a typical, if slightly more run-down, example of a pizza/sub place.

First question of course, are the ribs smoked? Answer: no. I did however detect the smell of charcoal, a rarity in such establishments, so I went ahead and ordered a pit beef sandwich. I was not asked for my preferred doneness however, a major strike against. This spy photo however shows what I considered a glimmer of hope:

A hunk of beef that looks like a hunk a beef, as opposed to a pressed and formed fake roast beef thing. Fingers were crossed, expectations raised slightly. As the seeming owner was wrapping it up, he asked if I wanted anything on it, and I quickly replied “nothing at all”, jadedly assuming he meant toppings in the way of LTM or some such. He gave me a wary look, and I blurted out, “umm how about some horseradish sauce then?” to which he responded with a relieved smile. Himself an aficionado perhaps? Well, it came on a proper roll at least:

It certainly looked like a real pit beef sandwich, despite its dubious carry-out of origin. But dissection revealed tragedy:

The beef was completely and utterly well-done. I fucking knew it, I muttered to myself. But, but but but, damn if it wasn’t an absolutely delicious pit beef sammy. Despite the lack of bloodiness, the meat was just right balance of tender and chewy, and possessed more than ample beef and char flavor, with a well-seasoned crust to boot. I didn’t want to like it, but I was impressed. If there’s such a thing as a good well-done pit beef sandwich (or such a thing as well-done pit beef at all), this is it. In an example of smalltimore coincidence, not three days later, after doing the Dan Rodricks show, engineer Jonathan(sp?) asked if I’d been to Mc-N-Mc during a conversation with the crew about pit beef. And I was happy to say that I indeed had.

-Henry Hong

The Canopy

443-288-1400

9319 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042

So this is how dedicated I am to my pit beef census. I picked up a couple sandwiches on my way back from CarterQue, my belly heavy with pig meat. It wasn’t easy stopping to get yet more meat, further delaying a much-needed itis-induced nap. The Canopy has been around for a looong time, but I hadn’t been in a couple years. They bill themselves as a ” barbecue restaurant”, which it really isn’t – unless you count pit beef as Baltimore’s native variant of bbq, and there is a valid argument for that. Well, I’m on the fence about this

place. The pit beef had decent char but not a real crust to speak of, and the pit beef itself was very tender but lacked that slightly metallic, bloody note and slight chewiness that to me denotes “real” pit beef. I’ve surmised that other places, notably the much ballyhooed and disappointing Chaps, don’t actually start with raw top round, but rather use a pre-cooked, brined roast beef and simply char the exterior. I know of at least one place that does this for sure, and I’m about 95% sure about Chaps (the place is set to appear on Food Network next week, which should shed light on the subject). I fear that The Canopy too falls in this dubious category. You can’t really tell by this shot, but in addition to the suspect flavor and tenderness, the slices were all nearly perfectly ovoid, a la deli meat:

Also, the “blood” soaked into the roll wasn’t bloody at all, but had a slight brine flavor, another telltale sign:

All in all a good sandwich, a grilled roast beef sandwich to be precise. That’s my determination at least. Now I could be dead wrong about The Canopy and Chaps for that matter, but if they do start from raw beef, I don’t know what they;’re doing to make it so tender, but whatever it is it’s also detracting from the natural beef flavor.

410-383-2093

885 N. Howard St., Baltimore, MD 21201

Wednesday-Thursday: 11-30am-12pm; Friday -Saturday: 11:30am-1:30am; Sunday 11:30am – 10pm

I visitied Night of the Cookers – the carry-out annex, next door to the the dining room proper – after ending up on labyrinthine Howard St. while trying to dodge traffic. I’d heard that it had opened, but reviews/opinions were strangely non-existent. Anyway the place bills itself as modern Southern or some such variant, so I warily ordered a rack of ribs. As I did, the gregarious cook/chef excitedly recommended that I try his gumbo. Naturally I asked how long a roux he used (I go for the medium chestnut 25 min. flavor), and he replied that he cooks his for TWO HOURS:

Me: Uh, two hours? Just for the roux?”
Him: Yeah, uh, well, uh, you know how roux after you cook it for a while separates?”
Me: Um, yeah (thinking to myself, yeah that’s how you know you’ve fucked it up!)
Him: Yeah well I let that happen a few times and mix it back together.

Uh huh…. Well you never know, so I ended it there lest I spark an unnecessarily heated exchange, and went home with ribs, gumbo, mac and cheese, and greens.

Here is the gumbo, which logically, if based on a two hour roux should be very dark brown, but instead has a suspicious ruddy tinge (may indicate the presence of tomato, which is of course totally unacceptable):

The gumbo was oily and lacked depth, and worst of all, perhaps due again to the absurdly long roux cooking time, contained many shards of jagged ash, such as this one:

In three words, whiskey tango foxtrot?!? Even the andouille sausage was mushy and bland – how hard is it to order decent sausage, seriously?

The ribs were disappointing. I should have known better than to order them when I noticed a total lack of smoke in or about the place. I asked another cook what kind of wood they used to smoke the ribs (the menu indicates that they are smoked “low and slow”, and he squirmed disconcertingly. In any case, and obvious visual indicator of steamed/baked/boiled ribs is when the meat has retreated dramatically from the bone (although I now know that the use of a Smoke Chef is also a possibility):

And of course then there’s the absence of a pink smoke ring (not to mention flavor or aroma):

I believe these ribs were cooked conventionally, and the thin, again oily bland sauce did nothing to help.

The mac and cheese was actually one of the best retail versions I’ve ever had, and the greens were slightly above average. I guess I should try a sit down dinner before casting final judgement, but needless to say this does not bode well. Also I have a hard time justifying paying $23 for a plate of fried chicken when I can make a superlative version at home with my trusty pressure cooker.

Bada Bing Bada Beef

410-282-4770

7210 Holabird Ave. Dundalk MD 21222

Open Daily, 10:30 am – 8:00 pm

Thank the lord, real Baltimore pit beef is not dead. As I’ve posted previously, it seems like fake pit beef is spreading out of control in the area. Many places now seem to use straight-up deli cuts, expose them to an open flame for a few minutes, and pass it off as the genuine article. Well we are not rubes dammit! Anyway, I knew there used to be a spot in Dundalk that was good, but I didn’t realize it was named “Bada Bing Bada Beef” Despite this uh, whimsical attribute, this place is the absolute shite.

Sandwiches are constructed from sturdy, cornmeal-y kaiser rolls and unapologetic shards of meat hewn from big, fatty, bloody hunks of top round (though I was told they may be switching to bottom round due to rising costs). Fries were very good, sauces and accoutrements were pretty run of the mill. The sweet tea is no joke – liquid diabetes in a styrofoam cup.

I got beef medium rare, of course:

A telltale sign of true pit beef,bloody bread yeehaw!

Pit ham was excellent as well, though it could have been better trimmed of fat:

Chaps Charcoal Restaurant

410-483-2379

5801 Pulaski Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Open Daily at 10:30 AM

As always, shitty cellphone pics means dead or forgotten camera – sorry in advance.

Like so many other foods, real pit beef is dying off right before our eyes. I happen to live within a few miles of Chaps on Pulaski highway, which I guess recently has attained a rep as the go-to pit beef spot round these parts. It’s pretty good but not really real. Two things should jump out at pit beef enthusiasts from the get go – there’s barely any char or crust on the meat, and it is way too tender (also a characteristic of the “pit” beef at Key Pit Stop, which I sorta reviewed for the Citypaper ‘08 Eat Guide). After peeking into the kitchen from across the counter, it’s immediately apparent that this place uses pre-prepared deli meat, instead of cooking from scratch. Now this may make some sense for pit ham, or perhaps even pit turkey, but for real pit beef, I need to have that deep, dark char and slightly chewy, bloody texture you get from medium-rare bottom round. Here’s my default order, the bulldog (pit beef, sausage, cheese), genius in concept if not execution:

The ribs here are actually worse than I could have possibly expected. They’re completely untrimmed spareribs, so in a full order you actually only get 3 ribs, with lots of the coarser “outside” meat, fat and gristle attached. Very unattractive. Plus they are obviously boiled or baked, lacking any smoke flavor at all:

…and then simply thrown on the grill briefly before getting doused with sauce that tastes like genereic supermarket or Sysco. Very bland and more akin to eating pork roast than ribs. DO NOT WANT! Note the total absence of a smoke ring:

There used to be a place out in Dundalk on Wise Ave. I think, that used to have good pit beef, and then there’s Little Texas, also on Pulaski, but I haven’t tried it yet. Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Di Pasquale’s

410-276-6787

3700 Gough Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Monday – Friday: 9 am – 6 pm; Saturday: 9 am – 6 pm; Sunday: CLOSED

Di Pasquale’s is located north of Eastern and east of the park in what was once Germantown I think? Anyway, people this place is freaking amazing! I’ve known about the one on Harford for quite a while of course, known for their superb fresh mozzarella. Yes, they are owned by the same family, apparently they bought the Harford road location about 20 years ago, while the one in east Baltimore has been around since 1914. That’s 14, 1-4!

So we city dwellers don’t have to make that crappy drive to Northeast (always seems to be traffic and ill-timed lights, or is it just my imagination?). Anyway the place has several tables for dining in, a selection of reasonably priced wines and booze, and most importantly, homemade Italian fare of exceedingly high quality. Their cold case is well stocked with rare delicacies, including tuna roe:

They also have a small selection of produce (“Foods dat begin wit da lettah Q”):

And a remarkable selection of cured meats, including speck:

Their prepared food case is exceptional:

Here is a pasta salad with rape and sausage, which was a bit oily but well balanced and fresh:

And here’s a sandwich I got which incorporates dry-cured filet mignon. Interesting, tasted, as you might imagine, like slightly sour, salty carpaccio, but the sandwich was very good overall, thought the components kept sliding out. A hollowed-out sub roll may be a better vehicle than focaccia. Other than that, a well-conceived sandwich – the quite sweet roasted red pepper complemented the cured beef and tapenade, while the greens added needed freshness to what was a decidedly oily stack:

Maybe more than just a bit oily:

A bottle of limoncello on sale for FIVE BUCKS:

So doc, I keep having this dream where I’m being chased by giant salamis….what do you think it means?