Underground Pizza Company

the Woodlands pizza from @Underground Pizza Company

I first heard about Underground Pizza Company and "Detroit-style" pizza sometime in 2020. At the time, UPC was functioning as a ghost kitchen establishment in Mount Washington. Despite being about 2 miles from my home, we never made it there. By the time we were ready to give UPC a try, however, they had made the move to a real brick-and-mortar shop at Power Plant Live. Unfortunately for everyone involved, we weren't going to pay for downtown parking just to eat pizza, no matter how good it was. Only recently did I realize there was another UPC location in Towson. Clearly I have my finger on the pulse of the restaurant industry these days...not. 

What's Detroit-style pizza? It's rather like Sicilian-style in that it's square or rectangular and made with a thick, bread-like crust. It's topped with brick cheese and mozzarella, which go on first and is spread to the edges so that it caramelizes into a lacy brown crispness as it melts against the sides of the deep metal pan in which it is baked. Toppings, like pepperoni, come next, with sauce applied in stripes as if it were just another topping. The resulting pies are hearty and satisfying.

the Roni Boy@UPC

We decided to get carry-out from the Towson UPC rather than to dine in. My brother was joining us, so we ordered three different half pies--each about 10" x 7" and yielding 4 slices. The Roni Boy was topped with the type of small-diameter pepperoni slices that tend to form cups when they meet the heat of a pizza oven, two strips of UPC's signature red sauce, and a bit of parm. The Woodlands included a good amount of thyme-roasted fancy mushrooms like hen of the woods, oyster, and beech, over mozzarella and Gruyere cheeses, topped with two stripes of red sauce, and parm. The Nonna included crumbles of spicy Italian sausage, caramelized onion, vodka sauce, and fennel pollen. The online menu doesn't mention the kind of cheese, but I imagine it's the classic brick/mozz combo. We also ordered the Old Bay Garlic Parm fries.

The verdict?

Yum.

the Nonna @UPC

The crust was chewy, with a medium bubble structure that comes from dough with a high moisture content. Focaccia-esque, but not. The pizzas weren't piping hot when we got them home, so they likely had sat for a few minutes while awaiting our arrival. Still, the caramelized cheese part of the crust was crispy. Both the pepperoni pizza and the Nonna had a nice hit of heat, but not so much that it would turn off those with delicate palates. The red sauce was sweet and herby, and reminded me a bit of the sauce at Squire's, which endeared UPC pizza to me that much more. We loved that the mushroom pizza featured a selection of fancy mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms, etc., have more interesting textures than the standard buttons or creminis, and a lot more flavor, too. The Nonna pizza was tasty, but the onions were far from caramelized and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were raw before the pie went into the oven. Also, the vodka sauce was excellent and I wanted more than just a drizzle. Didn't notice the fennel pollen at all. I think our next order must include the pie called "The Destroyer" which has pepperoni and two stripes of vodka sauce.

Good so far. Then there were the fries. Womp womp.

Billed as a pound of fries topped with Old Bay, garlic, and parm, they were just plain not good. The menu doesn't claim the potatoes are hand-cut, so at least that lie wasn't told. Not only were the fries flabby and uninteresting, but also I found no evidence of either Old Bay or garlic. There were tiny nubbins of something adhering to the potatoes, which may have been the parm. Or they may have been the abhorrent flour-tossed fries that are studded with hard bits that I think of as shrapnel but might be more accurately compared to pills on an old sweater. Not pleasant in either case. If they hadn't cost $8, I might not be complaining as strenuously. The pizzas were $16, and while that seems expensive, they were certainly a better value than the fries.

Overall, we enjoyed the pizza and will definitely be going back for more. Maybe we'll try the arancini or the wings, but probably not. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Red Pepper Sichuan Bistro

I have long lamented that there aren't any really good Chinese restaurants in northern Baltimore County. There are plenty of smaller American-style Chinese carry-outs, and Szechuan House, which has always been hit or miss. (They deliver, however, so that is definitely in their favor.) When I read in Kit Pollard's Hot Plate column for Baltimore Fishbowl that a new Sichuan restaurant opened on Allegany Avenue, we visited post haste, hoping for the best.

Red Pepper Sichuan Bistro is a rather expansive restaurant with a soothing decor and not particularly comfortable, unpadded, Chinese-style wooden chairs. The kitchen is also large and visible through a plate glass window at the back of the restaurant. Continuing the size theme is the menu, a glossy tome featuring not only lists of available dishes, but also helpful photographs of nearly all of them. Another theme of Red Pepper is spicy, which of course one would expect to find in a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Sichuan province. My kinda food.

I'm always attracted to spicy wontons, so we had to order the Sichuan spicy wontons in red oil. I'm forever chasing the flavor of a similar dish I had years ago in a restaurant in Randallstown called Szechuan Best. There, the red oil was as aromatic as it was spicy. Red Pepper's rendition is very good, with nicely tender pork-filled wontons, but the sauce didn't have the kick that I was looking for. Still, it was pretty tasty and I'll order it again.

One of our two favorite Chinese restaurants is Grace Garden in Odenton, and one dish we always order there is the Sichuan pork belly, a dish of thinly sliced pork belly stir fried with chiles and leeks. We thought the Fried Salty and Dried Pork with Scallion at Red Pepper would be similar. It was, and it wasn't. When tasting the dish in the restaurant, I did notice that the pork was indeed salty, but it wasn't until I ate the leftovers at home three days later that I noticed the pork had also been smoked. Saltiness aside, the dish was quite nice, and as it was not spicy, somewhat of an antidote to the following dish.

We used to get a dish called "beef on toothpicks" at our other favorite Chinese restaurant, Hunan Taste (which appears to have closed permanently). Literally fried slivers of beef impaled on toothpicks, the meat was flavored with cumin and chiles. Red Pepper offers both beef and lamb with cumin. The dishes seemed similar enough despite the lack of pointed wooden implements, so we tried the latter. Baby, it was hot, but also redolent of the promised cumin. I can dig the heat of dried red chiles, which to me doesn't last as long on the palate as that of fresh green chiles, and is much easier for me to tolerate. However, Mr Minx found it a bit incendiary.

Another way to beat the heat of the lamb dish was to take bites of Shrimp with Rice Crusts. The menu describes the dish thusly: "When rice crust is combined with beef or pork, it tastes spicy. With shrimp or fish filet, amazingly, it changes to sweet and sour." The rice crusts - squares of crisply fried rice - are presented on their own in a large bowl, with the topping poured over at tableside.  Rather than some mysterious alchemical transformation, the shrimp and fish versions are simply presented in a somewhat brothy, lightly sweet and tangy sauce that is absolutely nothing like the ketchup-and-pineapple juice sweet-and-sour that Americans are used to (thank god). I imagine that the beef and pork versions have a spicy sauce, which we will have to try at another time.

The shrimp were plump and sweet, and there were a nice amount of vegetables. The rice crusts themselves have a nice roasty flavor, and I'd love to nibble them on their own. I am torn about their texture once deluged with sauce.

Finally, we tried the Stir-fry Green Beans, which I loved. The beans were still a little crisp, garlicky, and salty. Mr Minx likes them a little softer, and preferred the reheated beans a few days later. Still, a very good rendition of a favorite dish.

After this first visit to Red Pepper, we determined that we need to go back again, and often. The food was very good. Amazingly good for Towson. And while it might not be at the top of the heap for us just yet, we will put Red Pepper into our regular dining rotation and hope to taste most of the menu (might skip fish maw though) in the not too distant future.

Red Pepper Sichuan Bistro
11 Allegheny Avenue
Towson, MD 21204
http://www.redpeppermd.com

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Flashback Friday - Spice and Dice

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 9, 2011.

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We Minxes love Thai food and ever since the demise of our regular haunt, Bangkok Place, we're always on the lookout for a new favorite. While we really enjoyed a meal at Bangkok Garden, being in Columbia makes it a bit of a haul and not exactly good for any spur-of-the-moment meal decisions. Recently, Mr Minx received a coupon for a place called Spice & Dice, located in a nondescript office park on Joppa Road about halfway between Goucher and Loch Raven Boulevards. That's not far from us, so we made a point to have dinner there one recent Tuesday evening. 

Spice & Dice has a bright and happy interior that, sans tables, would work well as a daycare center. Ignore, however, the many colors and patterns on the walls and concentrate instead on the menu which has a large selection of appetizers, plus curries, stir-fries, and noodle dishes. On our first trip, we sampled the fish cakes and the chicken laab from the appetizer section, plus the gingery chicken ped king and the vibrantly-spiced duck with basil sauce, all washed down with generously-sized glasses of sweet and milky Thai iced tea. After that successful experience, we vowed to visit again soon, this time with camera in tow.

A few weeks later, we met my father and brother for dinner at Spice & Dice. After taking some time perusing the many interesting menu options, Dad opted for the jasmine rice soup followed by pad thai with pork. The soup was outstanding, its light broth tangy with lemongrass and full of tender chicken. The pad thai was a fine rendition of the ubiquitous noodle dish, served with an extra helping of crushed peanuts on the side.

Jasmine Rice Soup

Pad Thai with Pork

We also sampled two appetizers, the chicken teriyaki dumplings and fried calamari. The dumplings were drizzled with an unfortunately goopy sweet sauce that did nothing for them and were otherwise forgettable. The calamari was slightly chewy, as it often is when served in the diamond-scored-rectangular chunks that tend to be typical of Asian restaurants, but was otherwise tasty, particularly when dipped in the lightly spicy pink mayo-based sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Dumplings - pretty but meh.

Happy Calamari

As fans of Thai basil, my brother and I both ordered dishes that featured that ingredient. Or so we thought. His chicken with basil dish displayed no evidence of that herb's presence, but otherwise had a lively garlic flavor.

Chicken in Basil Sauce

My dish, shrimp with eggplant, contained a decent amount of basil leaves in a sweet-ish sauce that had partly been absorbed by the chunks of bright purple Asian eggplant. It was a bit inconvenient to eat the tail-on shrimp, but otherwise I happily hoovered up this dish, lusciously-sauced romaine leaves and all.

Eggplant and Shrimp with Basil

Mr Minx opted for the jungle curry, a preparation that contains none of the coconut milk present in other Thai curries. It had a very distinctive and unusual herbal flavor, predominately galangal and ginger, and was quite unlike any other Thai dish we've tried.

Jungle Curry with Pork

Some of the dishes at Spice & Dice are a bit on the sweet side - probably a nod to American palates - and the teriyaki dumplings were nothing special, but everything else was quite delicious.

While the decor was busy, the restaurant was not. I hope more people find this cute spot and stop by for a meal so it'll stay around long enough for us to become regulars.

Spice and Dice Thai Restaurant
1220 E Joppa Rd #108
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 494-8777

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Kathmandu Kitchen

Chicken Samosa, Chicken Tikka Masala, Bindi Masala (okra), and rice

I knew Mr Minx was a keeper after he referred to his first taste of Indian food as "comfort food." His palate had led a sheltered life, and I was afraid that the bold spices used in much of the food of the Asian subcontinent would be too much for him.

Since that day nearly 20 years ago, we have eaten a lot of Indian food together. That first meal was at Jai Hind, one of the first Indian restaurants in the area, now no longer around. We ate at multiple locations of Bombay Grill (also gone), and Akbar. India Palace in Cockeysville was our go-to for a while, before a meal of bad food and worse service chased us away forever. We then needed a new place to get our fix of lamb saag and chicken tikka masala, and it took a while to find it.

Though I had eaten at and enjoyed Kathmandu Kitchen once or twice in the several years they've been around, I never became a regular customer. Recently I discovered that they delivered. For free. Sign me up, baby! While multi-restaurant delivery apps are convenient and all that, I'm not all that willing to pay $3 or $4 or $6(!) on top of the cost of food and a tip to the restaurants that use them. There are other Indian restaurants in town that deliver, and we've tried many of them. Most were a big disappointment. But Kathmandu Kitchen has pleased us every time.

One of my favorite items to order are the chicken samosas. Typical lamb or potato samosas are fine, but I really enjoy the flavors of Kathmandu Kitchen's chicken-filled ones. I'm also a fan of the chili chicken, which is somewhat like a South Asian sweet-and-sour dish, but with more tang than sugar and a nice hit of heat.

Chicken Chili Momo

The same sauce is also available on momo, the gyoza-like dumplings popular in Nepal and other parts of South Asia. The "house special" section of the menu offers other momo, including lamb-, chicken-, and vegetable-filled, either steamed or deep-fried, along with more unfamiliar Nepalese dishes like sadeko chicken and alu achar.

We've tried several other Indian-style dishes at Kathmandu Kitchen, from chicken tikka masala to lamb saag, baigan bharta (eggplant) to vindi masala (okra), tandoori chicken, and several varieties of flat bread. Everything has been uniformly delicious.

Sheesh kabob

I think the only complaint I've had is about the sheesh kabob, which when we had it was a bit salty and not as tender as it could be. Still, it tasted good. As a little bonus, the tandoori dishes come with a side container of masala sauce, in case you want to turn your tikka into that creamy and delicious dish of British origins.

We've been quite happy with our delivery from Kathmandu Kitchen for a couple of years now. If you're in the Towson area, we think you will be, too.

Kathmandu Kitchen
22 W Allegheny Ave
Towson, MD 21204
(410) 847-9595
https://mykathmandukitchen.com/

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Local Easter Celebrations

If you're not up to cooking on Easter, there are plenty of Baltimore-area restaurants that are willing to do it for you.

Cinnamon Tree Restaurant at the Hunt Valley Inn is offering an Easter Champagne Brunch including Fresh Maryland Crab Claws on Ice with Lemon, and Pan Seared Filet of Sole with Mornay Sauce. An Herb Roasted Prime Rib and Roast Pork Loin station with side dishes "provides the comfort of a home cooked meal for the family." For dessert, try their specialty Cinnamon Tree Cinnamon Rolls or Easter Cookies.  (Adults: $35.95 / Children under 8: $16.95)

Citron at Quarry Lake is offering both brunch and supper on Easter Sunday. Brunch runs from 12-3pm, supper from noon to close.

Cosima is offering a one-off a la carte Easter brunch, from 10am - 2pm.

The Turn House in Columbia is having a brunch buffet from 10 - 3, including lamb and ham carving stations, oyster bar, plus all of your breakfast/brunch faves. ($45 adults, $20 children 12 and younger.)

Wit & Wisdom at the Four Seasons Baltimore is offering breakfast, brunch, and dinner on Easter Sunday. Breakfast will run from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Brunch starts at 9 and runs until 3pm. There will be live music, a carving station, make-your-own omelets, a sweet & savory crepe station, roast-your-own s'mores, raw bar and a decorate your own Easter Egg cookies station for the kids.
($69 per person, $29 per child under 12. Bottomless Mimosas are also available for $14.)

An à la carte dinner menu will be available from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. as well as a full tavern menu from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.



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World of Beer Towson

The newest addition to the Towson Square complex on Joppa Road at Virginia Ave in Towson (duh) is World of Beer. It is also the noisiest addition, at least it was on the night we were there. It was the beer emporium's first day open and when we arrived at 6pm, it was half-full of loud rowdies. They may well have been perfectly normal people, but the acoustics of the place turned them into shouting idiots. (Or, they could have been shouting idiots to begin with.)

By the time we left, it was 3/4 full, and I was so glad to have had a pair of earplugs in my purse. Sadly, the din, with or without the plugs, prevented any conversation with my spouse, apart from pointing to the various foodstuffs on the table and mouthing, "good?" So you are forewarned that World of Beer is not the place to go for a romantic date, nor if you want to have any conversation at all that doesn't require shouting. For some odd reason, there was a couple there that felt a restaurant with the word BEER in the name was the ideal place to bring their three small children. Fine parenting. If the kids hadn't been getting up and running around, as the children of fine, fine parents are wont to do, it wouldn't have bothered me. It was so damn loud in the place, I couldn't hear their typical childish whining/squeals.

That said, the food was pretty good, and one cannot fault the beer selection.

Although there were so many beers, we had difficulty deciding from the lengthy list. Mr Minx eventually decided on the "Batmobile" from the mixed draught section. A combo of Guinness and hefeweizen, it was like a sorta-banana-flavored black and tan. I had a Full Tilt Patterson Pumpkin, mostly because of the name, and also pumpkin. Later, hoping that the more we drank the less we'd be able to hear, we also had a Brooklyn Oktoberfest and an RAR Nanticoke Nectar.

Now, we only went to World of Beer on the opening day because we thought that, as media, we'd get a tour, and perhaps some free food. Otherwise, it's always better to wait a few weeks before trying a place so the kinks have been worked out, both food- and service-wise. An owner and a manager came over separately to shake our hands (one of whom had a nasty, limp, wet fish handshake...shudder), but neither offered anything in the way of telling us about the establishment, about its infusion tower, its partnership with Jail Break Brewing Company and special Monkey Hefeweizen + banana infusion, or the Heavy Seas firkin tapping that occurred earlier in the day. I only know these things because we received a press release a week before the event. Hey, but if an owner didn't care, or think we were important enough to bother to share this information, we shouldn't care either, right?

The service, as is usual on a first day of operation, was a bit off. We were approached at various times after entering by employees who welcomed us and told us to sit anywhere. After we picked what we hoped would be a relatively quiet location (near the open front), a few more people came by to say hi (and ask if we had ever been there before, and when we said no, still didn't bother to tell us about the infusion/firkin/etc.) before the person who would be our actual server showed up. She seemed nervous yet eager to please, but spoke too quietly to be heard over the screaming in the background. I originally wanted to order a flight of IPAs, but after realizing there were too many choices coupled with my inability to hear her recommendations, I gave up.

Though I would rather have left, we ordered food. Fortunately, it was generally pretty good. I had two ahi tuna tacos, which were generously-sized and fresh-tasting. Mr Minx ordered a pesto grilled chicken sandwich. It also was huge, filled with nicely moist and juicy chicken breast, and good amounts of pesto and cheese. The steak fries on the side were cooked properly and both dishes were overall pretty well done.

Except we had ordered appetizers, which hadn't arrived yet. After reminding our server, she ran off to set things right. She had recommended their mac and cheese, which is made with spiced pepperjack cheese and topped with crisp bacon and herbed breadcrumbs. The textures were nice --super gooey cheese, crispy crumbs--but apart from being properly salted, the dish was bland. The bacon wasn't even particularly bacon-y.

We also tried the fried pickles. Another huge portion, the pickles featured a melange of shapes and some Peppadew peppers, all lightly battered and fried to a nice crispness. They were well-seasoned and didn't necessarily need a dip in the accompanying sweet-ish dipping sauce (which was maybe a tad too thick).

Limp-fish-hand presented us with our bill, saying he had comped the mac and cheese because it had come to the table so late. But we apparently had to pay for the pickles, which were even later. And everything else, too. But the prices are very reasonable for the portion sizes and the bill wasn't that bad. If we hadn't ordered beers (I know, at a place called World of Beer), it would have been downright cheap.

We sucked down our second beers and beat a hasty retreat. I couldn't help but notice that al fresco diners at the restaurant next door had to put up with the noise emanating from World of Beer, which by that point in the evening also included live music. I wonder how it will end up affecting the adjoining businesses.

World of Beer
125 Joppa Road
Towson, MD 21204



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Bobby's Burger Palace

I know a lot of people don't like Bobby Flay for one reason or another, but I'm not one of those people. I've had positive experiences at his restaurants, Gato being the most recent, and enjoy watching him on TV, particularly when he gets his ass beat on Throwdown. For months I looked forward to the opening of Bobby's Burger Palace in Towson, and at long last, that day came in early August.

BBP is of the order-at-the-counter, server-brings-food style of fast casual restaurants. This keeps the prices somewhere between full sit-down (Red Robin) and fast food (Five Guys) service. Burgers hover in the $8-9 range and most have toppings inspired by US regional specialties; the Miami burger, for instance, is styled like a Cubano sandwich, with ham, swiss, pickles, and mustard. There are also plainer versions, like the classic with American cheese, the Bobby Blue with bleu and bacon, and the "Crunchburger,"which includes potato chips.

We settled on the New Mexico and the Philadelphia, with an onion ring/fries combo, paid, got our number, and took a table outside to wait.

The place wasn't busy, so we got our order pretty quickly. The onion rings and fries came first, accompanied by a spicy "fry sauce" akin to chipotle mayo. The fries were excellent, crispy, skin-on, Boardwalk-style specimens. The onion rings (there were only two, one at the top and another on the very bottom of the container) were large and crusty with batter. A bit too much batter for my tastes - I prefer very little, actually. But they were crunchy and the hot onion didn't slide out of its casing and slap me on the chin, so I have to give it some points for that.

The New Mexico burger had queso, roasted green chiles, and pickled red onions. It didn't taste anything like the green chile cheeseburger that I had in Albuquerque, and that's a good thing. The patty itself was moist and cooked to a perfect medium, the cheese had some staying power and didn't drip out, but the chiles didn't pack the punch I was looking for. The surfeit of onions made up for it. There were so many, I'm sure Scott Conant was being offended somewhere.

Neal's Philadelphia burger DID have a punch - those hot peppers were indeed HOT. I would have taken at least half off, but my brave husband worked up a sweat as he ate all of them. His burger was also perfectly cooked, with a nice amount of cheese.

One of the best things about the burgers at BBP are the squishy sesame seed buns. Honestly, why do so many places insist on brioche buns? Fancy isn't better. Squishy rules.

We had fountain sodas with our meal (Fresca!), but milkshakes and malteds are available in 10 flavors, including pistachio, which I might have to try at some point. There are also three flavors of booze-spiked shakes (also on the "to try" list), plus beers, a lone margarita, and BBP red or white wine. The wine is definitely not on my "to try" list. Sorry, Bobby. The food menu also has a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and salads, but it's a burger palace, so eat burgers. They were pretty good, so we'll be back.

Bobby's Burger Palace
515 Virginia Ave
Towson, MD 21286
410-296-7227



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Bonefish Grill - Hooked on Tuesday

Hooked on Tuesday is Bonefish Grill's new promo featuring three course meals starting at $14.90. Diners have a choice of house or Caesar salad, one of nine entrees (each with a side and veg), and a dessert. Depending on the entree chosen, dinner can cost as little as $14.90 or as much as $20.90, which is still super inexpensive, especially considering all of the choices are either steak or seafood.

Bonefish Grill in Towson invited us to try a Hooked on Tuesday dinner for ourselves. How could we refuse?

We started with a couple of cocktails, including a "Fresh Watermelon Icicle Aphrodisiac Martini" (hand-muddled watermelon, fresh sour, house-made cucumber infused vodka, and frozen watermelon cubes), and a Summer Kiwi Smash (Olmeca Altos silver tequila, freshly muddled kiwi, mint, lemon juice, and an edible summer orchid.) Over the years, I've had several drinks that didn't taste particularly watermelon-y, but this one had a nice fresh melon flavor. The kiwi drink was basically a light-flavored margarita.

There are only two options for appetizers with the Hooked on Tuesday dinner, a house salad with hearts of palm, kalamata olives, and a citrus herb vinaigrette, or a Caesar salad. We tried both. The former was pleasant and light. The Caesar was enormous, with a super garlicky dressing that was quite good.

We skipped over the three $14.90 entree choices (Angler's steak, spicy tuna bowl, salmon) and went for the pricier items. I chose the cold water lobster tail for $17.90. While not particularly large, the tail was nicely cooked. I used the pesto olive oil that came with the bread service as a dip for the lobster; like the Caesar dressing, it was quite garlicky, which I enjoyed. Accompanying the lobster were small Yukon gold potatoes that had been battered and fried. They reminded me of a cross between Thrasher's fries and my grandmother's potato pancakes, only super crispy.  

Mr Minx went for the pecan Parmesan crusted rainbow trout with artichoke hearts and basil lemon butter from the priciest ($20.90) tier. He chose potatoes au gratin for his side, and both of us got the same combo of zucchini and bell peppers with cheese as our veg. Trout and pecans go so well together, and we were not disappointed by his fish.

Next came dessert. Mr Minx's cheesecake, served with chocolate and caramel sauces, was extremely light and creamy, almost like a no-bake cheesecake. My "Jen's Jamaican coconut pie," was quite homey, with a heavy coconut to custard ratio, a boozy Myers's rum sauce, and toasted coconut on top. Honestly, it was one of the best restaurant desserts I've had in a long time. And, according to the manager, it's only available on Tuesdays during the Hooked on Tuesday promotion, so if you want to try it for yourself, that's the time to get it.

Our verdict: Bonefish Grill's Hooked on Tuesday promotion is a great deal. The portions are generous, the food is good, and when else can you get that fab coconut pie? With rum sauce. Seriously the pie is worth the trip. Go. Eat pie. And some salad and fish, too.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Bonefish Grill Towson

We'd heard good things about Bonefish Grill; their Bel Air outpost has been an oasis for locals in a town that's practically a culinary wasteland. So when we heard that a Bonefish Grill was opening in the new Towson Square project across from the mall, we were pleased that northern Baltimore County would be getting another upscale restaurant, albeit part of a chain.

The restaurant opened on February 16th, but we were invited in for some pre-opening festivities on the 12th, a late lunch/early dinner that included a few of the restaurant chain's hierarchy as well as county executive Kevin Kamenetz.

We started our tour of the restaurant at the bar. This area takes up at least a third of the restaurant's space and includes both family-style high-top seating and some private booths in addition to the bar itself. The whole restaurant is done up in pale, warm, neutrals, with minimalist decoration that includes an abstract representation of the restaurant's fishbone logo on one wall, and a couple of curved wooden structures that resemble a fish's ribcage.

We tried two non-alcoholic beverages, a blackberry smash and a lemonade. As we sipped our libations, we enjoyed a few passed apps in the form of the restaurant's famous Bang-Bang Shrimp (crispy shrimp tossed in a creamy spicy sauce reminiscent of the sweet sriracha mayo used by sushi restaurants) and delicate roasted mushroom flatbreads with caramelized garlic and a hint of truffle oil.

After a time, we were seated and brought the first of four dinner courses. First was an ahi tuna taco served in a crisp wonton shell. (This dish, from the specials menu, would ordinarily include three tacos.) The tuna was very fresh, and we liked that it came with some pickled ginger and wasabi-infused guac.

Next up was a sample of the restaurants cilantro lime shrimp salad, consisting of greens tossed with corn, black beans, and feta, topped with two large shrimp. The shellfish-allergic can have the dish with grilled chicken, instead. In fact, Bonefish Grill is happy to accommodate diners with all sort of food allergies and even has a separate gluten free menu.

For our entree, we tried ahi tuna topped with "pan-Asian sauce," Chilean seabass with mango salsa, and a chunk of tenderloin with truffle butter. I'm not a tenderloin fan, but I did enjoy the aggressively-seasoned steak, which overshadowed its two more delicately-flavored companions.

The best course was dessert. We each received a veritable tub of chocolate creme brulee that would ordinarily be a generous portion for two diners. The creme, which was touched with Grand Marnier, had a more milky pudding-like consistency than the creamy richness of the usual creme brulee, and I was more than ok with that. Alongside, we had a not-too-sweet espresso martini with a tasty sugar-and-chocolate-shavings-encrusted rim.

Overall, the meal was a good representation of the restaurant's offerings - a little fish, a little meat, pretty good beverages and desserts. Bonefish Grill's ambiance is upscale, but the prices are reasonable. We think it will be a popular addition to the Towson restaurant scene, and will definitely be giving stiff competition to Bahama Breeze across the street.

Bar Menu Special Offer

From now through March 15, you can get a complimentary taste of one of the IN + ON bar bites (which start at an affordable $4) Bonefish Grill. Download the coupon at this link: https://www.bonefishgrill.com/offers/complimentary-bar-bites-coupon





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Bahama Breeze

Sometimes the best antidote for a completely crappy day is a good, stiff drink. So we were incredibly happy that after a particularly bad afternoon, Bahama Breeze invited us to celebrate International Pineapple Day (April 2) at their Towson location, complete with complimentary cocktails and a sampling of happy hour appetizers.

Mr Minx and I had eaten at Bahama Breeze not long after they opened, and I must admit, we were not impressed. The atmosphere seemed chaotic, and the food was not memorable. But ten or so years can change things.

The restaurant, though tropically themed, was cozy and dark, particularly where we were seated in the bar area. And the place was hopping, yet everything seemed under control. Not long after we reached our table, we were brought the first of two pineapple-based cocktails we would receive that evening, the Painkiller. Made with Pusser's Dark Rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juices, and a fragrant grating of fresh nutmeg, the drink was big and strong (like I like my...drinks). Often tropical drinks are uber sweet, but this one was just right.

Our second drink, which came about halfway through the meal, was a Goombay Smash, comprising Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum and Myers's Original Dark Rum mixed with fresh orange and pineapple juices. Again, not overly sweet and nice and strong. The orange was a bit more prominent in this drink.

With our drinks, we enjoyed a plate of Bahama Breeze's fried coconut shrimp (because fried foods are as essential to lifting one's mood as alcohol) with a spicy citrus mustard sauce. They were pretty good, but maybe a bit bread-y.

We also received a plate of their Jamaican chicken wings. Culinary manager Kevin Morton says they are marinated in authentic spices, then baked with additional seasoning, and finally served with a dip that has more of that jerk flavor. We thought these were dynamite. The wings were large and meaty, perfectly cooked, and super crispy. And while jerk seasoning can be intensely hot with the fire of scotch bonnet peppers, the wings at Bahama Breeze were tailored to fit a palate more accustomed to milder foods.

Kevin then suggested we order whatever else we wanted off the menu. He had just finished talking up their burger, so we decided to split one. To keep with the International Pineapple Day theme, we ordered our Wood-grilled Cheddar Burger with some pineapple chutney on the side.

The burger was a thin patty, which we prefer, cooked to just a shade past medium. The bun was somewhere between a typical squishy fast food bun and a brioche bun in that it was nice and soft, but had a pretty glazed appearance. The chutney added a bit of sweetness, a la ketchup, but wasn't quite as sweet. Overall, we enjoyed the burger for its simplicity. Bahama Breeze might not be the first place one would think of to order a burger, but if nothing else on the menu tempts, the burger can satisfy.

We also opted to try the conch fritters, which came with more of the citrus mustard dipping sauce. They were nicely meaty, crisp, and piping hot.

Bahama Breeze was really a nice surprise. We don't eat at chain restaurants often, not because we are snobs, but because there are so many other options these days. Bahama Breeze is owned by Darden, which also operates Red Lobster and Olive Garden. They also own The Capital Grille, which routinely makes "best of" lists in Baltimore, so don't judge. Bahama Breeze only has 30 or so outlets, so they don't have as much of the corporate control as some of Darden's other restaurants. Kevin Morton says that while some menu elements come from corporate (the onion rings, for example, which Kevin said were breaded in-house until recently), he can cater other menu items to the tastes of his patrons. He seemed to have real passion for his job, and runs the restaurant as if it were his own. That attitude, coupled with the sunny dispositions of the staff we came in contact with, makes a big difference in a customer's dining experience. I can think of some locally owned-and-operated, non-chain restaurants that could use that approach.

Bahama Breeze
100 E Joppa Rd
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 821-7090
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/







Posted on Minxeats.com.