Best of 2015 - Part 1

We start off every year with a recount of some of the very best things we ate in the prior year. So let's begin 2016 (2016!) with a look back at some of our favorite restaurant dishes from last year.

February

I tried several varieties of fries at the Local Fry last February and enjoyed them all. I think my favorite, however, was the house version, the "Local Fry," topped with taco beef and spicy sauce.

March

It's hard to pick just one dish from the Oy Bay! dinner at Clementine to designate as our favorite. Everything was stellar that night, from the pickled oyster salad to the oyster stuffing-filled quail with squash and brussels sprout gratin, to the carpetbagger steak from Roseda Beef. (The quail is pictured above.)

April

No pic, but the slice of coconut cake I received at the Peppermill after our waitress accidentally dumped my destined-for-a-doggy-bag shad on the floor, was amazeballs.

A giant meatball at Pane et Vino, in Little Italy, was up there on the list of Best Meatballs I Have Ever Put in My Mouth (yes, there have been many). I was also pretty turned on by the steak and stracchino piadine, a quesadilla-like sandwich.

May

What wasn't terrific on B&O Brasserie's Spring 2015 menu? Not a whole lot. Loved the octopus tacos served with shells made from raw jicama, the juicy soft shell crabs (pictured), the flounder, oh, just everything!

June

Decadently rich and sweet, the corn creme brulée at New York's Quality Meats was meant to be a side dish, but served very well as dessert, too.

Jokers 'n' Thieves, Jesse Sandlin's new joint in Canton, delivered some edible happiness last summer, particularly in the form of a soft shell crab and waffle sandwich. The brisket and creamy Carolina Gold rice was a winner too.

The best breakfast of 2015 came from a tiny cafe in Charles County. Pancakes Plus served up these lovely eggs, plus grits, scrapple, toast, and surprisingly delicious coffee for about $6.

2015 was a great year for soft shell crabs. 13.5% Wine + Food's Cyrus Keefer served plump softies served with a corn congee that rank among my top five ever.

July

The beautiful carrots with harissa honey, goat's cheese, and hazelnuts at Robin Haas's new mostly-veg restaurant, Encantada, tasted as good as they looked.

This coconut pie from Bonefish Grill was all kinds of deliciousness.

August

We ate at Hersh's twice last year, and both times were blown away by the fabulous pizza. Pictured is the Tre Porcellini, a feast of porcine products atop a perfect thin crust. Mr Minx has found his pizza holy grail; a shame it's not closer to Towson.

We went back to 13.5% Wine + Food in August for a media dinner. There were so many tasty things, but my favorite were the pizzas, especially the French bread-style pizza topped with snails. I am a sucker for snails.

Best burger of the year award goes to Alewife. Chad Wells' Smoke Burger is a real thing of beauty. Chad's mac and cheese is pretty amazing, too, especially when used as a stuffing for eggrolls, or as a topping for duck fat fries. I also had the best crab cake of the year at Alewife, and more than my fair share of fine craft beers.

September

We found a Korean BBQ place more conveniently located than Ellicott City's Honey Pig--Be One, located in a shopping center between Maryland Ave/Howard Street, 20th and 21st Streets. Really terrific bulgogi, and an outstanding, crispy, octopus-stuffed pancake. Uh-maz-ing.

October

We had a fine meal at Bookmakers Cocktail Club, including what I felt was the platonic ideal of a Caesar salad. The brussels sprouts with candied bacon were also quite delicious, and Mr Minx couldn't stop eating his pappardelle with lamb shoulder ragu. I also discovered my favorite new cocktail there - the Federale, made with tequila and Becherovka.

November

We had some nice tacos at Empellon Taqueria in NY, particularly those stuffed with pastrami. The Brussels sprouts tacos were delish as well.

Everything at  Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen, also in NY, was well-done, from the duck-stuffed buns to the soup dumplings. But my favorite was the flaky scallion pancakes filled with sweet and savory slices of beef.

More NY eats: Best fish taco ever, the fried skate on a blue corn tortilla at Mission Cantina.

We ate a lot of ramen this year, partly because it's increasingly available, partly because we were writing about it. This cold ramen dish served at Ivan Ramen on the Lower East Side, called hiyashi chuka, was a little soup, a little chef's salad, a lot delish.

We celebrated Ejji Ramen's 1-year anniversary with some Kobe beef. The real stuff, from Japan. It was served very rare, basically just seared. and was so tender as to melt in the mouth.

December

At a charity dinner on #GivingTuesday, we had various Thai-style dishes created by Zack Mills of Wit & Wisdom, Cyrus Keefer (formerly of 13.5% Wine Bar + Food, now at the Baltimore Country Club) and Dooby's Tim Dyson. While everything was delish, my favorite was Cyrus' take on pad Thai, using tender squid as the noodle component, with a delightfully fatty sausage link on the side. It didn't taste like pad Thai, but the flavors were boldly delicious.

Also in December was a visit to the Corner Charcuterie Bar, in Hampden.

We tried several unusual dishes--an octopus "burger," ostrich tartare--but I really fell in love with the fried house-made pickles. A melange of different veg, like radishes and cucumbers, each with its own different pickle flavor, all lightly coated in a crisp batter and served with a ranch dip. A perfect bar snack.

That's all for 2015. Hope you ate as many good things as we did!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Dining in NY - Ivan Ramen and Mission Cantina

Several months ago, I was reading an issue of New York magazine featuring all the hot new places to eat in the Big Apple. I felt a little smug about the fact that I had already eaten at Gato, the latest Bobby Flay restaurant that the magazine was heaping praise upon, It also mentioned a quirky new place called Ivan Ramen. Ramen is something that has recently taken off in the Baltimore area and, since it involves noodles, is certainly one of my favorite dishes. Ivan Ramen features an inventive mix of east-meets-west dishes, especially their appetizers like the L.E.S. bun featuring pastrami, karashi mayo and daikon slaw. Since the Minx and I were already planning a trip to New York in the fall, I made a mental note to put this on our list of new places to dine.

Fast forward to October and we were on our way to Gotham with our itinerary plotted out, including lunch at Ivan Ramen as soon as we arrived. There are two locations for Ivan Ramen and we chose the one on the Lower East Side because there was another restaurant nearby that we also wanted to try out; sort of a movable lunch. After checking into our hotel room in Midtown, we hopped on the subway and rode down to Ivan Ramen. I asked the Minx if she wanted to try any of the appetizers, hoping she would say yes. She did not say yes, however, reminding me of the other restaurant we were going to visit afterward. We're pretty piggy, but we don't like to make too big a point of it. Mildly chagrined at the prospect of a L.E.S. bun-less meal, I focused my attention on the ramen.

I settled on the Tokyo Shoyu Ramen. After all, I figured if they were offering so many eclectic dishes, I would see how well they could make a traditional classic. Quite well is the answer. The rich broth was a combination of soy sauce, dashi, and chicken broth. The protein was pork chashu and a perfectly cooked soft egg. I was pleasantly surprised by the rye noodles, something I had never had in ramen before but which provided a slightly more grainy flavor than the usual wheat noodles.

The Minx opted for the Hiyashi Chuka, a salad of chilled whole wheat noodles, smoked ham, cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine, bacon, and vidalia onion sitting atop a pool of malted honey dashi vinaigrette. I was dubious about cold noodles, but they made perfect sense with the crispy vegetables and bright yet slightly sweet vinaigrette. The swipe of mustard on the corner of the plate was extremely spicy, providing the occasional kick when you wanted it.

The meal was an invigorating start, but after our long train ride, I was still hungry for more. We headed off for the second restaurant on our itinerary but, after hiking several blocks and getting turned around a couple of times, we arrived at our destination to discover that it was only open for dinner. Now I was feeling a bit desperate. I mean, yes I had eaten an adequate amount of calories for lunch but, dammit, I was prepared for more! We started wandering around the neighborhood heading back in the general direction of the subway station. I was determined to find another restaurant that was open and serving something worth eating, but I was not at all familiar with area.

Then we reached an open cafe with the words Mission Cantina in the window. I had been following Mission Chinese Food on Instagram for months and was vaguely familiar with this New York outpost. I was about to say something to Minx when she blurted, "Oh, Mission Cantina! Want to try this?" I was glad she approved.

We stepped inside amid the cacophony of punk music and studied their menu on the wall. Although I was oblivious, the Minx spotted chef/owner Danny Bowien lurking in the dining room. I was more interested in figuring out which burrito I wanted. The Minx liked the sound of the fried chicken super burrito and so did I.

The California Super Burrito with fried chicken, pinto beans, guac, crema, and cheese was almost as big as my forearm. There was no chance of me not getting filled up now. I was surprised at how mildly spiced it was, but given that it was stuffed with chunks of fried chicken, perhaps they wanted to let the fried chicken flavor come through. All the other elements were pleasantly creamy with the occasional crunch of the chicken coating to keep things interesting.

The Minx chose the fish taco with guac, fried skate wing, marinated red onion, and a sauce reminiscent of an Indian pickle. In fact, this unusual hit of Indian flavors really set the taco apart from any fish taco we had ever tasted. While my burrito was dense and sloppy and wonderfully satiating, I really wanted to have three or four of those spicy/sweet tacos.

After washing our burrito and tacos down with a couple of Mexican Coca-Colas, we walked backed to the subway station floating on the comfortable intoxication of two really terrific meals. After all the hustle bustle of buses, trains, and subway cars, I took in the late afternoon vibe of the neighborhood. I don't think I could live in New York, but I certainly envy their food choices.

Ivan Ramen
25 Clinton St
New York, NY 10002
646-678-3859

Mission Cantina
172 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
(212) 254-2233



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Dining in NY - Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen

Mr Minx and I were in NY recently to celebrate our 15th anniversary and my impending birthday. We ate at a number of interesting and less-expensive-than-usual places, just about all of them of some ethnic persuasion. We also saw a terrific Broadway show, An American in Paris. While looking for a place to have lunch before our matinee, I found Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen.

While restaurants in the Theater District/Times Square are not particularly known for their haute cuisine (think Olive Garden), this little restaurant with the big name was awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin for 2016. The Bib Gourmand is defined as serving "two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less." Basically cheap eats. But there are some notable restaurants on the 2016 list, including both Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar, Frankies 457 Spuntino, Kesté Pizza & Vino, Prune, and Tertulia. I figured a restaurant in such good company can't be bad. And it wasn't.

Service is prompt and efficient in Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen's no-frills dining room. There is barely need for a menu, as the restaurant's name pretty much sums it up, but it was nice to receive one with photos of every dish, so we knew what we were getting into. The bulk of the choices are for dim sum-type snacks, with bigger dishes involving ramen or hand cut noodles in soup or stir fries. We had eaten ramen the day before (and several times in the week before our trip), so opted for dim sum in the form of pan-fried Peking duck buns, scallion pancakes with beef, pork and crab-filled soup dumplings, and a cold dish of sliced beef and tripe in chili oil.

It was all good. The meat in both the buns and scallion pancakes was slightly sweet, which balanced the spice of the beef and tripe. The tripe was cut a bit more thickly than we are used to in similar dishes served at Grace Garden and Hunan Taste, which made it a bit more chewy, but the lightly peanutty chili sauce with the distinct piney-citrus-floral flavor of Sichuan peppercorns had the perfect amount of ma-la (spicy and numbing) heat.

After having scalded myself at my first attempt at eating soup dumplings, I was very aware of the proper method of consuming these heat bombs: using the tongs provided, place a dumpling on the soup spoon; take a tiny nibble of the dumpling skin; suck out the broth before consuming the rest of the dumpling. These dumplings weren't as incendiary as those at Joe's Shanghai, so we emerged unscathed.

I think I liked the scallion pancakes most, for their crisp flaky exterior and the sweet bite of tender beef inside. It was a nice textural contrast. But everything else was quite tasty as well. It would be nice to have these slightly different options available at dim sum here in Baltimore, but who am I kidding? We're lucky to have any dim sum options at all.

Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen
811 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019



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Happy Anniversary, Ejji Ramen

Ejji Ramen, one of our favorite places to eat in Belvedere Square Market, recently marked its first birthday. We've supped there several times in the past 12 months and have felt that they've only gotten better as time goes on.

Our normal m.o. involves hitting Ejji on a weekday night and ordering ramen in any of their three styles (miso corn, tonkotsu, and laksa) just as they are listed on the menu (rather than attempting to compose our own combination of toppings). But now that they serve brunch (!) we're going to have to alter our ways a bit and show up on a weekend.

Brunch is served from 9am to 5pm every Saturday and Sunday, so if you're lazy like us and prefer to loll about in a warm bed until 11am or so, you can still take your time getting your act together and not miss brunch. Or have an early supper, if you prefer.

Recently, we tasted a couple of their brunch offerings.

I'm a huge fan of okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake filled with cabbage and seafood. Ejji's okonomiyaki contains clams, scallops, and shrimp and is topped with okonomiyaki sauce (a sweet and tangy concoction that's a bit like ketchup + Worcestershire), Japanese mayo, scallions, and bonito flakes. It's delicious and filling and a perfect brunch dish. As I'm typing this, I kind of wish I had one right now.

Ejji also has fried ramen topped with a creamy and perfect miso egg and kimchi in a umami-filled sauce with a touch of sweetness. Be sure to get some of Ejji's green (hot) or red (hotter) sambal  on the side, to spice things up a bit or a lot.

Photo credit: Ejji Ramen

There's also a Ramen Breakfast Bowl made with bacon-corn broth, corn, two kinds of egg--poached, and tamago (a thick Japanese omelette that you may have enjoyed in nigiri form)--plus applewood-smoked bacon, and sausage made from Kurobuta pork, a luscious and fatty meat from heritage Berkshire pigs. We haven't tried it yet, but it looks kind of amazing. (And really filling!)

Happy Anniversary to Ejji Ramen! We're so happy you're in our area and we look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with you. And we'll be in for brunch soon. :)

Ejji Ramen
529 E Belvedere Ave
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 435-8688



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13.5% Wine Bar + Food

I know, I know - you're thinking that we should change the name of this blog to "Stuff Cyrus Keefer Feeds Us." And maybe we should. We've covered his cuisine at Fork & Wrench, his Pique pop-up, and at his most recent gig, 13.5% Wine Bar. And we're doing it again. This time, we were invited to a media tasting, which meant we would get to try several more of his dishes than the two of us would normally order on our own.

13.5% Wine Bar has really embraced their new chef. For one thing, notice the recently added "+ Food" in their name. While it's still a great place to enjoy a glass or three of vino, the food game has been stepped up considerably. It's now a place that even non-wine-drinkers can enjoy (they have cocktails and beer, if you're still into the booze). The restaurant is bigger, with table seating for 70, 20 additional at the bar, and al fresco dining, too, courtesy of the new retractable facade.

But we were there for the food, so let's jump right into it. Here's the current menu, for your perusal.

Cyrus started us with an off-menu app of tuna and tomato crudo with miso poached mozzarella. The mozz and tomato made it a bit like a Caprese, but with tuna instead of basil, and the chef's customary touches of Asian flavors, like kombu. This dish hit so many flavor points - tangy, sweet, umami, salty - and I would love to see a larger version of it on the menu.

We had two types of pizza next, the "pizza pie," which had classic pizza flavors and aromas on a crust of pate brisee, or regular pie crust dough. The other was a French bread-style pizza topped with snails and chorizo. The two versions were as different as night and day, the "pie" version light and fresh (despite the very buttery crust) and the other rich and garlicky. Not expecting to get so much other food, we each ate two slices, almost (but not quite) regretting it later in the meal.

Then came a salad of sauteed zucchini, white corn, and baby arugula with fresh cherries and avocado. The vinaigrette showed off the chef's talent with such sauces, being both savory and acidic, with the lightest kiss of black truffle oil. While I normally don't see the point of white corn, especially the tiny kerneled-type, here it punctuated the salad with juicy bursts of texture.

We also tried the tender and cheesy gnocchi-esque goat cheese dumplings with smoked tomato caper sauce and the sous vide octopus with a similarly smoky red pepper sauce, zucchini puree, and polenta. My palate doesn't enjoy smoked + some non-fish seafood, but the octopus was so fork-tender, I ate it all anyway.

So. Much. Food. And we're not done, folks! We also tried "our heavenly take on ramen," which was on the menu the last time we ate at 13.5%. (If soft shells hadn't also been on offer, I would have ordered it.) The soup takes elements from traditional Japanese tonkotsu and Hokkaido-style broths by using both pork (in the form of house-made bacon) and corn (a corn dashi). The genius noodles are actually house-made linguine with baking soda, to give them a very ramen-like bite. There's also a soft-boiled egg, kale, and mushrooms in the mix. There was no way I could finish the dish, so thank goodness for doggie bags.

Our last item, which I didn't photograph, were the pork belly and smoked shrimp spring rolls we had eaten before. They were lovely then and still lovely today, even though I had to eat mine slightly soggy at lunch the next day. Best spring roll in town though.

Whew. Lots of food. No room for Morgaine Brunn's desserts (which could have been a wee peach ice cream-stuffed almond macaron, were we not stuffed). Lots of excellent flavors and textures, too. Cyrus has some great and clever ideas floating around in his head, and the ability to execute them.

The whole purpose of this post is to continue to get the word out about the new focus on food at 13.5% Wine Bar + Food. If you don't go, I'll just have to post again in the future. You are forewarned.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Ejji Ramen

Baltimore is always a few (or more) years behind current restaurant trends; at least we are still unmatched in the crab cake department. The ramen craze has finally hit at long last and Ejji Ramen, in the Belvedere Square Market, is one of the first to do things right.

Ejji (sounds like and means "edgy") is not purely a Japanese restaurant, however. The owners, Oscar Lee and chef Ten Vong (whose families also own Chocolatea Cafe in Tuscany/Canterbury), are Malaysian and have incorporated Malaysian elements into their short menu of dumplings, skewered meats, and noodle soups. Mr Minx and I were invited to a media tasting in the week before Ejji's opening to get an idea of what their food was all about.

We started out with a sample of their gyoza, stuffed with cabbage, shiitakes, and smoked tofu. The fresh and delicate filling gets punched-up with a dip in a super garlicky sesame/soy sauce.

Next, we tasted their pork belly yakitori and both beef and chicken satay. The pork, cooked over traditional Japanese charcoal called binchotan, was pleasantly chewy and nicely seasoned. Shakers of sichimi togarashi (a spicy seasoning blend that includes red chile) were on hand to add a bit of heat to the pork, while the satay had a delicious lime-infused peanut sauce for dipping. The skewers of beef and chicken had been marinated in lemongrass, kaffir lime, ginger, and coconut milk and were flavorful even without the sauce. There were murmurs of dry chicken around the table, but mine was lovely.

Ejji offers three styles of ramen, which one can mix and match. Choose one broth, one noodle, any of thirteen toppings, and a sauce, to make the dish your very own, or order something from the predetermined menu.  We tasted all of the chef's house-made sauces, including two very spicy sambals in red and green, a puree of scallion and ginger, soy perfumed with yuzu, and a black sesame garlic soy. There are also shishito peppers pickled with fish sauce, which offers a milder heat than the sambals.

We sampled three styles of ramen. The first was Ejji's vegetarian version of a Hokkaido-style miso ramen. The rich noodle soup is customarily topped with sweet corn, but Ejji uses the corn in the broth itself, instead of pork. To mimic the fatty mouthfeel of pork-based stock, chef Vong uses butter, which works perfectly with corn. Our servings were topped with soft-boiled egg, enoki mushrooms, scallion, and a large piece of bamboo shoot. Of course, this being ramen, the star of the dish was the tangle of chewy, thick, curly ramen noodles. Ejji gets their noodles from Sun, a noodle manufacturer of some reknown based in Hawaii with a branch in New Jersey. (Consumers can buy Sun noodle products at HMart and Lotte.)

The second bowl of ramen we tried was made with the perhaps more-familiar tonkotsu broth. Making the broth is a two (or more) day process involving cleaning, boiling, rinsing, and more boiling of pork shin bones until they no longer leach out blood and create a nearly opaque milky broth. (Read about making tonkotsu broth at Serious Eats.) The rich stock was then ladled over thin curly ramen noodles and topped with cha siu pork, a miso egg, and slices of melt-in-your-mouth crispy pork belly.

The soups were so good, it was hard to stop eating them. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't have much room left for the final bowl, a laksa. Laksa is a Malaysian favorite, often made with coconut milk and, as with Ejji's version, curry. The broth had a shellfish base (clams and shrimp) and contained slices of clam, a fried shrimp, and spongy bean curd puffs and a sprinkling of katsuobushi (bonito flakes). The thicker curly ramen noodles were used in this dish (but you can order the laksa with more traditional rice noodles). This was the heartiest of the three soups we tasted and a bit on the sweet side due to the coconut milk. A big spoonful of spicy sambal added some brightness, as did a squeeze of the accompanying lime.

Ejji Ramen has been a long time coming. Lee and Vong had been planning the restaurant for two years, and personally, I think it was worth the wait. I predict the restaurant will be very popular in the cold months to come.




Posted on Minxeats.com.