Annapolis

Recently I visited Annapolis, Maryland for a two-day seminar and of course I was excited to explore and visit a new restaurant. While researching nearby restaurants I decided on Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant because it was minutes away from my seminar location and their menu options looked amazing. My second day of the seminar ended early enough for me to stop in Cooper’s Hawk during their lunch time.

Cooper’s Hawk in Annapolis is a two-story restaurant and bar with a wine tasting room, retail store and barrel-aging room. The bar side of the restaurant has an extended outdoor patio that includes seating.

As I mentioned, I’d already looked at the menu and I knew what I wanted to order for lunch. My waitress was very pleasant and helpful explaining the wine list and food pairings. Because the wine list is so extensive, some guests have a hard time deciding and they are encouraged to sample one or two wines. Of course I sampled two…who doesn’t like free wine samples?! The restaurant provides complimentary pretzel bread warm and fresh from the oven. For my appetizer I ordered the Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Cashews, Mint, Sweet Thai Chili and Sesame-Sriracha Aioli. Best Brussels EVER! Hands Down! I think it was the Sweet Thai Chili sauce and the Sriracha, that sweet and spicy mix with the perfectly crisp Brussels is a hit! And it’s a hearty appetizer size, I wasn’t able to eat it all and had to take the leftovers home.

After sampling three wines because I couldn’t’ decide on which two to sample, I decided to order the Sparkling Wine Flight. Cooper’s Hawk offers six different wine flights – Sparkling, White, Red, Dessert, Cooper’s Hawk Lux and Create Your Own. Each flight is the equivalent of two glasses of wine. The Sparkling Flight featured an Almond Sparkling, Raspberry Sparkling, Sparkling Rose’ and Blanc de Blanc. Surprisingly I loved the Almond Sparkling wine, I wasn’t sure about how an Almond wine would taste but it tasted like almond cookies or candy.

For my lunch option I ordered the Chicken Piccata and swapped the baked chicken for their Parmesan-Crusted Chicken and it was the best decision. Perfect pasta topped with a buttery lemon sauce seasoned with crisp capers. Seriously this meal is amazing. I’ve been back to the restaurant two more times in the last 30 days because I had to have it again and again.

During my last visit I ordered the Dessert Wine Flight and I especially liked the blueberry wine. As you can tell, I tend to like sweet wines. Maybe on my next visit I’ll venture out and order a red wine or white wine flight.

Have you been to Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant? What’s your favorite dish to order?

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …

The happy hour is from 4-7pm daily at the bar and bar-area seating only. We visited on a Friday around 5:30pm and happy hour was well under way. All the seats were filled around the bar so we stood around for a bit and stalked a few tables. Once we were seated, we went right in and immediately ordered cocktails. The Mojitos, Margaritas and Sangria are only $5.00 and they were delicious. The drinks were strong and flavorful exactly what I’d expect from a cocktail bar. Sometimes inexpensive happy hour drinks are watered down, but these were not. We ordered a second round of drinks a Mojito and Margarita again but this time we switched so whoever got the mojito the first time got the margarita the second time and vice versa.

Pal7 — Shrimp Guacamole served with Fried Plantain and various chips

Pal3 — Blackened Fish Tacos (Top) and Yucca Fries (Bottom)

The El Cubano sandwich was huge, larger than we expected and enough for two people to share. The Yucca fries were interesting, I’ve never had yucca before it’s like a potato but flaky and it was also filling. It came with three dipping sauces which is always fun and adds flavor variety. The Fish tacos were light and included coleslaw and pickled onions. We kept the selections light because afterwards we’d planned on going to another location in Annapolis, maybe another bar/restaurant. We asked our waiter for suggestions on local places to visit and he was very helpful, he stood at the table and talked to us for about five minutes and wrote down a few locations on a napkin.

We mentioned that it was my friend’s birthday (because I wanted that free dessert) and he “surprised” us with a slice of Coconut Caramel Flan with coconut custard and caramel sauce.

And finally, what’s a rum bar without rum? We both ordered a rum flight from an extensive rum menu. We ordered the “Aged” rum flight, this one jumped out at us because we both like El Dorado Rum and decided to give the other two rums a try.

Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar also has a late night happy hour Sunday-Thursday and the restaurant is located in Annapolis Towne Center and features free valet parking… sweet! I would definitely visit again for happy hour, but this time I’d get there a little earlier.

Always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …

Annapolis

Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Annapolis, MD

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Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar

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Annapolis

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