French Toast

Topside Baltimore is now open for breakfast and lunch

categories: RESTAURANTS

Topside Baltimore, a popular nightlife location in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore district, is now open for breakfast and lunch.  Today, I had the opportunity to check out their new weekday breakfast menu. I’ve been to Topside for weekend brunch a few times, so I decided to order a few items that I haven’t had.  I decided on the Chorizo Breakfast Burrito, Grilled French Toast and the Stonefruit-Tomato Tartine. When the food came out to my table, I could see the food styling influence of the new Executive Chef Scott Hines.  I had brunch at B&O when he was there and the food was beautiful and delicious.  I especially liked the thick bread loaf french toast because I’ve never seen it served like this anywhere else in Baltimore. The tartine featured a perfect balance of salty ricotta cheese spread on multigrain bread topped with sweet ripe peaches, I may go back and order that with just a cup of coffee.

After breakfast, I took a peek at the lunch menu and if features a few items that caught my eye.  I can’t wait to go back for lunch.

Be sure to follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

@ArlisAppetite on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Brunch at Duck Duck Goose

categories: Brunch

I’ll admit it, sometimes I like to visit restaurants because of the décor.   It’s initially why I wanted to visit Duck Duck Goose in Fells Point, Baltimore.  I saw a photo online of their colorful wallpaper and I wanted to check out the space for myself.  I’d actually been in the space when it was the prior restaurant 8 Meatball and I wanted to see what renovations they’d done to the place.   I visited on a Sunday for brunch with three other foodie friends.

Duck Duck Goose Baltimore is a small plates French brassiere that opened in Summer 2018.  This visit was my first and I didn’t know what to expect, I just knew I wanted some soft French scrambled eggs.

Nutella French Toast
Shrimp and Grits
Poached Eggs on Toast
Roasted Eggs and Piperade
Steak and Eggs

We started off with a shared Nutella French Toast and let me tell you this was heaven.  It’s large enough to share and so delicious that it leaves you wanting more. I ordered the Steak and Eggs and asked them to add caramelized onions and blue cheese. They actually have a brunch sandwich that comes that way but I didn’t want the bread.  I loved the eggs, they were exactly what I was craving.  Shrimp and Grits aren’t what you’d typically find at a French restaurant but the shrimp were huge and the grits were thick and it was seasoned pretty well. I think they were going for the New Orleans French influence and did a great job.

LaVie en Rose
Banana Jameson

For my cocktail, I ordered the Banana Jameson which is Jameson Whiskey and Banana Liqueur, it’s one of the restaurants specialty cocktails.  They also offer $20 bottomless mimosas during brunch.

As always, follow my eating adventures at @ArlisAppetite on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

 

Friday night brunch at Home Maid

categories: RESTAURANTS

Home Maid is a quaint brunch-only restaurant on Key Highway in the Federal Hill neighborhood.  The restaurant was originally located in Towson, but relocated to its current location in the Spring of 2016.  The location is only open Friday-Sunday and brunch/breakfast is served all day.  I visited on a Friday night for a private D’usse event hosted by Events 4 Good People.  Stepping into the restaurant was like stepping into my grandmother’s kitchen. There’s cute chicken patterned wallpaper, family-style photos in gold and silver frames and wooden chairs painted white. The restaurant has about 11 tables that seat four and a high-top bar area. Because it was a private event, the menu that night was limited and there was one server.

My friend and I decided that we would each order one dish and share with each other. I ordered the Blackened Salmon and Shrimp with Creamy Grits and my friend ordered the French Toast and Bacon.

In almost every instance that I eat salmon, it’s smothered in a tasty sauce but in this instance the dry rub salmon exceeded my expectations. It was prepared Cajun-style with a spicy rub and flavorful herbs. The cut was tender and juicy on the inside which let me know that the chef knew his way around the kitchen! The grits were thick and creamy almost the consistency of mashed potatoes and accompanied with the house sauce created a match made in heaven. The French Toast had a sweet caramel flavor with a crunchy outside texture served with whipped cream, fried plantains and sea salt.  If you notice on the photo the bacon didn’t come out with the French Toast, we had to ask for it again and it came out about 10 minutes later.

Besides the mishap with the bacon, Home Maid was a pleasant brunch experience.  It’s a little pricey though, the French Toast was $18.00 and the Salmon and Grits was $22.00.  In my opinion, Home Maid is the perfect place to brunch with family.

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

  

 

 

Brunch Review: Waterfront Hotel

categories: RESTAURANTS

Fells Point is definitely one of my favorite neighborhoods to enjoy a great Sunday brunch. Last Sunday I visited Waterfront Hotel (1710 Thames Street, Baltimore MD).  With a name like Waterfront Hotel, you would think it was a hotel, but it isn’t.  It was once a private residence in the 1700’s and a hotel at one point in the 1800’s.

WTF1

I’ve been to Waterfront Hotel before but only for happy hour and dinner.  I remember them having a different food special for each day of the week, I like variety and that shows commitment.

WTF2

WTF

I arrived early at 10:30 am and the restaurant wasn’t open yet.  The staff was arranging the outdoor seating and bustling about inside taking care of daily preparations.  I parked outside and waited for 30 minutes with the other patrons that had arrived early. Once inside my friend and I were greeted promptly by a friendly waitress that took our drink orders and brought out a fresh batch of bottomless mimosas.

WTF5

The bottomless menu consists of bottomless mimosas, bloodies, screwdrivers or Natty Boh and the cost is $10.00 per person.

The brunch menu has many options – omelettes, benedicts, sandwiches, salads, bar snacks, entrees and breakfast sides. When in doubt I tend to go for an omelette.  My omelette of choice was the Mexican Omelette -$13.00 (house-made chorizo, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and chipotle salsa). It’s served with toast,  tots or grits, bacon or sausage.  I ordered the tots and sausage option, chorizo and sausage links…double meat, I love it! What I loved most about my omelette was the size, it was fat and full like an omelette should be.

WTF6

My friend ordered a breakfast bowl with and over easy egg, potatoes, peppers, onions and crabmeat – $14.00.

WTF4

We also had a taste for something sweet, so we ordered the Stuffed French Toast -$12.00 (cinnamon cream cheese, warm maple berry compote, with a choice of sausage or bacon). My friend doesn’t eat pork or red meat, so we ordered bacon for me 🙂  More Meat!

WTF3

The French Toast wasn’t actually stuffed with the cinnamon cream cheese, it was spread between the two slices.  It was yummy and different because I was expecting it to be stuffed inside the toast slices.

Brunch at Waterfront Hotel begins at 11:00 am, make sure you get there early to get a seat because the place fills up quickly. When we left around 2:30 pm and it was standing room only, some patrons were standing in the front area eating their food.

Waterfront Hotel also hosts live music on the upper level. All live shows start at 10:00 pm and there is never a cover charge.  For more information on events of the menu please visit http://www.waterfronthotel.us/

 

Cap’n Crunch French Toast

categories: RESTAURANTS

Two all-star breakfast favorites join forces to make one awesome meal and leaves you wondering … Why didn’t I think of that?

My recent visit to Blue Moon Café (1621 Aliceanna St. Baltimore, MD ) was my second trip there.  The first time I visited was a few years ago with a few co-workers, back in my “late-night/early-morning” bartending days.  The restaurant is open 24 hours on the weekend, so that makes for a great grub after the club.   I don’t remember the food I ate, but I do remember the place being a very small and kitschy restaurant in Fells Point.  My second time around I was on a mission to taste their famous Cap’n Crunch French Toast.  I have many mention it on social media and I know a few people who’ve visited and raved about it.

CapnCrunchToast

I am officially one of the ravers because this French Toast is awesome!  The Cap’n Crunch isn’t added in the batter mixture because that would be a little nasty, instead The Cap’n Crunch is encrusted on the outside of the French Toast giving it a savory crunchy topping.  The bread is soft on the inside and gives the firm outside a nice balance.  It’s not as sweet as I originally thought it would be, but I could still taste the flavor of the Cap’n Crunch cereal.

If I can remember correctly, the cost of the French Toast is $7.99 and it comes with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and powdered sugar…not bad for two heavenly pieces of delicious carbohydrates.  The only downfall with this breakfast is Blue Moon Café doesn’t serve hot syrup 🙁 forgive me but I like my breakfast breads dripping in hot syrup. I asked the waitress why and she said something about “safety…hazard…hot liquids”  –  O.K. I get it.  Surprisingly without the hot syrup, I enjoyed my French Toast very much.  I’m starting to think that’s the idea…serve the toast with little distractions and lots of flavor.

 

 

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