Harbor East

Rooftop Brunch at The Black Olive Restaurant

categories: RESTAURANTS

The first time I visited The Black Olive Restaurant (803 S. Caroline Street) was for an invite only champagne sip and tasting. I remember being excited because the location had a rooftop patio making it one of a few locations in Baltimore City. The Black Olive Restaurant is a rooftop restaurant above the Inn at Black Olive Hotel.  Located in Baltimore’s Harbor East district, the hotel website boasts that it’s the only eco-organic hotel in Maryland.

At the champagne event, I only drank champagne and did not order food from the restaurant.  On my second visit, I was invited to a birthday brunch and I was very excited to try the food because my best friend and her husband visited for dinner and they told me  the food was delicious.   The Black Olive Restaurant specializes in authentic organic Greek cuisine. Beforehand I looked over their website to see what the brunch menu had to offer, but I was surprised to find the website didn’t list a brunch menu, just lunch and dinner.  I did notice that the restaurant received many accolades and awards for their food and wine.

When I arrived on a Sunday for brunch, the restaurant and patio view were beautiful.  Sheer white curtains hanging from the ceiling mixed well with the warm breeze blowing through the patio doors.  The brunch menu presented to me had about six entree options.  There was not a bottomless mimosa option, but my friend managed to negotiate with the manager and worked out a deal for our party of 12.

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I ordered the Crabmeat, Spinach and Cheese Omelet accompanied by potatoes and fruit.  My friend ordered the French Toast, scrambled eggs and sausage.

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I must say that I was not pleased with the meal. I was expecting so much more from the rave reviews I’d gotten from my friends and with the obvious accolades and awards the restaurant received.

My omelet was bland and the eggs were rubbery.  My potatoes tasted like they were from a frozen pre-made batch. My friend’s French Toast was actually pretty good, light and flavorful.  The wait staff and the owner/manager were very friendly and attentive, they kept the mimosas coming.

I really want to give The Black Olive Restaurant another chance.  I plan on visiting again during lunch or dinner hours and I will update with a new post.

Have you had breakfast at The Black Olive Restaurant?  What did you think about it?

Talara: Saturday Night Happy Hour

categories: Happy Hour, RESTAURANTS

** UPDATE** This restaurant location closed on Feb 7, 2015.  Thanks for the memories. 

The typical Saturday night is usually reserved for dinner and dancing while Monday-Friday evenings are reserved for Happy Hour.   It’s very rare to find a Happy Hour on a Saturday night,  but Talara Baltimore offers a pretty impressive hybrid of both.

If you’re not familiar with Talara it’s a South American themed restaurant located in Harbor East Baltimore.  The menu features sushi, seafood, and tapas with a fresh latin flair.  They also offer Salsa lessons on Monday nights.  The signature cocktails there are the Mojito, Sangria, and Caipirinha,  and they are $5.00  each during happy hour.

Talara Cocktails

The Mango Mojito is my favorite cocktail at Talara, mainly because it’s made with fresh mango and mint.

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Salmon Asian Tartare

On my recent visit I ordered the Salmon Asian Tartare and the Blackened Chicken Tostada.  The tartare is a sushi tapa served with a sweet aioli sauce and topped with caviar.

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Blackened Chicken Tostada

The tostadas were somewhat of a fancy nacho covered in cheese, chicken, and salsa.  The tostadas I liked  because the chip was not soggy under all the toppings and even though you only get five chips, it was pretty filling to me.  Just like the cocktails during happy hour, the tapas are also $5.00 each

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Pulled Chicken Tacos

Talara on a Saturday night is the place to go if you want a chill, under the radar atmosphere to have a few drinks and eats with friends.

TEN TEN American Bistro

categories: RESTAURANTS

That Baltimore Harbor East is really making my heart flutter with all the new restaurant additions they’ve introduced within the last two years.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the neighborhood hidden gem known as Ten Ten American Bistro (1010 Fleet Street, Baltimore, MD). The restaurant is located in the Historic Bagby Furniture Building on Fleet St. adjacent to the Whole Foods Market. I call it a “Hidden Gem” because it’s literally hidden – pull up to the valet, get out of your car, hang a quick right, walk between Fleet Street Kitchen and Bagby’s Pizza Co., through a pedestrian alley courtyard, and there you will find the restaurant… hidden. I’m not complaining because valet was free and a minor detour sure beats circling the block three times and walking five minutes to the restaurant with the wind beating my face.

The restaurant decor is like most in that area with hardwood floors, exposed brick, and leather seating. The restaurant seats about 75 people comfortably and maybe six more at the bar area. The floor plan is split level with a sheer veil-like partition and three steps separating the main level and upper level.

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The upper level features a corner wall with built-in wine storage, more seating, and a large corner booth that my eight friends and I had the pleasure of filling. Bagby’s does branding well with signature wine glasses on the table etched with the “TenTen” logo. The entrée menu features the traditional American restaurant fare with flair, items such as crab cakes, fish, chicken, shrimp & grits, pork ribs, and steak. These items are paired with non-traditional ingredients such as duck cracklings, sunchoke puree and quail egg. I will say, even though the items are traditional, the taste is exceptional. I decided on the barbecue pork ribs served with cornbread and greens. The ribs were slow-cooked and tender, a nice compliment to the sweet and sticky barbecue sauce.

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But as always, I had food envy when three of my friends ordered the chicken breast topped with a fried quail egg with a side of sweet potatoes. Eggs are the one thing I know how to cook and when I make them at home I always opt for sunny-side up. One bite of that seasoned chicken with egg and I wanted more. I was slightly disappointed when all my friends removed the egg from the chicken and ate their chicken without it – where’s the fun in that? The entrées are reasonably priced between $18.00 and $25.00.

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No desert for us because we were still celebrating a birthday and brought our own cake to enjoy with our meal. After the birthday song concluded and the cake was cut, the manager came over to our table and advised us that the restaurant normally charges a fee to customers to customers for bringing their own cake, but I guess we were having such a good time he didn’t charge us.

The Bagby Restaurant Group also includes the aforementioned Fleet Street Kitchen and Bagby Pizza Co. I look forward to visiting both in the near future.

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