Great Baltimore Ethnic Restaurants
Four Global Cuisines Lure Visitors to "Charm City" Eateries
Aug 30, 2008
Baltimore is known as "Charm City," and is an interesting combination of old-world character and new-world cultural fusion, and that’s true of its ethnic restaurants as well. Here are four local favorites worth a visit:
French Bistro With Great Crepes
Tucked into the preppie neighborhood called Mount Washington Village, Crepe du Jour owns a Zagat Award of Excellence.
The decor is very Parisian, all off-kilter vibrant colors and rich fabrics. The service, too, is almost Parisian, but friendlier. Servers are impeccable in black pants and long white aprons, and they know both the food and the wines.
The food itself is poetic, if pedestrian at first glance. Crepes are prominently featured, both as main dishes and desserts, but the range of fillings is extensive.
The wine list is small, but outstanding; the restaurant offers white wines crisp enough to satisfy a red-wine drinker, and the reds are well chosen and reasonably priced. Better still, the staff knows to let the person ordering taste the wine, and then serve it to the guest(s) first, a tough amenity to find in any restaurant except the truly pricey.
This restaurant is not pricey, but moderate, with crepe Parisienne (Swiss cheese, ham) at $9.99, and Coeur de Filet Mignon at $26.99.
Find the restaurant at 1609 Sulgrave Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 21209. Phone 410-542-9000
Exotic, Inexpensive Afghan Delights
This very inexpensive, white-tablecloth restaurant near the University of Baltimore offers impeccable service along with interesting flavors. Best of all, its vegetarian menu (many things being vegan, also) is almost as extensive as its lamb-, beef-, and chicken-based offerings. The Vegetarian Aushak is a favorite. The menu describes it:
"Afghan ravioli filled with leeks, served on minted yogurt and topped with yellow spit peas and carrot sauce. Served with pallow." Pallow is the Afghan term for pilaf.
For some, the reason to go is not all the wonderful food, but a particular wonderful food: Kaddo Borawni, baby pumpkin pan fried and served with sugar and a yogurt garlic sauce.
Find The Helmand at 806 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Phone 410-752-0311.
Upscale Asian Noodles in Old Working-Class Environment
Suzie's Soba is a tiny restaurant in Hamden, an old working-class neighborhood becoming trendy. The food is simple, but delicious, and served in a quirky dining room that gives on the feeling of being in a Little Mermaid movie, only less garish.
While there are grilled, mainly fish, appetizers of various kinds, the entrees are mainly noodles. And they are mainly wonderful. The dried wild spinach with garlic over soba noodles has the aroma of wood smoke, but is silkily flavorful and totally satisfying. And it is only $9.
Find Suzie's Soba at 1009 W. 36th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211. Phone 410 243-0051.
Exceptional Indian Cuisine in John Water's Neighborhood
The Ambassador Dining Room’s name has nothing to do with Indian cuisine, but rather is the name of the Tudor-styled apartment building in which it is located. In the same neighborhood as Johns Hopkins University, and filmmaker John Waters’ house, it attracts a diverse clientele to its elegant dining room and even more elegant, all-weather patio.
The food, however, is sublime, from the crystalline martinis perfectly served, to the spicy curries and vindaloos, also perfectly served. Prices are moderate here, too, especially for the quality of the food and the ambience of the location. The Tandoori Grand Platter, for example, with sheesh kebab murgh tikka, murgh tandoori and jingha kebab is only $25.95. Also offered is an extensive vegetarian menu priced at $16.95 and $17.95.
Find the restaurant at 3811 Canterbury Road, Baltimore, MD 21218. Phone 410 366-1484.
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