Restaurant Review - Carpaccio in Annapolis, MD

For the second year in a row, we chose to celebrate our wedding anniversary with my dad and step-mom at Carpaccio in Annapolis, MD.  Carpaccio is one of their favorite restaurants; especially since my step-mom Monica has a special connection with the owner (they're both crazy Italians).  Carpaccio has a great location in Downtown Annapolis on a block with a lot of walking traffic, coffee shops, and hotels.  There is plenty of parking; both street and garage and a huge bonus is that it's right by the stop for the free trolley that will take you all over Annapolis.  It has a great outside area that is shared with another restaurant and a beautiful fountain.

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The interior of the restaurant is sophisticated with high-end decorations, an open view of the kitchen, and a large and fully stocked bar and yet the restaurant also has a comfortable feel to it.  This is one of those rare places where upon entering you know that you can both feel at home here and know that you're getting a quality, high-end meal that you couldn't ever get at home.  

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The wait staff is always incredibly friendly and knowledgeable.  On this occasion  our waiter even advised us on a dish he didn't recommend we tried as it wasn't one of his favorites.  That might not enamor him of the owner or chef, but it did of me for sure.  When deciding what to order, I asked him to choose my wine for me based on the entree I chose and he was knowledgeable in that aspect, picked me a great wine, and checked back to make sure I liked it.  He was very attentive and had such a lovely, friendly attitude; it made you want to come back regardless of the food.

Thankfully, the food made you want to come back even more.  The bread that you start with at the table is a mixture of different kinds, the best of which Monica calls their "pizza bread" as it's covered in a delicious red sauce.  The table started with carpaccio di manzo toscano (thinly sliced filet mignon, baby spinach, mixed mushrooms, shaved parmesan cheese, drizzle of white truffle oil) which was perfectly sliced, a beautiful presentation, and just the right amount of filling to really wet your appetite for the meal you're about to tuck into. For entrees, I ordered the risotto al funghi porcini (arborio rice slowly cooked in a mushroom broth with imported Italian Porcini mushrooms, drizzled with white truffle olive oil and topped with shaved parmesan cheese) and Mike ordered the polenta di mare (fresh prawns, deep sea scallops, jumbo lump crab cake meat, fancy capers, scampi sauce, resting on a crispy polenta).  My risotto was perfect; it was the perfect mix of creamy and al dente.  The mushrooms and truffle oil were decadent and just the perfect richness.  I took my leftovers home and finished it with steak for dinner and it was just as good the second time around and held up perfectly next to a piece of red meat.  Mike loved his polenta and his prawns and scallops were perfectly cooked.  

For dessert, I ordered the cannelloni which were delicious.  They were the perfect size for one person and were the exact right amount of sweet.  Often with cannelloni  you can get filling that is way too sweet and ruins the whole dish; these were perfect.  The only criticism of my dessert is that the shells were a little to hard to cut into and I ended up stabbing at my cannelloni like a sugar crazed caveman.  Mike ordered the flourless chocolate cake.  His cake was incredibly rich, but given in a tiny slice so as to not overwhelm.  He loved it and devoured the whole thing quickly.  Mike finished of his meal with a dessert liquor suggested by our waiter that Mike found surprisingly delicious.  

Walking away from a meal at Carpaccio, you feel full, satisfied, and happy.  We all left with smiles on our faces knowing we had just eaten quality food with just the right amount of decadence served by someone you now felt like was a friend.  

Here are some links to help you check out Carpaccio:

Website
Facebook
Urbanspoon
Yelp

Solomons Pier - Solomons, MD

A few weekends ago, Mike and I found ourselves wandering around Solomons Island on a stormy Friday.  We decided duck into Solomons Pier for a couple of cocktails.  Luckily we did, because soon after we sat down, it started pouring rain all around us.  We were sat outside in their bar which is a room made almost entirely of windows that looks out on the water.  It was like sitting in a giant glass box while it was being sprayed down with water all around you. It was amazing.

But lets talk about the food, shall we?  Neither of us had ever been here before, but we chose it for the spectacular view; it really is amazing.

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Mike ordered a beer which for the life of me I cannot remember the name of (I wasn't claiming I was a food blogger back then so no notes were taken!) and I got what they called a skinny margarita.  Mike liked his beer of course and while my  margarita was tasty, there is no way that sucker was low calorie.  It tasted like sweat and sour mix and little else.  And it was STRONG.  You definitely get your money's worth there!  We got hungry (like we always do when we say we're just stopping somewhere for drinks) and ordered the drunken clams which are clams dipped in dark beer, garlic, parsley, and butter.  They came with the perfect bread that was just the right amount of crispy and soft and was amazing dipped in the bowl of clams.  I really enjoyed these and would eat them again in a heartbeat.  The herbs and beer was delicious, but didn't take away from the ocean taste you want in your clams.  

The service was good, especially since the poor waitress kept having to walk out in the pouring rain to come help people . She even managed to get us our clams without getting any water in them somehow.  I'll definitely come back to try the dinner and eat inside, but if you are wanting to enjoy some drinks and appetizers or to have a party, or just hang out with a large group, the outside bar is perfect.  It's very casual, the bartenders are fast, the wait staff is friendly, and of course, the view is gorgeous.

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Here are some links to check out Solomons Pier:

Website

Yelp

Facebook

Enjoy!

Sake - Lexington Park, MD

The other day, my husband ditched me for the day to go play golf out of town with my dad.  I was left home alone with no car and nothing to eat for lunch.  I wrote about what I did that day (spoiler:  it's boring) on my other blog here.  When it came time to order lunch, I decided to go with Asian food since it's not my husband's favorite so I might as well get it while he's gone.  I searched Yelp for a good, local place that delivered and found several reviews for Sake.

I'm not going to lie, I had never eaten at Sake before because it's pretty dern scary from the outside.  It doesn't convey a sense of confidence in their food when you drive by.

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 But the reviews on Yelp were really good and the pictures looked tasty so I went for it.  BONUS:  you can order and pay online for delivery which for someone whose phone barely works in her apartment is pretty dang awesome.  And they deliver diet sodas which for some reason really tickled me that day.

I ordered the gyoza, egg rolls, small vegetable fried rice, small vegetable lo mein, and sweet and sour chicken.  And I am fully aware that is a massive amount of food for one person for lunch.  I love that they offer small sizes of their fried rice and lo mein.  It's still a really good amount at only $4.75 each and it lasted me several servings for two days in a row.  Here is my massive plate of food in all its glory:

The food was exactly what you want your local, greasy, Chinese joint to taste like.  The vegetable fried rice was exceptionally good.  It wasn't greasy at all and had really large chunks of vegetables in it.  The only item I didn't care for was the gyoza.  It had an unpleasant taste to it and it was pretty tough and rubbery so I ended up throwing those away.  

My only complaint about Sake was how long my order took to be delivered.  When you order and pay online, you choose your delivery time.  I chose 11:30 and my food didn't show up until about 12:30.  I finally called after waiting half an hour and asked on the status of my order and was told they would call the driver and check, but I never heard back.  If I order delivery from them again, I'll just assume it's going to take forever and set my delivery time earlier, but it would be nice if they show up closer to the time you request.

The price, ease of ordering, selection (they have a Japanese, Chinese, and sushi menu), and taste makes Sake a restaurant I would eat from again and would recommend.  It's nothing fancy, but it's perfectly satisfying Chinese food and it doesn't make you feel like death the next day like a lot of overly greasy Chinese food places can.

Here are some links to help you check out Sake:

Website

Yelp

Enjoy!

Cafe Des Artistes - Leonardtown, MD

Last weekend, we ventured over to one of our favorite little towns in this area - Leonardtown, MD for the Earth Day Festival.  While, in my mind, I thought the festival would be filled with organic produce stalls and the like, it really was mostly booths aimed at getting kids to play games that taught them to recycle and be more green.  Useful, yes.  Relevant to Mike and I, no.  So, like any good Earth-loving American, we ditched the festival and bellied up to the nearest bar.

We ended up at one of the area's best restaurant's - Cafe Des Artistes.  We have had dinner here several times and it never disappoints.  The chef consistently serves up fresh, quality, classic dishes with just the right amount of butter and heaviness that you expect from a good French restaurant.   The ambiance is exactly what you want it to be; dark lighting, kitschy decorations, and friendly staff and the location couldn't be any better - right in Leonardtown square in a perfectly East Coast brick, historic building.

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This visit, we intended to grab a couple cocktails at the bar to make up for our bust of a festival day.  The bar here is really cute and comfortable with plenty of room for multiple guests to enjoy drinks and dishes.  Once the bartender informed us that they had Hendricks gin, we quickly ordered a couple gin and tonics.  Any bar that serves Hendricks gets an extra point in my book; gin and tonics made with it just cannot be beat on a warm Spring/Summer day.  

After enjoying our drinks for a few minutes, we decided to grab an appetizer because...well why not?  The only complaint from this visit was that the bartender disappeared for a pretty long time in between handing us our menus and coming back to take our order.  We were there at an odd time of day so he was probably doing some daily tasks that took him away from the bar, but in my mind, if you have paying customers in the restaurant, pay them attention while they're there.  A woman walking around who I would guess is the owner noticed our wait and had a waitress grab the bartender and he took our order right away after that.  I appreciated this; there's nothing like an owner or manager that stays on top of things and takes care of customers before they get irritated and angry.  

This restaurant always has unique specials on its menu and today we ordered a special of venison and hazelnut terrine.  The texture of the terrine was perfect; not rubbery, not too thick, just perfect for slicing and eating on the warm baguette they provided.  

Overall, it was another perfectly pleasant and delicious visit to Cafe Des Artistes.  If you've never been, add it to your schedule soon!  It's a perfect place for a date night or just a quick drink at the bar.  If you're coming for dinner, make sure to make reservations; they book up quickly. 

Here are some links to help you earn more about this restaurant:

Web Site

Yelp

Facebook

Enjoy!