Alizee

Alizee Overall Review

 

Alizee is located in the Inn at the Colonnade across from John Hopkins University.  This restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner; it offers American cuisine.  The website boasts that it is available for private parties and special events.  There is free parking underneath the hotel/apartment.  Just make sure you get your ticket validated. If you wanted to go to this restaurant, you could go with anyone really, a friend, a family member, a coworker; but I would say that if you want to eat out there are plenty of other places to go. Overall, we give Alizee ♪ and a half note.

Inn at The Colonnade Baltimore
4 West University Parkway
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
Phone: (410) 554-7579


Smoked Salmon & Creme Fraiche

The salmon was rolled and topped with Creme Fraiche.  It had a typical strong smoked flavor.  The Creme Fraiche was light and creamy and had a subtle lemon flavor that was deeply overpowered by the salmon.  The bagel crisps were light and not a bad touch.  Overall the dish was not very exciting or creative.

Prosciutto Wrapped Fresh Mozzarella

Once again the chef rolled prosciutto, this time he stuffed the rolls with mozzarella.  Unfortunately, this dish was served warm.  By cooking the prosciutto, it caused the meat to be dry and tough.  It also changed the flavor of the prosciutto.  It made it salty and stale tasting. Much like the salmon it was served on a bed of unnecessary greens with shredded cheese on top.  

Seafood Risotto

Thank God for the seafood risotto.  This dish saved our dining experience here in this restaurant.  Honestly we were afraid that the chef was going to mess this dish up. However he did quite the opposite.  The rice was cooked to perfection, firm with a slight bite.  There was a light seafood broth and tons of shrimp, crab and mussels.  This dish was amazing!

Diver Scallops

Poached/steamed/boiled scallops sat atop a bed of couscous.  These poor scallops were mistreated in this dish.  They had no flavor and were far from exciting.  They actually were slightly bitter.  The couscous was cooked well and had a nice flavor. 


Mango Mousse Cake

This was yet another surprise.  This two layered cake was delicious.  The mousse was light and fluffy and perfectly matched the fluffiness of the cake.  The mousse flavor was not an artificial one.  It was very fresh and yummy.  

Chocolate Cake

The chef created a super rich chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache.   It was heavy, rich and delicious.  It was just like eating a chocolate bar.  DELICIOUS!

 

 Angela's Review

Alizee is a very interesting restaurant, located inside what are both a hotel and a residence; The Inn at the Colonnade. I do not think that I have ever seen any restaurants in the Baltimore area that are located in such a setting, though it might be quite common in other, bigger cities, I don’t know. The décor is of the kind I am fond; dark, heavy woods with accent colors of cream, brick red and lighter browns, with lots of natural light throughout, though I am sure from what I can see of the in-house lighting, that at night it is probably a bit more dimly lit and intimate. The food here is a bit hit or miss, but not ridiculously so. When the chef is on, he is on, but when he is off, he is just slightly off. I really enjoyed his seafood risotto, and his desserts are TO DIE FOR. However, I was not all that impressed with his prosciutto wrapped- mozzarella (which I USUALLY love), as he did not seem to know what to do with it. Prosciutto, when wrapped around mozzarella, is best not cooked, but here, it was cooked, which made it rather tough and dry… not good.  Nor was I all that impressed with the diver scallops as they were sort of dry, and were missing that really important char( that only occurs when scallops are placed in an appropriately piping hot pan) that I believe scallops should always have in such dishes.  All in all, I give Alizee ♪ and a half note.

Melissa's Review

Alizee was truly a 50/50 restaurant.  There were some great dishes and some barely ok dishes.  The atmosphere was fair.  Alizee is a restaurant located in a hotel/apartment community.  The restaurant was decorated with red, orange and brown.  It had rather dark lighting, and there were whimsical paintings on the wall.  The restaurant was completely empty when we first arrived.  Slowly a few more patrons trickled in.  The chef’s most memorable dishes were the seafood risotto and his desserts.  I am a huge fan of great risotto and this chef managed to create a risotto with a perfect texture.  It was creamy and rich with a great bite and the perfect amount of sauciness.  His desserts were tasty and extremely well executed.  His appetizers were poor and unimaginative.  Both his smoked salmon and his prosciutto appetizers were presented in the exact same way and neither was remarkable.  Honestly they were quite forgettable.  The chef managed to make scallops that were boring and limp.  Scallops have to be seared at a high temperature to get the natural sugar in them released.  It’s that sugar that causes the scallops to caramelize on the edges and taste super sweet.  The scallops this chef prepared appeared to be steamed or boiled.  They had no flavor at all.  Alizee was not a great restaurant.  I doubt that I would ever go back.  Overall I give Alizee ♪ and a half note.