Langermann's Restaurant Groupon

Strike while the iron is hot! Groupon Baltimore has a WONDERFUL deal that will continue for the next two days.  For $29 Langermann's Restaurant in Canton is offering a 3 course meal for 2 people.  The deal includes 1 appetizer to share, 2 entrees and 1 dessert to share.  Trust us on this one,  you do not want to miss out on this deal!  Grab it while you can.  You will not be disappointed.  Happy eating!

Our 2000th view!

Wow readers.  We have reached 2000 views and we want to say thank you, because without you, this would not be possible. When we started this enterprise in January of 2012, we knew we were doing something big, and we have had great fun eating out and sharing our experiences with you all out there. We have greatly appreciated all your positive comments, requests for our advice regarding where to take significant others out for a special occasion, encouragement and your loyal readership. We have actually had views from Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Canada, France and the Philippines to name few. How utterly exciting is THAT?!  In less than 3 months, we will have reached the 1 year anniversary of this blog and we are eagerly looking forward to where we will end this year and to beginning a new year of blogging about good food, good times and sharing a good friendship with you, all of our new friends out there. Thank you for your support and please continue to support us in the coming year.

Kinkead's Photos

Chef's Selection of Oysters

Cod with Imperial Crab

Tuna

Bitter Sweet Chocolate Mousse

Seafood "Cocktail"

Grilled Fig Salad

Kinkaed's An American Brasserie

Kinkead's Overall Review

Kinkead’s, An American Brassiere in Northwest Washington, DC.   It is a little tricky to find and if you call the staff at the restaurant they may or may not be able to help you find your way to them.   Apparently it’s so trick that they are not exactly sure where they are located.  Anyway we digress…This restaurant is an upscale seafood house.  There are three chefs running the kitchen with a fascinating portfolio of experience.  Check out their website.  It is an entertaining read, with information about rugby and a wonderful tale of sibling rivalry.  The service at Kinkead’s is pretty good.  Our server was a little uptight at first, but mellowed out as we cracked jokes and give him no choice but adjust the stick up his hind- parts.  Parking is little tough.  They are suppose to have valet, but did not on the night we visited.  They will validate parking if you use the garage around the corner or you can search for paid street parking.  Kinkead’s is a possible option for a date night as there is much there to talk about and observe, not to mention it is a bit romantic.  Overall we give Kinkead’s ♪♪ and a half notes.    

2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20006-1812 

(202) 296-7700

Oysters

Raspberry point PEI oysters  have a very delicate flavor. Initially, the flavor is basically unnoticeable, but if you sit back a moment and wait, it starts to deepen into something that is really quite remarkable. The Stellar Bay oysters from Stellar Bay, Washington have a flavor that hits you instantly, stronger in flavor than the Raspberry point PEI, sort of a cross between a grapefruit and watermelon, TRULY!, with a briny kick. The horseradish that is served with the oysters calms down the flavor a bit. It was wonderful. The Chef's Creek oysters started out with a briny taste that quickly morphed into a sort of grassy, woody, oaky finish, believe it or not.

Salad of Grilled Figs

This salad was perfect for Fall. It was the perfect combo of sweet, savory and tart. The fig was sweet and fresh and filled with a creamy, sweet, smooth cheese. Aged balsamic on the plate grounds the flavor and there is just the right amount of oil and salt on the greens. It was like a chopped salad with endive,  supposedly duck, and blue cheese, which gave it it's savoriness. I say supposedly because for some reason, there was only one sliver of duck on the whole thing, which we didn't notice until the end, at which point we realized we were supposed to have Duck. SMH... anywho.

Seafood "cocktail"

The word cocktail did have quotation marks around it, and here's why. It was definitely unlike any seafood cocktail I have ever had. The seafood encompassed shrimp, lobster, crabmeat, mussels and calamari. The "cocktail sauce" was more like a thickened gazpacho soup than a sauce, and it had cumin in it, which was actually a nice addition. It took a minute to get our heads around it though. It was not terrible, but is was not spectacular either. It was basically sort of odd because of the flavor and the way they chopped up all the seafood.

Cod with Crab Imperial

Now, interestingly enough, this dish was fabulous. It was one of their specials, not on the regular menu. It was served with a three mustard cream, which had a wonderfully light flavor that complemented the Cod well. The crab imperial was fresh and delicious. The Cod was firm, moist and juicy. There was a squash puree that was very good, if a little loose. The spoonbread that was served with the dish was also very good, but a little wet.

Tuna

The tuna, oh the tuna, the poor little tuna. It was horrendous. We have no idea WHAT they thought they were doing here, but it COMPLETELY missed the mark. It didn't taste at all fresh. The seasoning with which it was prepared totally overpowered the fish. The black bean patty with which it was served was just ok, nothing to write home about. The sweet potato cornbread muffin was delicious. We were very excited when we read of the preparation of this fish which included cocoa nibbs, cumin and black pepper and sea salt. Alas, our excitement was severely misplaced. We have never been so disappointed.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

This mousse was actually pretty heavy with a hazelnut crunch from its crust. The coffee sauce was not as rich as it could have been. It really didn't add anything to the dish due to this fact. The mousse had a nice, rich chocolate flavor. Over all, the dish was very delicious. We had a mini debate about whether or not it was safe to eat the gold slivers the chef placed on top.  Guess what?  We ate it and lived to write about it :)

Angela's Review

Ok, so our dining experience at Kinkead’s was… well… interesting, to say the least.  We were completely unsure what to expect when we began this journey, and while we were mostly pleasantly surprised, at the same time, we were mystified by and dismayed over a couple of questionable aspects. We have found that our experiences with restaurants we find on Groupon or Living Social can be a bit surreal.  This was definitely one of those occasions.

Ok, so first of all, the space is beautiful. You would never know from looking at the outside how much space is inside. You walk in and look down a set of stairs and see a very nice bar area with lots of people milling about.  Directly in front of you is the front desk, and off towards the back of the restaurant is a piano player dressed in a tuxedo, behind which is another staircase. We were directed up the staircase into a very distinguished looking space; consisting of mustard and charcoal walls and medium-colored wood paneled booths with black cushions, black and wood tables and beveled glass paneling rising above the back of the seats. In the middle, along wrought-iron railings that give the place a sort of New Orleans, French quarter feel, are tables and chairs to seat other diners. Up here there is still more multilevel seating. The place seems to go on forever. Now given all the really neat things about the place I have just enumerated, I wish someone could explain to me why the HECK someone thought it was a good idea to have the likeness of the Greek God Poseidon, emblazoned all over EVERY piece of dishware in the place. It was the most gaudy, god-awful addition to any restaurant’s décor I could imagine. My dear LORD! But that’s just me...lol.  The other thing that was highly disappointing was the state of the bathrooms in this place. I have been in fast food chains whose bathrooms I would rather use than the ones here. They are small, which I understand cannot be helped, but given this fact, one would think that they would have someone checking on them periodically throughout the night as this would make upkeep even MORE important, right. I’m like come on guys, let’s get it together. <sigh>.

Anyway, on to the food; it was pretty good, all things considered. First of all, the chef’s ability to choose oysters in unparalleled.  I had no IDEA that so many varieties of oyster, from so many different places, with COMPLETELY different tastes were out there. This was probably my favorite part of the whole meal. Now from the sublime, to the ridiculous, I never knew that there were as many ways to RUIN tuna as there are, but eating out as much as I do, I have found that there are MANY, MANY ways, and this time around, I was subjected to yet another. The tuna was awful. It did not have a fresh tuna flavor and did not hold up well against the heavy seasoning in this particular preparation. And those of you who have been reading this blog regularly, you know how much it hurts my heart to have a chef RUIN a poor piece of tuna this way. It is really hard to rate this restaurants, but I have settled on ♪♪ and a half note.

Melissa's Review

Kinkead’s is quite the enigma.  This place has so many things that are wonderful and so many other things that are just out of place.  Take for instance the décor; the restaurant is elegant with its superb lighting, cozy booths and sophisticated two story dining.  However all of that is totally blemished by the tackiest emblem of Poseidon imprinted on their water goblets, candle holders and the plates.  When I say tacky, I mean tacky!  I would expect to see that emblem at a cheap hole in the wall crab shack in Dundalk.  It was embarrassing.  Kinkead’s is a fine dining seafood house; it is no place to have a tacky, cheap Poseidon decal.  The next portion of the enigma is the food.  The chef served the most exquisite oyster sampler Angela or I have every experienced!   I mean this thing was next level.  In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined that oysters could have so many different tastes and nuances.  There were three different oysters on the tray and each one was so fresh, exotic and profound.  They were clearly the highlight of the meal.  Then came the Tuna; this mess tasted like a kindergartner made it while mom and dad were not looking.  It was terrible!  To begin, it was clear that the tuna was not at all fresh.  It had an off color.  Fresh tuna should always be a bright pinkish- reddish color, something a bit darker and richer than the flesh of grapefruit.  This tuna came out pale, dull and too purplish in color.  I knew right away that it was either old or previously frozen.  The menu said that the tuna was prepared with lots of exotic flavors and spices.  Ya’ll, that tuna was flavorless, sad and pathetic!  I mean come on this is a high price seafood house!  How are you going to serve flavorless fish?  I am so utterly confused!  With all that being said, Kinkead’s is a risky restaurant.  You might like it if you order wisely and ignore Poseidon.  Over all, I hesitantly give Kinkead’s ♪♪♪.  

The Food Market Photos

Salt & Pepper Tuna

SOS Aka. Shrimp & Grits

Semiffredo

Stingray Oysters

Steak Tacos

Lil' Lamb Porterhouses

The Food Market

The Food Market Overall Review

The Food Market on The Avenue in Hampden bills itself as a restaurant that “focuses on approachable, serious comfort food, in a smartly designed industrial-modern space,” per their website. The atmosphere is bright and humming with excitement.  The place seems to stay packed with neighborhood locals.  Some of the food items are much better than others. So choose carefully when you visit the restaurant.  This is a great spot for a girls night out, a date night or a night out with a co-ed group of friends.  This please really seems to inspire conversation.  They do have valet parking but you have to get their before 9 to partake of this service.  Overall we give The Food Market ♪♪ and a half note.  

Stingray Oysters

The oysters were sweet, salty and savory all at the same time.  They had a wonderful briny intensity.  The chef served these little guys with Limon Cello ice, aka "lemon snowball" and a "chipotle cocktail" sauce.  They were delicious!

 Salt & Pepper Tuna

This dish was a miss.  It appears that the salt and pepper seemed to have cured the tuna.  Additionally it was not a good cut of tuna and it did not appear to be fresh.  We did however like the house made marinaded cucumbers and the avocado tzatziki was cool and refreshing.  
 
Steak Tacos

The chef cooked the meat perfectly but failed to season the meat well.  Melissa does not like corn tortillas, however these were great.  They were light and had a fabulous flavor.   The black pepper hot sauce was a treat and the micro cilantro was yummy.  The uncooked white corn added a nice sweetness and crunchiness.  The whipped avocado did not add anything to the dish.  Its a shame the chef ruined the dish by not getting his seasoning right.

Lil' Lamb Porterhouses

These delectable lamb chops were seared to perfection.  They did need a little salt but they had a delicious gamey and rich, full flavor.  The chef served ground pecans on top with espresso essence.  The apricots added a nice bite and sweetness to the dish.      
 
SOS

Aka...shrimp and grits.  This dish was delicious but super heavy and rich.  The shrimp were huge ,plump and fresh.  The andouille sausage was spicy and wonderful.  The dish was very flavorful and the grits were yummy and fluffy.  
 
Macadamia Nut Semiffredo

This is a semi-frozen Italian dessert, kinda like an ice cream cake.  It was light, refreshing and tasty.  The addition of candied nuts to the dish added a nice richness and crunchiness.  We did wish that the espresso foam had more of an espresso flavor.  
 
Angela's Review

I was having dinner with a friend of Melissa and I, Candace, while she was in town a couple weeks ago, when she mentioned that she had one of the best meals she has ever had here in Baltimore at a restaurant called The Food Market, and asked had Melissa and I been there yet. Before this, I had not heard of it, so needless to say, it went on the TO TRY list.
The atmosphere is very nice and the place was packed even at 9pm. It does have an industrial feel with its glass front, 1 white brick wall and another resembling a sort of Metallic laminate with hues of Blue, green, gray and brown. There is a bar along one wall, booths along the other, and wonderful paintings adorn the walls with abstract forms and bold colors. The steady roar of voices is not so loud that you cannot have a conversation, which is nice, but is just loud enough to speak of the popularity of this spot so far.
Our experience of the food at The Food Market was actually sort of hit or miss, though there were some very good elements. We LOVED the chef’s selection of oysters for the night (Stingray) and the accompaniments which included “lemon snowball,” Limón cello flavored ice, and “chipotle cocktail,” sauce; both of which were FABULOUS.  And the Macadamia nut “semifredo,” a partially frozen Italian dessert along the lines of ice cream, was RIDICULOUS. Other than these “out of the park” hitters, everything else we had had good elements and could have been better” ones. All in all, I give The Food Market ♪♪.
 
Melissa's Review

The Food Market in Hamden, MD is a fascinating place.  The atmosphere was lively and electric.  The place hummed with a vibrant crowd of people and a steady flow of customers.  The décor was warm and inviting.  Exposed brick walls, and intriguing lighting added to the ambiance.  I really like the feel of this restaurant.  The food on the other hand was very much hit or miss.  There were some dishes like the fresh oysters and the lamb that were fantastic, while some of the other dishes were just so so.  The tuna was not fresh and it lacked flavor and creativity.  It breaks my heart when restaurants look and feel fabulous but fall short in the kitchen.  It’s hard to find eateries that excel in both atmosphere and taste.  It’s as though the chef pours all of their creativity into a few dishes, then terribly neglects the rest of their menu.  Despite the inconsistency with the food, I feel that the Food Market is a good restaurant to try.  Overall I give The Food Market ♪♪♪.