901 South Bond Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
443-449-8234
www.bondstreetsocial.com
Our visit to Bond Street Social was overall, pretty cool.
This restaurant is located on Bond Street and is technically were Fells Point
and Harbor East meet. It is located right up the street from Waterfront Kitchen.
The area itself is very hip; populated by young professionals and a plethora of
apartment buildings, bars, restaurants and unique stores. There is even a gym across the street. Anyone who knows Fells Point/Harbor East is aware
that parking is a challenge here. You must either find street parking or you
can park in the garage across the street for about $5.
The way Bond Street Social is set up, there is outside
seating, reminiscent of sitting on a giant pier with high end and trendy picnic
bench seating and lighting fixtures in the shape of pyramids lit from within
with flames. When you first walk into the restaurant you see a large bar. The
rest of the seating consists of high-backed, dark leather chairs and matching
dark wood tables. Two walls are painted
a rich red. The rest of the walls appear to be loose stone held in place by
wire mesh. It sounds strange but is very
cool. There is a privacy panel behind
which private events can be held.
Bond Street Social was doing pretty brisk business when we
were there and it appears to be the sort of place young, professional singles
frequent. This is the perfect place to
meet friends or coworkers for lunch, dinner or just to hang out. It also is the
sort of place one might go to meet other people one’s own age. I would
definitely choose it as a place to hold an event. It does not really have the
feeling of somewhere families go or somewhere you would take the kids. The wait
staff was friendly and service was prompt. The food was actually bought out a
little too fast. They did not seem to have the concept of staggering
courses. This is a tapas restaurant;
however they do have a selection of full plate meals. Overall, we give Bond Street Social ♪♪ and a half note.
The meal
started with an amuse busch (a complimentary, single,
bite-sized hors d'œuvre given by the chef before a meal at some restaurants);
consisting of mini muffins served with a jalapeno butter spread, the
consistency of peanut butter. We love,
love loved it.
Duck Spring Rolls
These were WONDERFUL! They were served with a
seasoned sesame soy sauce. The rolls were super crunchy and super soft at the
same time. They were filled with shredded duck which was seasoned with
Indian/middle eastern spices. They were spicy, tart, sweet and crunchy.
Foie Gras PB&J
Peanut butter and fig jam was spread atop 4 small
bread rounds and pieces of foie gras were placed on top of each round. This was
an interesting idea and we had to try it. It did not quite come off well, but
we had to give kudos for the creativity of it. The fig jam and peanut butter
were sweet and savory like any other peanut butter and jelly preparation and
the bread rounds were nice and porous and crunchy. Unfortunately, the piece of
the foie gras was completely lost in the whole of the dish. The rest of the
dish completely obliterated the very mild flavor of the foie gras.
Heirloom Tomatoes Gazpacho Shots
This was served as four mini glasses placed
on a small wooden slab and filled with gazpacho and topped with lump crab meat.
This was another interesting idea that did not quite come out as we would have
liked it to. The gazpacho was too thick, almost to the point of being both
grainy and chunky. The tomatoes did not seem to have been skinned as we kept
getting chunks of tough skin. The crab on top was a nice touch as it added some
sweetness, though there was not enough of it, and the rim of old bay added a
slight kick, which was also nice, but none of that was enough to save the dish.
Butter Poached Lobster Cobb Salad
The avocado and blue cheese served as the
dressing here. The mango was hard and not at all sweet and should probably have
been left out. The tomato and lobster added the only bit of sweetness. The dish
overall was fresh and healthy tasting but was nothing spectacular or out of the
ordinary.
Tuna Tartare
This preparation of tuna tartare was quite
interesting. It was served as four
mounds of pretty pink tuna on a rectangular plate, topped with crispy shallots.
It was actually a bit over seasoned,
though we did like the spice. The texture and quality of the tuna was perfect,
though something about the preparation gave the tuna a slight gumminess, which
was not a problem for us, but just so you know…lol. The wasabi cream and
cilantro added nicely to the dish.
Bond Street Social Ice Cream Sandwich
This was served as four mini ice cream
sandwiches consisting of two mini house-made snicker doodle cookies with
vanilla gelato in between. It was ok.
The cookies were a bit too thick and hard for our tastes and there was a ton of
cinnamon added, which was a bit much.
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