Hurrah for RA Harbor East’s New Sushi Restaurant is a Winner

See and Be Seen: B+ (especially for the executive crowd)
Ambiance: A (must like loud music with throbbing base)
Service: A
Food: A-
Wine list: C+
Value: A

Harbor East just keeps on getting better. Residents and visitors of Harbor East and Fells Point can now see the latest independent film at Landmark Theater, then go for a late dinner at any number of chic new night spots. During the week, the banking and investment sectors can do lunch or unwind at a number of new nightspots.

Ra, the hip offspring of Benihana, is located on the ground floor of Eden Apartments at 1390 Lancaster St. The interior is decidedly red, with wall size giclée prints of a beautiful Kabuki face, lighted floor-to-ceiling acrylic bamboo, and hanging red globe lanterns. Sushi chefs prepare in the open at the sushi bar, but one can also eat, drink, or gather at another long bar of brown marble. Comfortable banquets and tables fill the seductively lit restaurant space. The staff is pleasant, professional and attentive.

Labels: Boston, Japanese, Restaurants

  12:55 PM •  0 Comments •

Long Awaited Lemongrass and Tsunami Have Opened
See and Be Seen: B
Ambience: B+
Service: B+
Food: B

This popular Annapolis duo of attractive, reasonably priced restaurants (bowling alley attached!) were long rumored to be coming to downtown Fells Point. The first weekend was somehow a great success, even though there was still no website or phone number.

The atmosphere for both restaurants is sleek and stylish, with polished concrete floors and stainless steel appointments. The two restaurants are connected by a breezeway, with the bowling alley on the second floor.

Lemongrass is Thai, with surprisingly moderate prices for such large portions. Everything on the menu is good, with nothing mind-blowing. Waiters are attentive, with plenty of busboys around to serve the large tables in the huge and rather noisy back dining room. The Thai Chicken salad is tasty and large enough for an entree, although the texture of the minced chicken seemed more ground than minced. The moderate prices probably account for the large crowds of the under-30 set. Eat in the front bar area for a quieter, more serene atmosphere.

Tsunami is Japanese with a hip and sophisticated decor - small, dimly lit and quiet in comparison to Lemongrass. Again, everything on the menu is good, from sushi to Ahi tuna filet, and a delicious sticky rice with mango dessert. The wine list is well planned with reasonable selections that complement the food.

On Bank Street and S. Central Avenue, these two new restaurants will be great business lunch and after work venues for the growing professional mass in the area.

Lemongrass
1300 Bank St.
410-327-7835

Tsunami
1300 Bank St.
410-327-1370  12:10 PM •  0 Comments •

Cinghiale Revisited See and Be Seen: A
Ambiance: A
Service: A
Wine List: A
Food: A

If you tried Tony Foreman’s fashionable new Cinghiale Osteria in Harbor East and were in any way disappointed, it’s time to give it another go. You loved the salmon colored marble bar with its hand carved wooden boar ("cinghiale") lintels, the parque marble floors, and the gilt framed vintage opera posters. But you left a bit hungry and slightly irritated.

Listen to me. Foreman is a perfectionist, unusually dedicated to his craft. He is a studied virtuoso, and most likely, clinically OCD when it comes to the success of his new ventures. We are certainly to benefit from this. Early feedback spoke heavily of too small portions and an over-anxious staff. A new chef and other corrections have resulted in near perfection. Portions are not only larger, but seductively intricate in flavors and ingredients. Quality and freshness are quite simply, a given. I found the staff to be intelligent and attentive, yet confident enough to be relaxed. A secondary roving staff exists to silently observe and fulfill your needs. Can you tell yet that I am totally smitten?

Your smartest choice is to go with the Prezzo Fisso menu which, for $48 gives you a choice of one antipasto, primo, and secondi, even if your selections actually total more than that. I can’t tell you yet that I have tried it, but after going to this week’s Tuscan Wine Tasting and commentary given by Foreman, I definitely will go with the paired wines option of $70 per person with the Prezzo Fisso menu on my next visit. There is much thought and experience to be gleaned from Foreman’s experience with Italian vintners.

As usual, expect to find the chic and beautiful set at Cinghiale. That’s part of what makes it so much fun to go.  9:38 PM •  0 Comments •

Tony Foreman's Tony New Restaurant - CINGHIALE Ambiance and Design: A
See and Be Seen: A
Service: A
Wine List: A
Food: C

This blog is late, and I have been duly chastised for it. I have procrastinated because I wanted to write a better review. I really like this restaurant, but for all the wrong reasons.

I have been 4 times and will be going again this week. You see, I am stubborn. I don't want to give up. I want them to have better food! They've gotten everything else so right!

From the endless marble bar with the anachronistic chain-and-pulley ceiling fan above, the design beckons to me like Homer's sirens. The casual Enoteca provides a casual gathering place for after work, or if you feel like wearing jeans. If you want to run into the hunt valley set or an old girlfriend, dress up and sit in the Osteria, where the menu is more upscale. The walls are draped in silk and the art is gallery hung.

Foreman also owns Bin 604 and really knows his wines. The vast list has great bargains as well as fine reserve wines - all Italian. We started with a glass of Prosseco at the bar before moving to our table, upon which, the Sommeliere (Holly, whom we recognized from Petit Louis-Tony knows how to retain good people) dropped by to proffer suggestions. The wine she chose was not only a bargain but exactly what I had described as my preference. The entire wait staff is highly trained, coached in the preparation of each dish, proper pronunciation and the powers of verbal description - all the while remaining cordial and pleasant as a testament to Foreman's management skills. Until this point, the entire experience can only be described as excellent.

Alas, I must now talk about the food. It cannot be said that it is bad, quite the contrary. But it is not excellent. It should be excellent, sublime, savory, and satiating. The portions are so small as to appear penurious. We were quizzical enough to ask, "Are you certain this is a full portion and not a half?"

Rissoto is not expensive to make, and it should be filling and satisfying on an autumn night; not three spoonfuls. The entree of Ahi tuna for $29.00 is three quarter size bites looking quite lost on a large oval plate. I looked up hungrily and wanted to whimper, "Please? Is this really all? But I'm so hungry!"

Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, on my second visit I ordered a full portion of my favorite pasta, Gnocchi. A half portion is $14, full is $26. It was described as having shrimp and rappini. By even the most anorexic of standards, this would be a half portion. There were five bites of stretchy, doughy gnocchi, one shrimp and not a trace of rappini.

Again, we all left hungry, considering whether or not to stop by Pazo, where they now serve full portions.

http://www.cinghlae-osteria.com

Labels: Baltimore, Italian, Pazo

  12:22 PM •  2 Comments •