Tersiguel's

Everyone likes to start off a new year by making resolutions to become healthier, workout more, and do more underwater basket weaving than they did the year before. Deana and I are no different so we decided that for January of the new year we were going to abstain from eating all animals no matter how hungry we got while weaving baskets. We did a great job and made it the entire month without cheating once, so it was with great excitement that we took a well deserved trip to Tersiguel's in Ellicott City to indulge in some meaty goodness once again.

While perusing the menu, Deana and I both noticed Escargot was offered as an appetizer. Being that neither of us had ever had this delicacy and we were in a French restaurant, it only made sense to end our animal eating sabbatical with some delicious snails. And so we did. I've always heard that snails are chewy, but in my head I imagined a more rubbery type of chewiness. These snails weren't like that at all. They were chewy, but I'd say it was more chewy like a chewy piece of bread. If you like butter and garlic than you will love the Escargot. And just as delicious as eating the snails themselves was dipping bread in the leftover butter and garlic. 

Next up was a simple but fantastic bowl of potato leak soup called Potage Parmentier. The flavors were very clean with a simple cream broth making a rich home for the potato to shine. I really appreciated that the potato was the star of the show. Most potato soups I've had are usually dominated by a lot of cheese or bacon flavors. That wasn't the case at all here. And despite the soup being cream based it was very light making for an excellent starter on a cold winter night. One word of advice if you happen to order the Potage Parmentier is to be sure to allow the wait staff to add some freshly cracked pepper as it adds the perfect bite to an otherwise mildly flavored soup. 

For dinner, I decided to go with a French classic in Beef Bourguignonne. Beef Bourguignonne is a slow cooked French style beef stew. Tersiguel's was every bit as good as I hoped. There were huge hunks of incredibly tender beef alongside potatoes, pearl onions, and mushrooms covered in a savory beef broth that was to do die for. I hate when people say that something only gets better the next day, but the leftovers I had a few days later were even better. With Punxsutawney Phil calling for 6 more weeks of winter, this would be a great dish to try before the cold weather leaves us. 

Deana selected Poulet which was chicken cooked two ways. The first preparation was pan roasted chicken breast. Of the two preparations, this was both of our favorite. The breast was tender and juicy showcasing an herb forward flavor profile. I'm not sure exactly which herbs the breast was seasoned with, but I believe sage was the main player. The second preparation was a chicken leg confit. I don't remember if I've ever had chicken prepared this way in the past, but it was also very enjoyable. It sounds goofy to say that the chicken had a very heavy chicken flavor, but that's all I can think of. It was like the flavors were concentrated or something and it was fantastic. We both enjoyed the extra crispy skin juxtaposed with the melt in your mouth interior. Both preparations were served with a roasted portabella mushroom and served over a garlic cream puree. I was afraid the garlic puree was going to be domineering, but it was very subtle in flavor and served to help make an already juicy dish that much more moist and delicious. 

We haven't visited too many restaurants thus far in 2014, but Tersiguel's was a great way to get things started. It's a very quiet restaurant with great service and superb food. Guys, trust me when I say this would make an excellent V-Day dinner date. If you're smart, you'll make reservations and ask for the table sitting right next to the window on the third floor that allows you to look down over all of Main Street. And when the night is over you and your lady will be as happy as Deana and I were the night of our visit. 

Price: Expensive

Recommendation: Great place for an anniversary or birthday dinner

What to Order: If you've never tried, give the Escargot a shot. I'm sure everything on the menu is fantastic. 

Honey Pig

I've thought long and hard about how I wanted to approach my review of Honey Pig. In the world of restaurant reviews, people have differing opinions on how one should approach negative restaurant situations. I know many people out there that believe you should simply pass on even mentioning a restaurant if you leave unhappy. Other people seem to find something wrong at seemingly every restaurant they visit and so it seems more like nitpicking and less like honest criticism. And there are others like me who believe in balance. If all I ever I did was tell you how great every restaurant I visit is, what good are my reviews? At that point, it's all just the same old crap on repeat and my blog is a big waste of space. I like to think that my blog is only a little waste of space.

Obviously, I've decided to air my grievances. Not to exact any type of revenge or anything like that. I'm just a big proponent of balance. I heap plenty of praise on restaurants throughout the area in hopes that people who come across my posts will take what I have to say and be a little more inclined to visit a new restaurant. On the same token, if I've experienced a particularly bad encounter I think people ought to know about it so they can take that information and do what they want with it.

So, with the gigantic intro out of the way, I now present to you my visit to Honey Pig.

After I left the restaurant the night of our visit, I was scanning Twitter just trying to pass the time. It just so happened that someone was tweeting the fact that Honey Pig had a Groupon or LivingSocial offer available. I replied to that tweet that I could never recommend a visit to Honey Pig and that their management was a joke. I didn't realize Honey Pig had a twitter account, but my tweet found its way to them. They asked that I e-mail them with my grievances and so I did. Below is the exact e-mail sent to their team:

I was given this e-mail on Twitter after having a brief discussion there about the service I received yesterday. 

Last night around 6 PM I visited your Ellicott City Location for the first time. Our dinner and service were both excellent. While we were eating we began discussing future visits and who we could bring along with us.And then the the check came. When it came I got my phone out to show the server the LivingSocial deal I had purchased months prior. I paid $15 to get $30 of value. She looked at the deal and pointed out that it was only good Sunday-Thursday. First, let me state that I know it was my fault for overlooking that fact. However, it had been months since I purchased the deal and I simply forgot about the finer details. I apologized for attempting to use it on a Friday, but that it was an honest mistake and asked if an exception could be made. I explained that I drove 45 minutes to eat at HoneyPig and that with only one week left to use the LivingSocial deal it would be impossible for me to come back and redeem the deal I had already paid for. She said no and walked away from the table. After thinking for a few minutes and realizing it was my fault for trying to use the deal on a Friday, I asked if I could get the $15 I already paid off of my bill rather than the $30 value. I felt like that was a good compromise, but still I was told no. So, I asked to speak with a manager. And this is where the majority of my frustration was borne. The server I was speaking with turned and called over someone else. I explained the situation and she replied with "let me speak with the manager". This confused me because I had just asked to speak with the manager. If she wasn't the manager I don't know why she was sent to my table pretending to be one. The second server went up to the register and spoke with another woman. After about five minutes the second server returned and said no exception could be made. I asked again if I could speak with the manager. She said no and walked away. I waited another minute and caught her attention as she was coming back across the dining room. I explained to her that I enjoyed the food and was preparing to come back for future visits, but the fact that they were unwilling to work with me and wouldn't send a manager over solidified my decision not to return in the future. She said fine and walked away. 

To summarize, I had a nice dinner last night. I wanted to come back and try the food again. I realize I was trying to use a livingsocial deal on an improper day, but the fact that they weren't interested in working with me to find a compromise and their dismissive attitude towards me (despite the fact that I never raised my voice once) left me very frustrated. Because of this, it would be very hard for me to ever recommend this restaurant to my friends and readers.

The response I received to my e-mail was only slightly less useless than the responses I got in person while at the restaurant. After being asked to write them an e-mail, and then taking my good old time on a Saturday morning to write them a detailed response, I was expecting a half way decent reply. I was starting to come around to the fact that it may have just been an off night for the people at their location, and that their management, wherever they existed, actually cared about customer service. And then I got response that boiled down to a Thank you for your e-mail. We're sorry about your experience and we'll address this when it's not the busy weekend hours.

So, what do I expect those of you who read this to do with this information? Well, whatever you like. There's a very good chance that your visit will be nothing but good times. As I mentioned in the e-mail the food was good and the restaurant experience itself was very fun. However, if you happen to have something disagreeable take place during your visit be aware that you will most likely be summarily dismissed and that they will do next to nothing to make sure you leave there feeling like they cared about your business.

Ellicott Mills Brewing Company

A few months ago my brother and his dame came to Baltimore to visit over Memorial Day weekend. One of the things my brother and I share in common (outside of being sexy as hell) is a great love of beer. With that in mind, I tried to plan a weekend that featured beer and food. As I mentioned before in my Judge's Bench post, Main St in Ellicott City is one of my favorite streets of all time. But as many times as I've been there I had never visited Ellicott Mills Brewing Company. With my brother in town I had the perfect excuse to make the drive over there and finally see what this place is all about.

We spent the earlier half of the day floating down a river and after a long day in the sun we all wanted a good beer. Having never been there I was expecting a beer menu to be on the table listing their different offerings or at the very least a waiter who would be eager to fill us in as to what they brewed. But there was nothing to be found. Eventually, I asked the waiter and he ran over the options but I was a little disappointed that the brewery kind of underplayed the whole brewery thing they have going on. I ended up trying their Boomerang Australian Lager. It was okay. There was a bit of a sour taste coming through that I wasn't expecting in a lager. It actually had me wondering if I had some bad beer, but eventually I got used to it after a few sips and by the end of the night it was my favorite beer they offered. However, the competition wasn't exactly fierce. I also tried their Marzen and Maibock. The marzen was buttery, totally underwhelming and watery. The Maibock was a little better and had a slightly sweet malt presence, but again, it was watery as hell. As far as the beer went that night, we all left wishing it had been a little better.

For an appetizer, my brother and I decided to get a little adventurous and try their Cajun Alligator. The picture above doesn't do justice to the lusciousness that was this alligator. Before you ask, yes, it tastes like chicken....chewy chicken. For me, though, it was all about the Cajun sauce that was spooned all over the alligator, rice, and peppers. It reminded me of a spicy curry. I might not go back for the beer, but I'd definitely go back if the alligator was still on the menu.

When dinner time rolled around two of us left happy and two of us left wishing we'd have ordered something else. My brother, Matt,  had the crab and shrimp Etoufee. I knew he enjoyed his dinner when I was taking roll call at the end of the night, because when I asked everyone to give a brief summary of their dinner he couldn't put together a full sentence. He said something to the effect of  "sweet.....supple.....large".  After I checked to make sure he wasn't mildly retarded I asked him to expand on that eloquent description and he said he loved his dinner because the crab and shrimp were both sweet, large, and there was piece of each in nearly every bite. I'm not a huge fan of seafood, but I do know when I order something like that it's nice when they don't skimp on the good stuff.

His dame, Amy, on the other hand, was not all that impressed with her fried Ravioli. Before I even got her feedback at the end of the meal I had a feeling she wasn't going to like it. When they sat her plate down I remember looking at it and thinking "man, that looks dry". And that was her biggest complaint. The ravioli were dry and the sauce wasn't very good. I didn't taste any of it, but based on the eye test alone this thing was in trouble from the get go.

Deana couldn't decided between seafood or steak. So what did she do? She ordered both and ended up with the Steak and Cake meal. Once again, when the waiter placed her plate in front of her I knew she wasn't going to like the steak. It was this weird looking, fatty, perfect circle, thin piece of oddness. It reminded me of those ham steaks you buy at the grocery store that are already cut for you. I've never seen anything like that in a steak so I kept my mouth shut and hoped she liked it. But like it, she did not. Her crab cake was a little bit better and she gave them props for using mostly crab and not a whole lot of filler.

The last meal of the night was mine. I decided to go with the ribs. When I saw that they were marinated in beer and served with beer BBQ sauce I was sold. How can you go wrong ordering a meal with beer playing such a key role when you're in a brewery? The ribs were delicious. The meat was fall of the bone tender and the sauce was nice and tangy but still very savory. I only ordered half a rack, but a full rack would have been easy to finish.

On the whole, Ellicott Mills Brewing Company was hit and miss. The beer was mediocre at best. And while some of the food was excellent some left a little to be desired. I could see myself going back there if the stars aligned just right one night, but it's hard to convince myself that it would be worth the 30 or 40 minute drive I'd have to make to get there.

Price: Upper end of Average
Recommendation: Visit, but be careful what you order
What to order: Cajun Alligator

My Favorite Baltimore Bars: The Judge's Bench

A little over a month ago I wrote the first of what I dubbed "My Favorite Baltimore Bars". Today, I bring you the second edition to the least anticipated series in blogger history. This time we focus our attention on a bar that might have the coolest atmosphere in all the land. I'm talking about none other than The Judge's Bench.

No, technically it's not in Baltimore, but who cares? 78% of the posts I write are for businesses not technically in Baltimore so when I say My favorite Bars in Baltimore I guess I mean bars that you can drive to from Baltimore within a reasonable amount of time.

Before I get to the Judge's Bench, let me just focus on the fact that the street the bar is located on is probably my favorite street in Maryland. As a fan of Harry Potter I can't help but feel like I'm walking through Diagon Alley when I'm perusing up and down Main Street of Old Ellicott City. All of the shops are jammed up against one another and filled to the brim with whatever odds and ends the shop owners decided on. It's been awhile since I made it there during the day but there is a shop at the bottom of the hill owned by one of the coolest guys ever. Inside is a small beer/liquor store that is complete organized chaos. He opens the store when he wants and he closes it just the same. If you're lucky enough to walk by when he is outside on his stoop reading a book, be sure to stop in and buy something. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the shop, but if you know what I'm talking about and the guy still has his shop open please post some details in the comments so everyone can find this diamond in the rough.

But back to the bar at hand. I ended up in The Judges Bench on accident a few years ago. Main Street is a bit of a hill and by the time I made way up to the top I wasn't quite ready to venture back down. I saw a little bar across the way and decided it would be a good place to stop in and cool off for a bit. I was immediately in love with the place. The Judge's Bench is small, dimly lit by some vintage chandeliers, has a brick fire place and small brick bar. Typically, it's filled with a mixed crowd of anyone from their mid 20's all the way up to older couples in their 60's. It's always full but never wild and is a great place to get a beer in a live atmosphere but not one in which you're waiting for a fight to break out at any moment.

The beer selection is unexpectedly great for such a small place. They always have a rotating selection of 17 craft beers on tap and a bottle selection pushing 50 or 60 selections. For whatever reason, that's the place I seem to end up when I'm in the mood to drink a beer with a heavy alcohol content as the Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout I had last visit can attest to. In addition to beer, they are also the 3rd largest carrier of single malt whiskey in the state.

Quite possibly my favorite part of the bar is the always excellent live music they have. I'm not always in love with live music as it can get too loud to have a conversation, but even sitting right in front of the band I always find it easy to hear and be heard. One visit in particular they had a band performing that included a peddle steel guitar player. The fact that they get that type of musician in their doors probably sold me for life.

Really, this place is hitting on all cylinders. There isn't one thing I'd change about the bar and I implore anyone who comes across this post to make the trip to The Judge's Bench ASAP. You can thank me later.