Charm City.

The only way I could possibly be more excited about moving to Baltimore is if I was going to be living in a waterfront condo. Clearly that’s not happening, but none the less, I’m incredibly excited! After a very entertaining road trip with my parents to find a place to live, I am left with these highlights. And a very long list of must-see and must-eat restaurants to pack into my 3 months there. Enjoy!

D.C. (a quick food stop along the way)

Neisha Thai – Tysons Corner

This is the best thai restaurant ever. You will not be disappointed. My parents and I discovered this gem in D.C. several years ago when I was touring Georgetown as a potential undergrad student. We have made several special stops in Tysons Corner to eat here ever since. This time, I ordered the pad thai, my go-to Thai dish and was a little disappointed only because my parents’ meals were infinitely more delicious. We had thai sausage and chicken satay as appetizers – both outstanding. The best was the CHOO-CHEE GOONG: grilled jumbo shrimp sauteed with homemade red curry paste and coconut milk. It was amazing and what I will absolutely order next time. 

Baltimore!

We arrived in Baltimore just in time to tour a couple of apartments and, of course, find a great lunch location. Unfortunately, I did not take many of my own pictures in Baltimore because I was too busy enjoying myself but I’m sure the quality of the pictures you will see here are much better anyway. Our first amazing food stop in Charm City was Maisy’s (thank goodness I chose the apartment right across the street). The leasing agent at the apartments recommended we eat here, but of course my parents thought he said “Macy’s” and was very confused. We stumbled upon the correct “Maisy’s” as we were walking around the neighborhood. I’m all about finding great local restaurants wherever I am and this was a great way to start my Baltimore food tour.

They have great wood-fired pizzas with very unique toppings. I had the crap and artichoke dip pizza and also enjoyed sharing some of the chicken alfredo pizza with my mother. We wanted to go back there for lunch the next day!

For dinner, our cousin recommended we go to Bertha’s Mussels in the Inner Harbor and, trust me, I am all about some mussels so how could this possibly go wrong? While I was still stuffed on pizza, I could have eaten so many more mussels!

Not only was it a beautiful evening Fell’s Point, but the shops stay open late so I was able to look around at the super cute boutiques in the area before dinner. We started with the steamed mussels with basil-butter sauce. I definitely needed more mussels, so I also had their special of the day, which was mussels steamed in a spicy red curry and coconut milk sauce with cilantro. They were amazing! We received a bumper sticker with our check that reads “Eat Bertha’s Mussels.” I totally agree!

I was not ready to leave the next day! At least I can anticipate returning very soon. After a great workout in the MAC fitness center above our hotel and an absolutely gorgeous run along the inner harbor, I needed a crabcake to satisfy my Maryland seafood cravings. We found a typical local hole-in-the-wall restaurant to try: Mo’s Fisherman’s Wharf in the Inner Harbor. It’s not much to look at on the outside (or on the inside, really), but my judging goggles quickly came off as I indulged in a half-dozen raw oysters and a baseball sized crabcake. It was by far the most delicious and high quality crabcake ever! Thank goodness for local eateries! Nothing is better. 

Just so you know, the crabcake I actually ate was probably larger than these – the picture doesn’t do it justice!

We finished off our Baltimore food tour by having some gelato (it’s next to Bertha’s Mussels and I was still grumpy we didn’t go the night before. So, I insisted we return.)

 

This is a chain, but still delicious! They have very unique flavors and let you combine – I had the double chocolate chip paired with the vanilla creme. They also offer espresso, steamed milk poured over a scoop of gelato! That was made for me and definitely what I am going to try next time! 

I am so excited to return to these great restaurants as well as try out so many more! I think if I do 1 restaurant a week I should be able to taste a large part of the city – and I’ll be sure to blog about each one! Any suggestions for great eateries in Baltimore?

Thanks for reading!

~bb