On Saturday afternoon, a good friend and I enjoyed lunch together at City Cafe in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood. City Cafe is a restaurant and bar in an historical art deco era building complete with the original black and white checkered floor.
Although it was early afternoon, my lunch companion was more in the mood for breakfast. She ordered an omelet with homefries and a Bloody Mary. I went for lunch: a hamburger with french fries and a pint of Yuengling Lager.
All the food was good. I sampled both her omelet and her Bloody Mary. As omelet's go, it was true to form. She highly reccomended the Bloody Mary's at City Cafe. Before I took a sip, she warned me that it was both "chunky and hot." Indeed it was. The dominant flavor was horseradish. The addition of which I assume accounted for the chunks.
I had my hamburger medium rare, which I have only recently come to enjoy. Growing-up, my family eschewed beef for health concerns and I have really only recently learned to enjoy it. For many years I insisted on having it cooked well. I mistrusted the appearence of undercooked meat. As I've recently discovered, cooking beef well cooks out the flavor.
The hamburger came with string fries. I've noticed that most restaurants that serve well-made food will nonetheless serve frozen french fries. I probably wouldn't have ever thought this was strange, but back in December I discovered just how good french fries can be when I ate at DC Coast. I don't know what posessed me to order french fries at DC Coast, but I'm glad I did. They were the best french fries I've ever had. DC Coasts french fries are hand-cut in their kitchen, and they are far-and-away better than any that I've ever had that came out of a bag. I'd love to know how they prepare them so I can make my own.
The pricing at City Cafe struck me as odd. At $9.95 her omelet cost more than my $8.95 hamburger. Otherwise City Cafe serves good food in a pleasant upscale, casual environment.
We ate our meals leisurely, enjoyed good conversation, and we each had a second drink (lagers for both of us on the second round) before heading off to the American Visionary Art Museum.
City Cafe is located at 1001 Cathedral Steet in Baltimore. It is open seven days per week and serves brunch, lunch, and dinner.
1 comment:
The pricing was probably because City Cafe has a regular weekly special on cheap burgers. They are good, aren't they?
I *love* City Cafe. When my partner and I had our relationship blessed, we had a dinner there for family and close friends, and City Cafe was just GREAT with it. We got the whole balcony area, the menu they chose was excellent (and VERY reasonably priced), they let us supply our own wine with a very low corkage fee, and the service was truly outstanding -- especially for such a large group.
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