Tag Archives: Maryland

Jasper’s, Largo MD – November 15, 2014

I took the 1-hour, 45 minute trip down to Jasper’s, in Largo, MD for a Saturday night birthday dinner with my relatives that had originally been planned to be held at Maggiano’s, in D.C. but got switched at the last minute. (Please note, to find this restaurant by GPS, you may have to put in Upper Marlboro, MD instead of Largo, MD…GPS does not seem to be able to locate it, using the latter.) Since there had been no reservation made in advance at Jasper’s, the wait for seating was somewhere around an hour. When I walked into Jasper’s, I noticed that it was a pretty large and well-lit place with a fully-stocked, sports-type bar in the middle with large TV’s around the top. From what I understand, not only is this a family restaurant, it sorta doubles as a hang out spot for folks in the 30’s – 40’s age group. That was obvious when I got there. The atmosphere is young, hip and fun, but not teeny-bopper. You’ll see what I mean when/if you try it out.

 While the six of us waited at the bar for our seating, a few of my cousins decided to get appetizers…they had the hot crab dip and the calamari. I did not try any of it, as I wanted to save my appetite for my entrée. But from what they’ve said, they REALLY enjoyed both dishes.

So finally we got seated…Our server must have been new to this type of work, as he didn’t seem to realize that stopping in the middle of taking drink orders (saying “hold on, I’ll be right back”), walking off and not being seen again for about 10 minutes is not a good look. Apparently the lady at the table next to us had asked him to bring her a bowl of broccoli and cheese, but instead of going straight to the kitchen to get it, he came to take our drink orders (she was a bully, by the way – shouting across the room at someone she knew, for not going out of their way to come say hello to her). Either way, my side-eye was ready at this point. Strike one.

After our server had come back with the bully lady’s broccoli and cheese, he resumed taking our drink orders…but took forever (again) to come back with the drinks and take our food orders. All I wanted to drink was water – I wanted to keep things simple. I think everyone else had the same thing in mind; they kept their drink orders simple as well.

We got our drinks and we all placed our orders for food. I ordered a Caesar salad to start. Our server asked me if I wanted to add bacon bits to my salad and I told him yes – knowing I normally never have bacon in my Caesar salad but I was gonna go off the cuff a little bit because he offered it. I should have stayed in line with my “keep it simple” method like I did when I ordered water to drink, as the server brought me my salad without the bacon that he offered me. Instead it had little pieces of red peppers that resembled bacon, sprinkled on it. I didn’t ask for that. BUT, rather than sending the whole salad back and running the risk of having to sit there with a loud growling stomach while everybody else had salad, I sent him back for my bacon…I never got it tho. Strikes two and three for him. *sigh*  

IMG_1705.JPGAnyway, my entrée choice was called the Jasper’s Crab Explosion, which is basically a baked crab cake but the way it’s put together is more like a “pile” of seasoned lump crab meat, rather than being “caked” or pattied together. This usually comes with fries and coleslaw, but I substituted a baked potato for the fries. My entrée was absolutely delicious! The Crab Explosion is somewhat on the spicy side, but it’s not “hot” or overbearing. It’s very flavorful. The baked potato was done perfectly; nice and tender the whole way through. It was excellent. Around the table, I noticed that my cousins ordered the Blackened Tilapia, the Baked Stuffed Shrimp, and the Fried Fisherman’s platter. I didn’t dip my fork in any of their plates though. LOL

Despite my gripes with the server, I do plan to go back and visit this place again because the food is that good and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I hope I end up with a better server next time and it has been duly noted to make reservations first, as their crowd definitely calls for it.

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Blue Moon Diner – Baltimore, MD June 9, 2013

After another strong recommendation from my cousin, Jonathan and I, along with my cousin and his girlfriend, dropped in at the Blue Moon Diner in the super-cool Fells Point area of Baltimore for breakfast. This diner has been featured on The Food Channel’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” because their Cap’n Crunch French Toast is such a unique dish and its a hit. My cousin lives in the Baltimore area so he’s quite familiar with plenty good restaurants and their feature dishes. He wanted us to try this diner and taste the french toast, so we did.

I’m told that usually, the wait to get in this diner is very long. But on this particular morning, it wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. The set up is very quaint…very small and modest, but with eclectic flair. Its no larger than the first floor living room area of a small row home.

I walked in to put my name on the list to reserve a table for four. I was allowed to write my own name on the list, which was a notebook sitting on a counter, not far from food prep. I was quoted a wait time of 45 minutes. It was a nice day outside so the four of us waited outside on benches on the side of the building, along with a few other folks – most of whom were also first-timers at the establishment and visiting out of curiosity due to its growing popularity after having been featured on the show.

We waited for about 55 minutes before a host/waiter came outside and called my name from the list. We were directed inside and pointed toward a small table with 4 seats. (There are no booths. This establishment is not set up that way.) The waiter was very friendly, down to earth, and cheerful, and was the no-notepad type. I like a waiter who can take an order, conversation-style, not write it down, but still get it right.

Anyway, Jonathan and my cousin’s girlfriend ordered the Cap’n Crunch French Toast with turkey sausage.. I ordered a short stack of pancakes, with sausage and two eggs over medium. My cousin ordered what was called the Garden Style Eggs.

While we waited for our food I watched as others received their dishes. Two things caught my eye. And I LOVE bread, so the two things that caught my eye were the home made biscuits and cinnamon rolls… They almost made me drool… I was this close to ordering a biscuit just so I could have it for later. But I didnt. lol

Also, my cousin’s girlfriend and I both needed to take our turns to wash our hands at the bathroom so we went in together. I found that there is only one bathroom… As in, one closet-sized room with a toilet and sink. A co-ed powder room… I guess sometimes folks have trouble with their aim if you get my drift, so I could smell a slight odor of pee. lol

When our food arrived I took notice that the portions were plentiful and the presentation of the dishes was neat and done with thought. I tasted Jonathan’s Cap’n Crunch French Toast and I must agree that it is absolutely delicious! What a unique combination of french toast, sweet cereal, fresh fruit and cream. 🙂 The whole little ensemble went together so well. Kudos to the Blue Moon Diner for stepping outside the box with this.

Also, my pancakes were huge! LOL! They were good but they were heavy. I ate as much as I could before I was full and needed to walk it off. I couldnt finish my two eggs or my sausage.

Over all, we enjoyed our experience here. Of 5 stars, I’ll give this spot a 4. Only because, parking was iffy, seating inside the building was pretty tight due to how small it is, and the bathroom. I’d like to visit again, though. 🙂

– Alonda.

http://bluemoonbaltimore.com/the-food/

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G&M – Baltimore, MD June 8, 2013

We visited this spot after a strong suggestion and good reviews from a relative of mine..my cousin… We had originally planned to visit Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, on Pier 5 at Inner Harbor but we switched plans at the last minute to go to G&M instead. I’m glad we made the switch, as the food was excellent! Mind you, we were forewarned by my cousin that the portions delivered at this family-owned, seafood-centered restaurant are plentiful. So much that most people rarely finish all of their food in one sitting. I kept that thought in mind. But I also kept in mind that when I go places and order crab cakes (which I’m a HUGE fan of, by the way), I usually receive small portions. So I sort of took this advice in regard to the crab cakes with a grain of salt.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we parked in the rear and were allowed to enter through the rear door, which took us through the bar and around to the front. We were seated right away with no waiting at all. The dining area was clean and well-lit. Not too dim, not too bright. And the tables were set properly. There was a “floating host”, who went around with a pitcher of iced water to fill or refill glasses. He arrived at our table and proceeded to reach for and fill our glasses with water. Personally, I’m big on manners. I would have liked it if the floating host would have given us eye contact and greeted us, rather than just going ahead to fill glasses of water for what may have appeared to him to be invisible people. But hey, that’s just me.

Anyway, when we were seated by the main hostess, our menus were placed at the table along with us. We reviewed the menus and immediately took notice that the menu was packed with choices under every category. My boyfriend is indecisive at times, so it took him a while to figure out what he wanted. But I was set on crab cakes…they’re what I had in mind and that’s the first thing that jumped out at me when I opened the menu. After we had reviewed the menu for a while, our regular waiter showed up and asked what we would like to order. My boyfriend Jonathan noticed this time that our waiter didn’t say “my name is….”. But I did at least hear him greet us. I found his name, “Philip” on his name tag. 🙂 I ordered the two-crab cake platter, a side salad and a baked potato. Jonathan ordered what was called the Chicken Chesapeake (which is two pieces of broiled chicken breast, topped with crab meat and Hollandaise sauce), a side salad and mashed potatoes with gravy.

So our orders were in…during our wait, I noticed several of the wait staff traveling back and forth with huge trays of plates for different tables. I thought to myself, my cousin was right. The portions are huge… We received our appetizer. The crab dip, as recommended by the waiter. It was pretty tasty. Very cheesy, but tasty nonetheless. LOTS of lump crab in it. I couldnt finish my half of it though because I wanted to save room for my entree. 🙂 Then our salads came. Mine came with a Greek dressing. I usually really like Greek dressing, but I felt like this one was a bit on the watery side. Too much red wine vinegar. But I ate it. Jonathan ate and seemed to enjoy his salad. Then comes the entrees. I thought I heard the gates of heaven open when my crab cakes were placed in front of me; they were super-sized! They were the size of grapefruits, cut in half and they were excellent! VERY tasty, no filler. However, as good as my baked potato could have been, it would have been delicious had it cooked a little longer. It wasn’t quite done. Jonathan received an equally large portion of crab meat with his Chicken Chesapeake. However, the Hollandaise sauce tasted like it may have had just a little too much mustard in it. But he enjoyed what he ordered. There was no way either of us were going to be able to finish our meals in one sitting. We indeed had to eat a good 1/3 of it, then pack up the rest for later.

Out of five stars, I’ll give this place a 4.5. I have to dock them for the inpersonable water floater, my so-so salad dressing, slightly under-cooked baked potato, and Jonathan’s too-much-mustard Hollandaise sauce.. In the end though, we will certainly return.

-Alonda

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