An Interesting Night Out

Saturday night, the dinner group (8 of us) went out to the Glass Grill which is a little place tucked into the corner of a small shopping strip on Eastern Ave just before the I-95 interchange heading towards the city.

This place has eclectic charm and a nice ambiance, but what makes it really unique are the blown glass sculptures, chandeliers, and bathroom fixtures. It also helps to mention that this place is also connected to McFadden Art Glass Studios which is also another cool place everyone should check out.

So, the food. At first glance of the folded paper menu, I thought to myself that the fare would be bar-type with little originality...... but I digress to say that I was wrong! The choices were creative and as I'll go on to explain, delicious.

We started things off with some creamy crab dip and an order of crispy pickles. I will say that I did not try either one, but they were fabulously well received by everyone else. The crab dip came in a bread bowl which made for a wonderful presentation and the crispy pickles...... well they were unique. Everyone was surprised at how much they liked them.

Now for the entrees.....

I had the Eastern Ave burger which was good but I asked for medium and received well-done. Anyone who knows me understands that well-done is a sin. It came with some tasty fries which appeared to be fresh hand cut.

Two people had the Ol' Sweet and Savory burger which they said was very good.

Two people ordered the Charm City Chicken Melt which looked and tasted very good. I tried some of it myself and have to say that I will be going back for more of that particular number.

One person ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork which was said to be good. I didn't get much more of an answer than that about it as they were more into the delicious blue Pina Colada that was custom made for them.

Of the last two people, one filled up on an entire order of the crispy pickles, and the other chose a Corona/Coors light platter to satisfy his hunger.

They have karaoke 3 times a week which the bartender said was quite lively. He said they have some excellent singers but we didn't stick around to find out opting to leave promptly at 9 when the first crooner started.

I really want to go back for date night at the glass blowing studio. It looks to be interesting and engaging and one things for sure, I'll be chewing some Charm City Chicken Melt next door when the date is over.

Dinner @ La Tasca

I have a great circle of friends. We are an eclectic bunch with wide and varied tastes and views. We started a practice of going out to different restaurants once a month. Our experiences have been very enlightening for me and I'd like to share them with everyone. I will try my best to take better notes of the goings on at our experiences, but I will say that my views aren't always the best side of a place. I'm not here to make friends with restaurant owners, I just want to say how I feel about my experience.

So, we all went out to a new restaurant in the Harbor Place gallery called La Tasca. It is Spanish type stuff and everyone really liked what they had to offer. The menu was extensive with plenty of choices to satisfy anyone....including me. I did have some criticisms though.

1. The service was very slow at times.

2. They have these sampler menus that have all kinds of things to try. The problem is that the tables aren't really big enough to accommodate all those plates. We had to have a server stand set up next to our table so that we could get rid of our plates. If it had been busier, I don't want to know how things might have been.

3. Unnecessarily expensive for some dishes for what you get. My example is the Buey al Jerez which, while very tasty, was a total waste of money. My plate came with two small strips of beef, barely covered with some mushrooms. I asked the waitress if my dish was the sampler or the meal and she said both portions were the same. I was like, for $8.50! She said yes, you are paying more for the beef. Apparently beef is really expensive in Spain. There may have been 3-4 ounces of beef total between both dishes.

Ok, so that said, what did they do right? Well for starters, the restaurant was very nice inside. Well decorated with a nice ambiance. Speaking from the thoughts of my friends, The Sangrias were delicious as was many of the other menu items. There was one dish that everyone balked at but I cannot remember what it was called but out of the 25+ items we all ate, having one that was objectionable isn't too shabby. We also loved the selection of desserts and recommend them but take care when ordering the dessert wines as they were very sweet.

I'm going to rate the whole experience at a 6.5 out of 10

The beginning

So, I've wanted to start a blog for a long time. I have no idea why but in an effort to allow myself to write unrestrained, I figure now is it. There is no rhyme or reason to who I am and one should expect that there may be a ludicrous touch of madness to what is being read. In the end though, I want to say that all things are true even though it may certainly seem fabricated.

So come with me and read every once in a while. Talk to me, criticize me, agree with me, follow me to my realms of inner understanding.