drink of the week: aguila

this week's brew comes from baranquilla, colombia. aguila is the colombian equivalent of budweiser, i suppose, since they have aguila girls that go to bars and events, just like the good ol' us of a. 

it is a pilsner style beer. it complements the hell-like hot weather and humidity of the colombian coast quite well, it is just a shame that it is currently cold and rainy in bmore.

verdict: j picked this up from well's for $3.99. for a six pack of bottles. that is almost cheaper than water! aguila is a fine enough beer, it gets the job done, and i'm sure i'll have some again when i go back to colombia for work the next time.

friday's lunch - java joe's

i have been really bad with friday's lunches lately, so maybe it is time to pick a new day or something!

today's lunch is from java joe's, a local coffee and sandwich shop in baltimore. i had the calvert (all sandwiches are named after baltimore streets or neighborhoods), which is chicken salad, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mustard in a wrap. a generous portion size and very tasty; however, i love cheese, but it had a little too much cheese for me or it should have been spread out better. for $6.25 it also came with a pickle spear. i also splurged on their craveworthy drink, the peanut butter mocha cappucino. total for the two with tax was $10 and change... the drink is kind of pricey but so so good.

verdict: java joe's is pretty convenient from the office, so i'm sure i'll be back. plus, i like that they give you a side (pickle), i just wished the freebie was chips. next time, i plan on trying out another one of their many sandwich offerings.

oh pigtown

got to love the people that buy and sell smack within five feet of the girl playing outside. bonus points for those that go right around the corner and shoot up.

drink of the week: resurrection

(i took a pic on the iphone but it was way too dark, so instead you'll get a logo.)

this week's libation comes from brewer's art in baltimore, md. resurrection is one of ba's house beers and clocks in at 7% abv. the belgian-style beer has a powerful taste, and according to their website, it is crafted from "five types of barley malt and lots of sugar." one glass cost $4.25 (not including a $1 tip).

verdict: definitely recommended for a nice evening out as this is not a "typical" beer. the bar is cavernous and the best in maryland, at least according to esquire magazine. unfortunately, when we went on saturday evening one of the bartenders had on a horrible playlist (think blink-182), but in general brewer's art is a great space.

charm city cakes

i had the good fortune of trying baltimore's famous charm city cakes yesterday evening (of food network's ace of cakes fame). j had a ccc cake during a work party and managed to steal me a hearty piece.

let's just say that you don't pay for the taste.... to give them the benefit of the doubt, the cake was at least a day old and refrigerated (and possibly comped by ccc so the quality of ingredients may have been slightly compromised). that said, i've had better cakes from costco. the cake was plain chocolate with layers of vanilla buttercream and a chocolate fudge covered with a fondant. considering their laundry list of flavors on the website, this most basic cake (which you would think would be the easiest to get right) was a bit bland and certainly not moist. i did like the sugary fondant though.

ccc is an innovative bakery, but need to invest more into the flavor of the cakes or they won't get many repeat customers, at least those interested in combining art with taste. a few years back (before the tv show), i called to ask for a quote for a small birthday cake. i wanted nothing too fancy, and to serve about 15 people for j's surprise party. i was quoted at least $120 for the smallest cake they did. looking back, it was a bargain. they are now booked through november and the prices start at $500!!

restaurant review: the helmand

on saturday evening, the gang (minus j, who was plagued by baltimore's horrible allergies) and i went to helmand for dinner. the helmand is an afghani restaurant in the mount vernon neighborhood. surprisingly, it was my first time there... this was one of the places on my "try" list since i moved to baltimore three years ago as it is considered one of bmore's best restaurants and i tend to love central asian food.

luckily, i had made a reservation - the place was packed! after being told to wait by the bar, we were seated quickly in the main dining room, which appeared to be a converted rowhouse. we split a portion of the kaddo borwani, which is baby pumpkin in a garlicky yogurt sauce. i am no pumpkin fan, but this was very good - the garlic really helped combat the sweetness of the pumpkin. my only complaint would be the texture; the dish was served on a plate, but had the consistency of baby food. but alas, that is pumpkin for you.

we also got bread, which was delicious, but not sure if it is worth the $4.50 per basket price (unadvertised). everything else in the restaurant was fairly priced, so seeing this on the bill (times two) was quite a shock. $2 seems more fair.

for the main dish, we all stuck with the vegetarian specials. b and i got the vegetarian mantwo and the rest of the table had the vegetarian platter. the mantwo was amazing, very hard to describe, but was kind of like a cross between ravioli and samosas. it sat atop a yogurt sauce and was covered with dal and a sun-dried tomatoes/carrot sauce. it was served with a cinnamon infused rice (challow) on the side.

verdict: we were all very pleased with our choices. it was quite unfortunate about the bread, since the surprise $9 soured an otherwise great meal. the service seemed a bit rushed, but for us it was not a problem. i'll definitely be back with j.

friday's lunch - cafe hon

today's lunch comes from the famous baltimore institution, cafe hon, in the hampden neighborhood. this place is straight out of a john walters' baltimore dream, and features lots of kitsch devoted to baltimore's hon culture (beehives, beehives, beehives). 

i had the crab cake sandwich with hand-cut fries and cole slaw for $12.99 plus tax. the crab cake was delicate, yet well-seasoned, and sat atop a kaiser roll. (look for a future post regarding my picks for the best crab cake sandwich in baltimore.) the fries were delicious, but unsalted. i suppose that is healthier. i did not try the cole slaw, since i'm not a fan.  

verdict: i'll be back. hampden is not super convenient from downtown, but was easy enough to get to and they had free parking in the rear. plus, it is a great place to take out of town guests! 

bats

up until yesterday, i lived my life without fear of bats. now everything has changed.

last night i took iris and zoe down to the grassy gnoll #1, where we take them every day to do their business. when we arrived, i noticed something flash by in my upper periphery. i stopped to take a better look, and sure enough there were godforsaken BATS circling above. at first i thought it could be some crazy in love sparrows, but i heard the telltale "clap clap" that their ratty wings make while flying. all of a sudden something clicked, and i went from forgetting bats exist to being rather afraid of standing in that location while iris took forever to go to the bathroom. perhaps it was because i had exposed skin (tshirt weather) or maybe it was because they seeemed to get a kick out of flying low to the ground in circles that just missed my head by mere inches every 10 seconds or so. either way, i am not a fan! even doing a bit of "wisearch" (wikipedia research; said like a kid with a lisp) for this entry, i got squeamish: bats carry rabies and sars! bats bite humans! bats are flying rats! disgusting.

one another note, i find it extremely strange that our neighborhood is home to woodpeckers, bats, and praying mantis, among other things. i never would have expected to see so much fauna in a city, let alone in baltimore.

this pedestrian's life

rarely a day goes by where i don't get angry, stressed, repulsed or nearly killed during my walks to and from work.

now i know people need jobs, but traffic cops are some of the most useless and anger-inducing people i've ever come across in my life. (not just in baltimore, but every place i've been that had them too.) one time, i was grabbing lunch with a friend and the walk sign was flashing (meaning that you can proceed with caution) and since there were no cars coming we decide to cross the street... something i've been doing successfully on my own since about five years old. well, the traffic cop didn't like this and yelled at us to get back on the curb, which of course incited a wtf? response from us, which she didn't take kindly to. in order to prove her "power," the traffic cop then stopped traffic (by now the do not walk sign was on and cars started coming from the other direction) and had us cross the street. the stories never end with these people! another time, j picked me up from work and made a turn from the wrong lane and a traffic cop pulled us over and asked to see his license. low and behold, she looked at it, yelled at him, and because she has absolutely NO POWER, told us not to do it again.

simply put, traffic cops ignore all sense of logic just because they are in uniform. too bad they are traffic cops because they could never make it as a real police officer.

homeless hotel is gone, but for how long?

homeless hotel is a name we coined the abandoned save-a-lot in our neighborhood that has attracted a semi-large gathering of homeless people and junkies that sleep (and shoot up) under its awnings. walking by here everyday is not pleasant, to say the least; mixed feelings of depression and apathy come to mind.

i noticed yesterday afternoon that all of the "residents" were gone, as were their belongings. this morning when i passed by, there was just one person. what happened? i don't really have intentions, at least for the time being, to make this blog super political, so i'll save my speech about the need for adequate social services. that said, i can't say i'm sad that they're gone, at least temporarily.

(without risking life and my phone, let alone possibly humiliating the subject matter, i am unable to post a photo.)

update, 7/april: homeless hotel has returned, but without full occupancy.

who still eats cracker jack?

today marks the unofficial first day of spring in baltimore, also known as opening day of baseball. too bad the weather is an absolutely disgusting mix of clouds, cold and perpetual drizzle, combined with an equally bad baseball team and fans that seem not to care after today. i generally like baseball season because it adds an interesting dynamic to my walks (i walk past the stadium), if not more people (usually coming in to support the visiting team, wearing obnoxious fan gear, taking up sidewalk space and generally being some of the most annoying tourists that could possibly visit a town). plus, i know that within a few short weeks, the weather will dramatically change from the freezing cold of today to crazy, climate change, hot and humid, which is always fun for the first few days; after that the walks can get really annoying and i long for the fall again (or at least some sort of misting/shower stations, but then you have to factor in the homeless/junkies that may choose to camp out there...).

furthermore, who still eats cracker jack? do they even make it anymore? during my formative years growing up in amish country, boscovs department store would have a yearly promotion with a discount stuffed inside cracker jack boxes, which i suppose they viewed as a win-win situation for the customer - a free snack and a chance to get up to 50% off the bill (everyone won some sort of discount, though). i hate the stuff, so after i redeemed the discount (it generally was really low), i would try to pawn the snack off on someone else.

on that note, here's to a not horrible spring/summer! go team!

now i've seen everything

(sorry for the guerrilla photo, but i was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.)

this city never ceases to amaze me... mostly in a bad way. my walks around bmore tend to show off the finer points in life: drugs, fried chicken, and malt beverages. just outside my office this morning i noticed this gem: iced tea cocktail. who knew i could live more than twenty years on planet earth without knowing its existence?