Max's Empanadas

I have to admit that I was hesitant to try this place out at first. It cropped out virtually from nowhere after an Italian Deli shut down last year. Then I thought "Empanadas? In Little Italy? That's crazy talk" Crazy delicious!

Dear Max, whomever had the idea to pass out menus Friday evening should get a raise. That's what brought us in there. Something so simple. Dave brought home the menu and since I'd already had my heart set on seeing The Switch at Landmark that evening (and avoiding the Movie-on-the-Wall crowd to boot) I suggested we just make it a dinner and a movie night.

Now, the empanadas are pre-made then baked when you order them so they're gooey-hot. This means that if you have an aversion to olives (like Dave) then you will stand there and pout and not order anything until your dinner date shoves a forkful of cheese covered tender falling apart chicken in your mouth and you give in and order a whole plate of food for yourself. At least, that's how it happened for us.

I ordered the two empanada combo which gave me one chicken and one ham and cheese empanada and a side salad. The presentation of the food was gorgeous. The empanadas were golden brown, soft and warm. The salad was beautiful. So many colors and so fresh. I totally cleaned my plate. Both empanadas came with cheese and olives stuffed in with the ham and chicken. The flavors really worked so well together and everything was so good. They didn't taste premade (I can only assume these are all prepped like the night before then baked when you order them. They do sell frozen ones, but I doubt any that land on your plate in the restaurant have ever been frozen).

Dave ended up getting the chicken empanada with the black bean hummus. The hummus came with sliced fresh veggies and warm pita bread for dipping. I personally hate all hummus as a general rule, but Dave totally loved it. I was biased, but the pita bread and veggies were totally fresh and awesome. Totally.

This is a little row-home style restaurant so you can't have too many people looking into the glass case or milling about by the wine or cash register. There will definitely be some crowding if you find yourself in any of those places (Oh, did we mention this place sells booze? It does.) but there is ample seating and it has a funky contemporary feel to it. There's art for sale lining the walls and other non-for-sale art that ties the decor together nicely.

To appease the Italian crowd this place also offers paninis and wine. Oh, and also, it's cheap. Two people can leave incredibly full for not a lot of cash. Does it get any more Italian than that?

4 noms

Dave's 2Cents:

To be honest, after looking at the menu, nothing really jumped out at me. Not saying its bad, I just wasn't in the mood for this style of food, or so i thought.

I sat down and didn't order anything, watching my wife eat. She then, after some arm twisting, made me try some of her Empanada. Needless to say before the food got in my stomach, I was up at the counter ordering my own plate full.

 

I went with 1 Emp and hummus. I got the pulled chicken Emp' and black bean hummus.

Along side of the plate was hot and toasty flat bread, carrots and zucchinni. The best part was that it was lightly seasoned with salt and oregano.

Great food. Great prices. Great atmosphere! Thanks Max!

Hibachi & Sushi Supreme Buffet

I was unaware we were reviewing this place. Hm. Ok. I thought we were just being fatties after we dropped our foster kittens off at their adoption event. From the outside this place looks like your typical strip mall Asian Buffet. On the inside, it was a wonderland of tasty delights. Yes, tasty delights.

This restaurant is huge. Several buffet stands full of food (everything from your expected sesame chicken to RIBS and mashed potatoes with gravy, oh yeah, and sushi). We were a little overwhelmed at first.

I asked Dave what our criteria would be for rating this place, and this is what we decided on.

• 
  
  Quality of food (like did the chicken wings have chicken hair on them)
• 
  
  Taste of food
• 
  
  Age of food
• 
  
  Americana buffet (do they have it just to have or does someone back there know how to make ribs)

In the end, everything was so delicious that our rating system was pretty much moot (by the way, someone back there DOES know how to make ribs and they are fall off the bone goooooood). The only thing that I tasted and did not like was the crabcake. Sesame chicken: good. Stuffed Scallops on a half shell: delicious. Lo Mein: soooo good and so on and so on.

It was all pretty fresh. Nothing had been sitting out for too long. It was all flavored wonderfully and was just great. The staff was friendly and quick. We had a great time. In fact, this will probably be a Drop Off The Foster Cats and Eat at the Buffet ritual.

5 noms

Dave's 2Cents:

As my wife had mentioned, this place looked like every other buffet around the country. A big sign promising greatness, in a strip mall with a at least a dry cleaner and possibly a nail salon.

Walking out of the pet store, I pointed the buffet out to Jenn. She looked at me in question as I said, "...but the sign says Supreme Buffet. We've never been to one of those before."

So she agreed and we went in.

This place is very nice inside. I am unsure if it used to be a steakhouse, but it had that feel. Lots of wood, lots of light. (I didn't see any burnt out bulbs either).

The 1st food item i saw was the seafood section. Crawfish, Clams on the shell, full sized crab... GOOD LORD SUPREME GOODNESS!

I then looked for the sushi. In the back was a 20+foot bar of about 15-18 different styles of sushi and shashimi. Next to the sushi bar was the hibachi grill. Definitely a lot smaller than Columbia's Mongolian buffet, they still had a lot of the basics there. I would also like to note that the raw meat was beautiful. The Beef was steak, still in steak shape, as were the chicken breasts. The scallops were huge as well. I enjoy seeing what my food looks like before chopped up into little bits.

Walking to the salad bar i noted on the back wall jugs of soup. On further inspection, it was a soup buffet! NOM!

For the non Asian loving eaters in the family, there is also an American buffet. Beef roast, pork ribs, mac'n'cheese, mash taters, etc...

Someone in the back knows how to do ribs. They were fall off the bone, luscious.

I defiantly give this place 5 noms. If I had to say something negative about 1 thing, it would be the seating. It looks like someone came in and slashed almost all the booth bench seat. Weird.

Bagby Pizza Co.

"Best Pizza in Harbor East"!

Bagby Pizza opened earlier this year to the delight of all my coworkers. Everyone had been dying for a quick lunch pizza joint near work for so long that it seemed Bagby answered the call, just for us.

I will admit right off that the reason it took me months and months to set foot in that place was because a couple of coworkers complained that they were too expensive and "wtf is up with no pizza by the slice?". However, we got wind that pizza by the slice was now being offered, and then Dave bought a Groupon, so one day we found ourselves there for lunch.

My first impression of the place is that it's absolutely wonderful inside. It definitely reflects the area on the inside with the exposed brick and duct work as well as the old timey Baltimore photos lining the walls. They have ample outdoor seating which is a great option when it's not a thousand degrees outside and isn't raining (it was raining). Their outdoor seating looks on at a gorgeous flower/garden shop so the view is truly lovely.

We looked over an ample menu (everything from pizza to salads to sandwiches) and decided on a large pepperoni and bacon. We got our sodas and sat down to wait for the pie to show up.

It came out pretty quickly. They were incredibly busy but it only took about 10 minutes or so for the pizza to arrive. I dug in immediately having not had breakfast that day and practically starving.

It was delicious. The sauce is just a little sweet and so good and you can tell the crust is homemade. The pepperoni and bacon was plentiful (both were chopped and under the cheese so you couldn't really see it, but you could definitely taste it). We tore through that pizza in no time. I was eyeballing some various pies at tables around me and I did not see a single unappetizing one. I'm thinking we need to keep going back to try different ones.

The crust is New York style so it's thin, but not cracker-crisp. The slices are big and fold-able, the cheese fresh and stringy. Basically, it's exactly what you want with a pizza. They have some fabulous combinations on their menu or you can create your own.

Now, as for the price of this place I guess you could say it is a tad pricey for lunch, but if you go with a friend, get a larger pizza and split the cost, you're going to spend about $10-12 on lunch, which isn't that bad at all. Especially not for Baltimore. We loved this place.

We fully, totally without hesitation give this place 5 Noms.

DAVE'S 2cents:

This will be short and sweet.

For the last 2 years, if I wanted great pizza from the harbor east/little Italy area, I went to Isabella's. They are even on our "Best of the Best" page. However, after eating here I think Isabella's now has some REAL COMPETITION.

Bagby's Pizza is just delish. As you can see from this picture, there is barely any oil dripping off a bacon and pepperoni pizza (2 of the most greasy meats you can have on a pizza).

Price wise though, it's just a few more dollars. (Isabella's 2 topping pizza $14ish, Bagby's $20)

The inside of this place is amazing too, if you're into wood, brick, and metal.

Since this place is on the border block of Little Italy and Harbor East, I will award this place "Best Pizza in Harbor East"!