The Charleston

Baltimore (Inner Harbor East), MD

Price:$$$$$

Decor: Fancey Southern Style Food

Summary: Making down-home Southern food elegant and swank

(4 crabs out of 5)

Paul-She means us ofcourse ;)

Karen-It also means that you are going to pay the price of such calibur food. That said, the Charleston does its thing--making down-home Southern food elegant and swank--very well.

Paul-They are also pretty handy with local seafood. Personally I say got with that if you do come here.

Karen-The decor, too, is a nice combo of slowly swirling ceiling fans and white
linen, surely the reason for the attention it has received.
Certain dishes we had definitely lived up to the hype. My favorite was the
second course item (that's right, second, out of five) fried green tomato
sandwich with lobster and crab meat. Not only was it tasty, with thick
breaded fried tomatoes, tangy sauce, and succulent tender meat, it was the
best example of a simple Southern dish kicked up to the fine dining level.

Paul- I though it was ok when I tasted it but then I'm not a bit fan of tomatoes. I had some fried oysters. They did a real nice job with the crust though. Its hard to get it nice and flakey while retaining the plumpness of the oyster.

Other courses of a silky crab soup and Chocolate Napoleon, which stacked a
light mousse with crunchy wafers and creme danglaise sauce, both were
predictarly astonshingly good. Unfortunateld, the main dishes fell a little
short. The beef tenderloin was only very good--it lacked a surprize smack.
Of course, bear in mind that this is judging, but also paying, on a higher
standard.

Paul- I agree when especially when it comes to Karen's choices. I also had a spinach salad with bacon (nice touch) and the rockfish which had a very savory wine sauce with it. I thought the sauce was practically a meat sauce but it went very well with flavorful rockfish. I dont think they added to much flavor to the fish which I think is a smart move. Rockfish if cooked just right speaks for itself.

Karen-The aforementioned cheese course was a fascinating novelty and
great opportunity to taste exotic cheeses--and in Paul's case, have a little
fun! He also enjoyed the live cooking show of their openkitchen right
behind me, where he stared for most of the meal.

Paul-Yeah try to get a seat facing the kitchen...its like watching FoodTV live! As for the cheese...well one of them made me a bit dizzy every time I bit into it. very odd. Anyway I found the restaurant wasnt the best in Baltimore in terms of food (though it is definately one of the top) but it was certainly one of the most unique and fun...just watch you wallet.

Reviewed-December 2001