Before heading home, in order to avoid the traffic on 95, I grabbed a quick bite right near the customer. There’s a big fancy strip-mall with all kinds of stuff, so I randomly selected Jesse Wong’s. It was either this or california pizza kitchen, quizno’s, or panera. I always pick the non-chains as much as I possibly can. snowboarding, the hunger set in and I had to eat. This place is large and kind of fancy. It’s definitely not your typical chinese joint. It’s definitely trying to be upscale. There’s a large sushi bar in the middle. It’s an open kitchen so you can see all the hubbub. This place is trying so hard to be fancy, there’s even a dude playing the piano! It’s a little crazy.

I could hardly make a decision. I wasn’t sure whether to go for chinese or to go for sushi. I kept going back and forth. Then when the waitress showed up, I just decided on chinese. So I ordered some hot & sour soup. This was an extremely large portion of soup. For $3, you get so much soup! I liked this a lot. It was extremely flavorful. I’m a big fan of hot & sour soup, and it’s definitely a soup that you either like or dislike. This one I liked, despite it being the darkest and most opaque hot & sour soup I’ve ever had.

For my entree, I got the chilean sea bass in a spicy black bean sauce. This was so good! It was a nice sized hunk of fresh chilean sea bass (you could definitely taste the freshness) in an extremely savory sauce. The fish was lovely and flaky and the sauce was perfect for it. It was a bit on the salty side, but not in a bad way. The fish came on top of three pieces of broccolini. It was the perfect accompaniment. Service was ok. Prices were a bit on the high side for chinese food, but not overpriced. There were plenty of items on the menu that were very affordable, so there’s something for everyone. All in all, a nice surprise.

Jesse Wong’s Kitchen
118 Shawan Rd
Cockeysville, MD 21030
(410) 329-1088

After work, the customer took me out to eat at a local seafood spot – Michael’s Cafe. This place is quite spacious! The bar is big, and the dining room area in the back is also big. There’s clearly a lot of seafood eatin’ going on! There’s an outdoor patio bar as well and you can even get their crabcakes online.

There is a large menu and plenty of options for seafood lovers. They have a few selections that do not involve things from the sea, but this place is definitely for those into seafood. I was quite indecisive (which is normal for me) so I ultimately didn’t make a decision by getting the seafood platter. This can come broiled or fried and I requested broiled. You get a piece of orange roughy, a bunch of scallops, some more shrimp, a crab cake, and two veggies. I selected rice pilaf and broccoli.

So listen up. This is a lot of food. Too much really. The scallops were pretty good, and so were the shrimp. The orange roughy didn’t have too much flavor, but that’s not Michael’s fault, that’s just orange roughy for ya. The best thing of the platter was definitely the crab cake. It was a pretty big crab cake, not too mayonnaisey at all, with plenty of flavor. It had big hunks of tasty crab and I was definitely a fan of this. I can see why people would want these sent to them by mail! Because this was so much food, it wasn’t cheap. Similar to other opinions I’ve given, I certainly wouldn’t have minded if there was less food and it cost a bit less. Portion sizes are definitely something that tends to be out of control in american restaurants. The portions at Michael’s are ridiculous! Service was ok. Overall, this place was ok. If you’re really into crab cakes, then you should definitely check it out!

I had to head down to nowheresville, MD for work, so I did a little research (of course), and stopped at Restaurant Sabor for dinner. Located in a random strip mall, Sabor boasts a puerto rican chef and a varied menu with latin american and mediterranean flavors. It is a BYOB, and not only does it have an open kitchen (which I love), it also has a community table. It’s a lovely place, a bit on the fancier side, but not snooty.

The complimentary amuse bouche of a venison ragout served over a sweet plantain puree. Man, seeing as how good this was, I knew I was in for a great meal. They also give you complimentary bread. Instead of boring regular flour bread, they give you housemade corn bread. And the best part is that they give you whipped honey butter to eat with it. Oh dear lord, there’s nothing better than corn bread slathered with whipped honey butter!

I love beets, so I got the beet salad. It was hunks of red and golden beets served over grilled chickory, with citrus segments, goat cheese, some greens, and crushed pistachios, in a xerez vinaigrette. This was a lovely salad. The beets were fresh and definitely not from a can! I wasn’t sure if I liked goat cheese, but I soon learned that I don’t like it. It was fine though, I just ate my way around it. I didn’t like the chickory either, so I also left that on the plate. But I fully enjoyed everything else.

For my entree, I wasn’t exactly sure what to get. I thought about the fish options but wasn’t convinced. The champagne sauce for the turbot didn’t strike me and neither did the hazelnut dressing on the trout. They also had a daily special of beef bourgignon but I wasn’t convinced about that either. So eventually, I picked the red wine braised beef ribs. This was a ginormous portion of bone in rib. It was super tender and the meat just fell off the bone with very little effort. I liked this a lot, but it wasn’t the greatest. I felt like it could have used a bit more flavor. The rib was served on top of a potato/parsnip puree seasoned with horseradish. The horseradish was pretty much undetectable. It was ok, but I would have preferred plain mash. The parsnip taste didn’t do it for me. There were also some zesty pickled shallots and the seasonal veggies which were grilled spaghetti squash and brussel sprouts. I enjoyed this other veg very much. All in all, it was a good entree, but not great. It was tons of food too, so there was plenty left over. It was also a bit on the pricey side. I wouldn’t have minded if it was a bit less food, and a bit less dollars.

I was beyond stuffed to even consider dessert, but that was ok because nothing from the dessert menu really screamed out my name. The service was excellent, for the most part. Up until I got my check, everything was great. After my server gave me my check, he pretty much disappeared. It took him way too long to pick it back up. But that was just a minor glitch in an otherwise lovely dinner. So for those of you in this neighborhood, definitely stop by.