Sunday, April 5, 2009

strange plates... or Bowman's in Baltimore

K's family does a girls only bday dinner for her, her mom and her sister and I got to attend this year.. Bowmans is an interesting spot. K and I arrived first and could not convince the host guy that we had a reservation. We were unceremoniously hunkered down in the waiting area until her mom got there and set him straight.

The place has an interesting vibe. Sort of Red Lobster meets Picadillies, meets ... Something else. And that small town upscale feel. Our waitress was strung a little tight, which was kind of fun actually. Our table got a bottle of red and a bottle of white, and I watched her run off to do something else twice while she was trying to get them open.

I started off with a bowl of creamy crab soup- it was a nice texture and had big chunks of crabmeat through it. A little sherry or black pepper would have put it over the top. The crab dip, French onion soup and clams casino at the table looked good too.

It was the main dishes that made me chuckle. While good, the plate arrangements were really funny. Not to mention that one of the entrees didn't stay on the servers tray long enough to make of to the table. I got the scallops. I wish I had taken a picture. Imagine a huge, huge mound of mashed potatoes, surrounded by, like a moat, of white sauce. Then the scallops were sitting in the moat. It was interesting. Tasty though.

K and her sister got the crabcake. And that's exactly what they got. A crabcake sitting next to a potato. Surrounded by a lot of white plate. Cook must have missed the class on garnishes on school.

The salads and other entrees- a chicken dish, looked good. And they were kind enough to comp dessert to the birthday girls ( creme brulee and Ice cream).

I was a little surprised at the bill- $255 plus tip, almost $300 for 5 adults and a child. It seemed high for what we got, but I guess you only get one bday a year.