Lunch at the Place Formerly Known as Doobie's

by Xani

Last week I escaped from the office long enough to join a friend for lunch at what is now known as the Penn Street Tavern on the 200 block of Penn Street (formerly Ras Doobie's or just Doobie's; this post on ChowHound includes a discussion of how and why it changed, and how various ChowHounders feel about it). The Tavern is in Ridgely's Delight, a neighborhood a few blocks from where I work. Its a bit tricky to find, but once you turn the right corner you see this big new sign and the bright blue door greeting you!

Although many are sad to hear of the changes at this location, I have to say it looked a lot better than the last time I was there. Fresh paint, new floors, and other decorative elements make the space warm and inviting. The staff are still friendly and welcoming. The menu is similar (identical?) to what they had under Doobie himself. In addition to several preparations of chicken and fish, they also have more adventurous dishes like goat and ox tail! However, that particular lunch I was not feeling all that adventurous, so I ordered the curry chicken. They had just run out of that dish, so the waitress recommended the fricassee chicken instead. My friend Jeanne ordered the jerk chicken, which had been her favorite under the old chef. Penn Street Tavern also has a variety of delectable side items: the rice and peas are a must (Jeanne and I both got them), I also got the fantastic plantains and Jeanne got the broccoli. As you can see, they do NOT skimp on the portions:

My chicken was moist and very flavorful, with almost a BBQ-type taste, and the cooked, multi-colored peppers on top were a nice treat. The rice and peas were excellent, as were the soft, sweet plantains. I tried a bit of Jeanne's jerk chicken which was also very good although lacking a certain quality it used to have under the old chef.

Overall the dishes at the Tavern were a big plates of hearty, good-tasting grub, for a very reasonable price (I think each plate was $11, and believe me, its more than you can eat at one sitting). Its close to Oriole Park at Camden Yards (if you are in the area and looking for something other than bar food or stadium food), and very close to what is soon to be my new office building... I think once I'm just a couple blocks away, I might just become a regular at the Tavern.

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