by Erin and Xani
This post is a little unusual since it combines two different experiences at the same place into one. So, don't be alarmed by the amount of food in this post - it was TWO MEALS, we swear!
As some of you may know, the BCD family follows Maryland Men's Basketball, which in recent years has been a labor of love. We long for the days of our NCAA Championship in 2002 and our ACC Championship in 2004, but these days we just watch and hope that they don't screw up too badly.
The two of us have recently started watching the Terps games at a bar right around the corner from EP's house in Federal Hill (technically South Baltimore) called "Don't Know." Yes, the name of the bar is Don't Know, which is cute until you try to tell someone via text message where to meet you. Very frustrating...
Anyway, we've watched two games recently at DK, both with the same results: the food was great and the Terps lost. So let's talk about the food and forget about the games, shall we?
Don't Know has a great selection of beer and wine, and we think they have a special on Friday nights for a $5 "bottomless wine glass" for ladies until a certain time - not too shabby! The last time we were there, our waiter brought EP a tasting of a few different wheat beers to help her decide which to get - very cool of them.
Tasting Menu
For appetizers, we've had the Wild Mushroom Bruschetta and the Capicola-Stuffed Mozzarella. The bruschetta was quite good, sort of do-it-yourself, where you take an herb crostino and put the mixture of tomatoes, basil, onions and wild mushrooms on top, then add a little goat cheese and balsamic reduction. Delicious!
The Capicola-Stuffed Mozzarella was also amazing. It was like the best, classiest version of mozzarella sticks we've ever had. They take fresh mozzarella, stuff it with capicola, and fry it, and then serve it with a great marinara sauce and lots of grated parmesan cheese. Except, when we got it last week, there was a distinct lack of capicola - we think they forgot it. But it was still great! It's probably even better with some added pork products. But hey, what isn't??
Where's the Pork??
One great thing about DK is that not only do they have sliders (one of Xani's most favorite things because they are tiny and delicious); they have a SELECTION of sliders! These include the "lamburger slider" with muenster cheese, kobe beef slider with portobello confit, tuna burger slider with wasabi mayo, duck breast slider with gorgonzola, venison slider with blueberries and boursin, and black bean slider with sprouts and cheddar. We've had the lamburger sliders and the kobe sliders, both of which were quite good (they had a nice charred, fresh-off-the-grill flavor) and properly cooked (which is hard to do with sliders since they are so small!).
Lamburger Sliders with Muenster
Kobe Sliders with Portobello Confit
In addition to the sliders, we've had the grilled cheese (made with four cheeses, fresh tomato, and bacon) and the meat pizza (with capicola ham, bacon, sausage, and filet mignon with goat cheese and parmesan). More pork products, anyone? Both of these were great and we recommend both of them. If we had to pick one to be the best, it would be the pizza - great crunchy crust, delicious toppings, and just the right size for a personal pizza piled high with meat. We'll also mention that our friend Sarah ordered the chicken fingers, which she said were some of the best in her LIFE, and if you know Sarah and her love of chicken fingers, that is really saying something.
Blurry 4-Cheese Grilled Cheese
Meaty Pizza
Last but not least, we must mention the fries at Don't Know. The last time we were there we noticed an addition to the menu: duck-fat fries! We were so excited to order them (and the order was HUGE). Unfortunately, they were quite disappointing. They weren't shoe-string fries, they were like potato slices, and they were completely bland. Boo! Thankfully, Sarah ordered their traditional garlic herb fries, which are delicious, garlicky fries (some of the best in Federal Hill, we'd say), so we all feasted on those. Whew! Crisis averted!
Duck Fat Fries...meh
Garlic herb fries - hooray!!
Don't Know is a great bar with good service and great food, and you can bet we'll be back, but maybe we'll wait until basketball season is over??
Happy eating (and GO TERPS!),
E & X
you could still eat after brunch???
ReplyDeleteThe sadness of the letdown from the anticipation of duck fat fries is almost too much for a reader to bear.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, in my experience the duck fat fries have always been a let down. I don't know what I am expecting from them but it I always feel let down when i get them. I think fries are fries no matter what their fried in.
ReplyDeletestef-- no way! duck fat fries (done right) are superior to others. My "oven-fried" duck fat fries are better than the ones I do in olive oil (but those are still pretty good :) )
ReplyDeleteBrewers Art has the best fries in Baltimore. How can you go wrong with rosemary + garlic!
ReplyDelete