Nasu Blanca

Nasu Blanca
1036 E. Fort Ave.
Locust Point, Baltimore
Spanish/Japanese
410-962-9890
Cost: $$$$
Reservations: recommended
Date of meal: Wednesday September 29, 2007 (6:30pm)
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It

I don't know of any other Spanish/Japanese fusion restaurant in the U.S. This means either that the owners of Nasu Blanca are incredibly creative, or that this combination doesn't make a lot of sense, or both.

I went to Nasu Blanca for a work dinner party with 4 other people. While the restaurant was relatively empty when we arrived (at 6:30pm on a Wednesday) it was full when we left. Nasu Blanca has two floors. The lower floor has a bar and a bit of seating, but most tables for dinner are upstairs. The Nasu Blanca site is a nice, stylish gut remodel. The downstairs decor was swanky and upscale but in a way that seemed a bit hollow and forced given the unrenovated buildings around it. The upstairs decor was a little boring for my taste, but they were trying and it was pleasant. Unfortunately, the upstairs feels like overflow seating even though it is not. I'm not sure what they can do about this.

The menu has two sides. The left had appetizers; the right entrees. At the top of each page were Japanese dishes, with Spanish ones below. The Spanish entrees were all paellas, which seemed needlessly narrow. What's the point of being Spanish-Japanese fusion if you aren't going to have fun in mixing and matching striking flavors? The menu looked more standard "New American/eclectic" than sharply Japanese/Spanish; I'm not sure I would have guessed that it was more than pan-Asian eclectic except for the large numbers of paella options. The alcohol menu included a wide variety of sakes, as well as wine and beer. Food was quite expensive, with entrees in the $30 range.

We ordered:

• Japanese eggplant ($8), grilled with a miso sauce.
• edamame ($5), no surprises
• spicy tuna tempura ($13), sounded more interesting than it tasted, but still not bad
• sashimi appetizer was amazing
  
• braised short-rib appetizer ($12+/-), I love short-ribs and these were great but it wasn't that interesting.
  
• panko-crusted walu ($28), got good reviews from my colleagues
• pumpkin-seed crusted lamb chops ($32+/-) were excellent
• scallops ($32+/-) had a nice pan-Asian flare but were a bit generic.

Food was brought at a glacial pace, and this was clearly not intentional. The server was nice but the lowness was a problem all around and made the meal less pleasant. (Our guest almost missed her train as a result despite ample warning of our constraints.) The prices were very high. I know Baltimore has a 20-25% markup compared to other cities for nice restaurants and ethnic ones. I guess I should not be surprised that a nice ethnic-fusion place has high prices. Still, entrees here would be more appropriately priced in the $22-$26 range rather than the $28-$45 range. Nasu Blanca would be a good place to go if you wanted a fun work dinner, but only if you weren't paying for it yourself.

Kali's Court

Kali's Court
1606 Thames St.
Fell's Point, Baltimore
410-276-4700
Seafood
www.kaliscourt.net
Cost: $$$$
Reservations: Recommended
Date of meal: February 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It

I went to Kali's Court as a recruiting dinner before I moved to Baltimore. There are two floors, with a bar and dinner seating downstairs and more seating upstairs. We sat upstairs. Decor is old-world plush. This was particularly successful downstairs, where the dark lighting and dark wood bar. Upstairs felt more like overflow seating, which it was.

Our service was OK, but not great. It was a bit fawning but not very helpful, heavy on the hard-sell. I had a seafood bisque to start and crab cakes for dinner. Both were very good. At the price, you would expect this. To be honest, I wasn't as wowed as I should have been at $30+ for an entree. If someone else was paying, I'd be happy to go there but wouldn't suggest it. I would not go there again if I was paying.

Saffron (Closed)

Saffron
802 N. Charles St.
Mt. Vernon, Baltimore
410-528-1616
Eclectic
www.saffronbaltimore.com
Cost: $$$$
Reservations: Recommended
Date of meal: February 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It

The Saffron website indicates that the restaurant is "temporarily closed." I'm not sure how temporary this is. While I believe the restaurant was closed by the time I moved to Baltimore, I was taken there by my now-colleagues when I interviewed for my current position.

I thought it was a perfect place to take someone for work. It was quiet. Decor was plush. To my taste, it was a bit fussy but this kind of formality is probably good for work dinners. Service was good. If it re-opened, I would recommend it for a work dinner in the mid- to high-$20s range.

I don't remember what any of us ate, but I do remember thinking my food was only so-so. Maybe this presaged Saffron's closure, as I've been told that it has a string of very accomplished chefs in the past.

Bicycle

Bicycle
1444 Light St.
Federal Hill, Baltimore
410-234-1900
New American
www.bicyclebistro.com
Cost: $$$$
Reservations: Recommended
Date of meal: Thursday July 26, 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: On It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Extends It


Bicycle has a beautiful outdoor patio that we really enjoyed, though the interior decor is very nice as well. This is a standard, very good $25 entree New American restaurant. It would be great to bring parents or a date for a special occasion, or to go for a work function. It is nice and upscale but not fussy or uptight. It's quiet without being oppressive.

We were really impressed with the entrees, which included an outstanding braised short-rib dish and a great chocolate dessert. If you want to spend this amount on dinner at a nice but not fancy restaurant, I haven't found a better spot in Baltimore.