Brasserie Tatin

Brasserie Tatin
105 W. 39th St.
Tuscany/Canterbury, Baltimore
443-278-9110
French
www.brasserietatin.com
Cost: $$$
Reservations: Recommended
Date of meal: weekday dinner, April 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It

I've been to Brasserie Tatin once for a work dinner. If Saffron and Gertrude's had a love child, it would be Brasserie Tatin. All three are perfect for work and should probably be avoided otherwise. Brasserie Tatin has a decor like Saffron, kind of plush with warm reds. The food is plain but well prepared.

The environment is a little bit more lively than Gertrude's. The bar is actually pretty happening, though with upper-middle class folks in their 40s as drinkers. Does this count as happening? I think of this liveliness as a drawback; Gertrude's sedation is sometimes ideal. Once you are no longer catering to the octogenarian and University administrator set (and with the ban on age-based forced retirement the intersection of this Venn diagram is not disjoint), you might as well go to Petit Louis Bistro. It is just about as much fun as Brasserie Tatin (read kinda fun if you are upper-middle class and in your 40s), but with better and more interesting food.

Ambassador Dining Room

Ambassador Dining Room
3811 Canterbury Rd. (at University)
Tuscany/Canterbury, Baltimore
410-366-1484
Indian
www.ambassadordiningroom.com
Cost: $$
Reservations: Not Needed
Date of meal: late June or early July, 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: On It


If you sit outside at the Ambassador Dining Room, you overlook a beautiful garden. This is a bit surprising given that the place is in one of the large nondescript apartment buildings on the north side of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. Still, if the weather is nice, this makes it a great place for a date. I wouldn't both coming if weather ruled out outdoor seating. The food is standard Indian fare. It was good but not special or interesting. Honestly, the entrees were quite expensive ($15-20) given the quality. In any major city there are a dozen restaurants of this quality with $10 entrees and excellent service. Of course, almost none of these places have the beautiful garden. To the degree you are paying for the garden, this is a very poor choice for take-out. I also think that Baltimore restaurants are on average 20-25% more expensive than restaurants of comparable quality in other cities. This explains some of the cost of the Ambassador Dining Room.