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Route 24 Ale House
Bel Air South Parkway Bel Air, MD 21015 Every once in a while, I find a hidden food gem establishment where the best hamburger can be found. This place is the Holy Grail for their fantastic hamburger. Their burgers are not only moist but flavorful, never dry. The hamburger was so tender, juicy and for me a little greasy with flavor and texture. My hamburger didn't come with lettuce, tomato, but I wanted only a slice of cheese, a raw onion slice and a pickle. I didn't have to add any salt or pepper just maybe a little mayo. The burger stood out very flavorful whether it had a dose of salt and pepper before it was made, that's neither here nor there. It was the tastiest hamburger I've ever had. Yes, it was greasy, but a little grease only adds flavor with each bite. It was easy to handle but it was so enjoyable to eat a hamburger that was really tender and most of all tasty. And to boot it was reasonably priced! You may say a hamburger is just a meat pattie grilled or smashed but the well-done burger is not indicative of a good hamburger. Retail establishment chains load up a basic hamburger with lettuce tomato, onion, onion rings, mushroom, tons of cheese and a very salty sweet sauce to hide the lack of flavor of the beef and make it look so fancy, it's a great value. I'll say some places don't really emphasize the burger but put more emphasis on the fries? What's the story there? Route 24 Ale House, although a very bar atmosphere is basic with flat TV's all over the place is a great place to enjoy a good hamburger for a fair price. On my scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent in my opinion, I give this plce a 50! You gotta try it. I ate the hangover burger that includes an egg on top! #Route24alehouse, #terrificburgers, #chefwoocanreview, #hamburgerreview, #tastyandtenderhamburgers, Chef Woo Can www.chewoocan.com www.etsy.com/shop/creationsbywoo Amazon Book: Search: "Chef Woo Can", or "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" Do What's Right!
The last couple of years have tested food merchants. Covid Pandemic shut down alot of restaurants and only until recently, there are signs they are slowly making a comeback. But they are now being tested with inflation is driving up food prices, so what is a merchant to do? Instinctly, they need to reduce expenses, and offer less quantity but charge more. This seems to be the prevailing way business is being done. Just to let you know, since business is slowly coming back, they need the clientele to come back, repeat customers but that doesn't seem like it working. Yes, there are customer that will eat out for social purposes and just don't feel like cooking. They may not be very happy witnessing cut back on quantity but paying more. The majority of customers say, "What the hell" and won't be returning back as a regular customer. So, the result is revenues are on a downward spiral, layoff of employees, but prices are still going up but no pool of steady customers supporting them. The end result is they are forced to close with all that investment wasted due to poor decisions. The right way to conduct business is to raise prices accordingly, don't compromise on portions, you will able to make money and keep a steady clientele. Don't underestimate your breadwinners, they know when they are getting ripped off. If your concerned with customers saying "Oh, it's so expensive" they need to have a wakeup call and realize that going out to eat is expensive. Unless, you can improvise your dishes without compromising the main ingredients, customers will pay if they know they are getting a valued product. It's a very simple approach but its time consuming to enact or scared to go into this direction and assume no one will come in to patronize their restaurant. The bigger food chains can handle tough times but its the little guy that suffers the most. Chef Woo can www.chefwoocn.com www.etesy.com/shop/creationsbywoo Amazon Books: Search "Chef Woo Can" or "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" Looney's Pub
312 S. Main St, Bel Air, MD 21014 It's been a while since I've been to Looney's but it was the weekend and my buddy asked me to go to lunch. We wanted to eat outdoors since it was a bright sunny day. Getting a parking space on this Saturday was a little challenging but heard there may have been a marathon run earlier. Either way we were seated a quickly given our place setting and drinks were ordered. Our waitress welcomed us and was very upbeat and pleasant. I ordered a Chicken Salad BLT. Now, I have rarely been successful when it comes to a club sandwich. My only experience that has prevented me from ordering a club sandwich was at Double T diner. Too much lettuce and tomato, huge portion of chicken salad, and overcooked bacon jammed into 3 slices of bread. A complete mess. However, at Looney's Pub the club sandwich was proportioned correctly with lettuce and tomato and bacon with just enough chicken salad without jamming it into 3 slices of toast, it was manageable and a pleasure to enjoy. For me it was a pleasure to enjoy my club and I would visit Looney's again because of it. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being excellent, I give Looney a 10. It was that good, and tasty. The toast didn't fall apart when trying to eat the club sandwich. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com www.stsy.com/shop/cretionsbywoo Amazon Books: Search "Chef Woo Can or "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" Lib's Grill Bel Air
1204 Angora Dr., Bel Air, MD 21014 It's been a while since I've dined out. What I've been seeing is food establishments are cutting back on quantity but charging you more. It's getting ridiculous, but I always have my eyes out for new restaurants and Lib's Grill Bel Air reading their reviews. Most curious of their reviews was how delicious and fresh their raw oysters are. I decided to check at lunchtime, a true test to see how fresh their raw oysters were. I went with my friend there, outdoor dining. I choose a dozen Chicoteague Oysters and asked the waitress if they are shucked at time of order and she said absolutely "freshly shucked." I also ordered for my lunch the Grilled Salmon BLT (whole grain ciabatta, bacon, lettuce, tomato, basil aioli and hand cut fries). First, most restaurants that offer oysters, shuck their oysters in advance, don't know why but I can tell you that Lib's Grill shucks their raw oysters the minute the order comes through. They were so fresh, that the oysters were sitting in their own liquid brine which never happens. Included was horseradish cocktail sauce and Mignonette sauce. It was a pleasure sipping that natural brine oyster juice and adding condiments just highlighted the overall flavor of the raw oysters. It was simply fabulous. Now, I am not a cooked salmon fan, I usually love salmon sushi style, raw. So having a BLT Salmon sandwich was a true test of how the salmon was prepared. Most times, its over cooked and chalky, I decided to give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. The salmon was so tender flaky, on a ciabatta bread with all the fixings, made the sandwich very tasty and great value. Overall, Chef Woo Can gives Lib's Grill Bel Air a 10, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent. I highly recommend this place. I will visit them again. Considering everything is going up in price, Lib's Grill Bel Air, doesn't compromise the quality of the food but I feel the price is very fair. The oysters were $ 3.00/piece but well worth it. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com www.etsy.com/shop/Creationsbywoo Amazon Books: Search "Chef Woo Can" and "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" Lib's Grill Bel Air
1204 Angora Dr., Bel Air, MD 21014 It's been a while since I've dined out. What I've been seeing is food establishments are cutting back on quantity but charging you more. It's getting ridiculous, but I always have my eyes out for new restaurants and Lib's Grill Bel Air reading their reviews. Most curious of their reviews was how delicious and fresh their raw oysters are. I decided to check at lunchtime, a true test to see how fresh their raw oysters were. I went with my friend there, outdoor dining. I choose a dozen Chicoteague Oysters and asked the waitress if they are shucked at time of order and she said absolutely "freshly shucked." I also ordered for my lunch the Grilled Salmon BLT (whole grain ciabatta, bacon, lettuce, tomato, basil aioli and hand cut fries). First, most restaurants that offer oysters, shuck their oysters in advance, don't know why but I can tell you that Lib's Grill shucks their raw oysters the minute the order comes through. They were so fresh, that the oysters were sitting in their own liquid brine which never happens. Included was horseradish cocktail sauce and Mignonette sauce. It was a pleasure sipping that natural brine oyster juice and adding condiments just highlighted the overall flavor of the raw oysters. It was simply fabulous. Now, I am not a cooked salmon fan, I usually love salmon sushi style, raw. So having a BLT Salmon sandwich was a true test of how the salmon was prepared. Most times, its over cooked and chalky, I decided to give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. The salmon was so tender flaky, on a ciabatta bread with all the fixings, made the sandwich very tasty and great value. Overall, Chef Woo Can gives Lib's Grill Bel Air a 10, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent. I highly recommend this place. I will visit them again. Considering everything is going up in price, Lib's Grill Bel Air, doesn't compromise the quality of the food but I feel the price is very fair. The oysters were $ 3.00/piece but well worth it. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com www.etsy.com/shop/Creationsbywoo Amazon Books: Search "Chef Woo Can" and "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" $4.00 for a soda?
Friday night after and wait for about 30 minutes a tough week, you want to take the family out to dinner. Most of the time is spent making home cooked meals. Tonight, let's go out to eat and enjoy. Get to the restaurant, its packed to the gills and waited for about 30-45 minutes. That in itself is a good sign, good quality and good value. We were seated and the waitress was very friendly and accommodating. The menu was clear cut and not cluttered. We all ordered and ordered ice tea and soda to go with the meal. The meal came in piping hot, the aroma was wonderful, we were having a great time and would return for another great experience. Got the bill and I see they charged us $ 4.00 each for our drinks. Ok, I realize how desperate business owners are right now. They are finding way to make more money without scaring away the customers but charging $ 4.00 for each drink or beverage that is always ordered when dining out? I think that's ridiculous. Rather than lose a little bit of money by charging the regular price of a beverage, they are passing the cost of the main ingredients whether it be steak, chicken or seafood to make it look like they are giving good value to the customer. After seeing the bill, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. It as a total downer! It makes me believe that what else did they have to increase to offset the higher price of the chicken, beef or seafood? Instead of ordering more selection, I'll be more cautious just to order a straightforward meal. It's a catch 22 scenario, cut back on portions and charge the right price and get complaints that the portions are reduced or give the customer what they want and charge them the right price that might out the customer in sticker shock! I would think the later. The consumer is smarter than you think and pretty reasonable. If they know they are getting the quality ingredients at the right price, they will pay. Paying $ 4.00 for a beverage? Not a good move, I'd say. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com Water Street Seafood Restaurant
Havre De Grace, MD Every now and then I come across a family owned restaurant which today is considered an endangered species. You look around and all you find are big name fast food corporations too many to even mention. But the menu in general is the same, all types of chicken, submarine sandwiches and everything in between that pops in the microwave. Staff is trained to just serve the food, a body, thats it but when I went to this restaurant today at around 1:30 pm on Friday, wasn't busy but cnsidered after the lunch hour, customers were still coming in. Yes, its seafood and you'd figure it would be expensive but everything on the menu was average priced, except for the crabs which were pretty high. My waitress was very nice, pleasant and very professional. The menu was simple and easy to read front and back. The porch Gazebo was decorated with painted picnic tables in very nice colors. I felt I was on a tropical island looking into the river (Susquehanna River). I asked about the crab prices and quickly looked to see what else they had. They had raw clams, (little neck), I ordered a dozen fr $ 12.00, not bad, they were freshly shucked and a little coktail sauce and fresh horseradish made it so delicious. The only minor concern was they didn't cut the clam from the shell. Otherwise, fresh clams were delicious, briny and very sweet. Then I saw Angels on Horseback (small to medium size oyster in a panko breadcrumb and deep fried with a slice of bacon. The dipping sauce was a horseradish Aioli. I then ordered a Gator Po Boy, (alligator tail) deep fried in morsels on a fresh submarine bun (Milano roll) with lettuce and tomatoes drizzled with a homemade Cajun mayo, perfecto! This is my first of many trips to small family run businesses to rate them based on what I hear from customers and friends and rate them to help them with free advertising and publicity. On Cef Woo Can rating scale of 1- 10 with 10 being excellent, I give Water Street Seafood Restuarant a 100. They re that good with truly fresh food, they make sure its right and presentable and along with their friendly staff, I didn't feel like a number being pushed in then pushed out. It was relaxing. Any recommendations in MD let me know. I''m a NEW York transplant, so I cut to the chase and call it like it is and Water Street Seafood passed with flying colors. I'll definitely be back and will tell all my friends, viewers on both Facebook and YouTube as well as potential travelers looking to discover some sights and sounds of Maryland. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com Amazon E-Book: Search; Chef Woo Can or The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook Das Bierhalle
119 S. Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014 Today, my friend and I went to the new German restaurant that replaces Black Eye Susan. It was packed by 4:30 PM on a Wednesday, I thought doesn't anyone work any more? Anyway, we found a table, the waiters were prompt, cleaning our table, providing menus and a beer list. Typical German fare with interesting homemade German pretzels with various toppings, all types of sausages. I had the Jagerschtizel (breaded veal with mushroom demi glaze), cream of spinach and french fries. The Jagerschnitzel was so tender and the mushroom demi-glaze was the perfect flavor profile. The cream of spinach was fresh, real spinach with cream sauce was truly authentic and very fresh. Of course I had a beer, I tried the blueberry cider beer, 16 ounce and it was delicious. On a scale of 1-10, Chef Woo can give a rating of 8, highly recommend visiting Das Bierhalle, you'll be glad you did. Og, by the way, we went at 4:30 pm and got in right away, after we left the lines started. Chef Woo Can www.chefwoocan.com www.etsy.com/shop/creationsbywoo The Orient
Main Street, MD I swore I wasn't going to come back to this restaurant because of my bad experience the first time on a delivery. But I thought I'd give these guys a second chance. My friend and I went there on a Tuesday evening and this is my review. First, the waiter brought the fried noodles that were basically all broken. No matter what, when the restaurant is opened, you should still offer noodles that aren't all broken. Ours were all broken. Then the duck sauce served in the tiniest dish, I never knew that dishes could that be so tiny. Keep in mind that the fried noodles are very big and one dunk, in that tiny dish of duck sauce, it would be all gone. My goodness, so skimpy on the duck sauce? It just gave me the impression that money is tight and they had to trim on the condiments. So, I asked the waiter for a new batch of fresh noodles and to leave the bottle of duck sauce since we both love the fried noodles. The noodles arrived and they were not broken. My appetizer of shrimp toast was perfect. It wasn't oily at all, in fact very crispy and crunchy. Two pieces of toast with all shrimp topping. The Hot & Sour soup was not bad, alot of ingredients, sliced mushrooms, slices of chicken, egg, dried turnips and slivers of bamboo shoots. The main course was a favorite of mind, Shrimp Mayo with Walnuts. I have to say it was quite good. The shrimp was crispy and the sauce was perfect, not runny and watery and the candied walnuts were perfect and not burnt. The broccoli growns surrounding the dish was colorful and perfect. Overall, the menu was ok, prices ok a little high, but what is missing is the personalized service. Back when David was the owner, he knew his customers or made them feel at home. The owners never did. On scale of 1-10 with 10 being excellent, I give the new Orient Restaurant a 7. www.chefwoocan.com Amazon E-Book; search "Chef Woo Can" or "The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook" www.etsy.com/shop/creationsbywoo Steak & Main
107 S. Main St, North East, MD 21901 401 287 3512 To kick off the New Year, my friends decided to celebrate the New Year getting together for the old year to bring in the New Year. One of my buddies recommended this place. I heard of this place before but never went there. It's a steakhouse with many varieties of seafood. My kind of place. Yes, it's moderately expensive but between being a chauffeur to my lovely daughter, it was going to be a well-deserved meal. The restaurant is located on Main Street, North East, MD. Never would have though such a nice restaurant located there. The entrance leads to a full bar and seats and it was very crowded for a Saturday night. The atmosphere was mild, not too over the top, but what made this restaurant great was the service. Our staff that served us was very polite, accommodating and very friendly. The menu contained both A La Carte dishes consisting of different types of steaks and seafood and if you wanted to add a side you could. The regular dishes included a carbohydrate and vegetable with the main entree as a protein. I wanted to start with a fresh mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and a balsamic reduction and olive oil. It was so delicious, flavorful and fresh. At the same time, I saw an appetizer featuring Escargot (snails), not the traditional way of enjoying escargot in the shell. It was without the shell and mixed with a Spring array of select veggies with a nice combination of a little crunch, but whatever was added it was a great flavor combination with the escargot. Both of these appetizers were excellent. Then I saw on the menu Grouper. I love grouper. Predominately caught near Florida, the Gulf Strem and all over the Caribbean. I had to order the Grouper. I was a little hesitant since, fish as expensive as it is, some establishments give a very thin slice. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that when my grouper arrived, it was a huge plump piece of grouper. It wasn't over cooked, cooked to perfection and the sauce didn't overwhelm the mild flavor of the grouper. Last but not least, dessert. my wife was excited to see Creme Brulee and I loved cheesecake and they were both wonderful. My cheesecake was very smooth creamy and a nice piece was served. The Creme Brulee was according to my wife perfect. So, I enjoyed this fine meal immensely. On my scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being excellent, I give Steak & Min a "100." It's not often do we have the opportunity for great meal served professionally with the freshest ingredients. Yes, Your paying for all that but this establishment didn't skimp on anything, so I will be visiting them again. #steakandmain, #excellentsteakhouse, #noskimpingforanexpensiverestaurant, ##chefwoocanandsteakandmain, #excellentsteakhousemd Chef Woo Can Chefwoocan.com |
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