11/20/2023 0 Comments Sip and bite baltimore closed![]() Loved the idea that the menu said I could get a side salad with the cake, and when it came it was an ample serving of FRESH greens (no iceberg to be seen), tomato and onion. I bit the bullet and ordered the crab cake, faint hope in my heart that it would be a REAL one, while my pal ordered a hamburger. After reviewing the menu, the spinach pie and crab cake were a toss up for me. It's small, with a row of formica tabled booths down one side and the counter behind which the food is prepared on the other. You could say, "It was Canton when Canton wasn't cool." I wondered how much it had changed since my last visit in the mid-70's and was relieved to see it still looked like a neighborhood place and the sign still said "homemade cooking". As many Baltimoreans know, the Sip and Bite has been a staple diner-type corner restaurant in East Baltimore since the 1940's. A friend and I were running an errand in the city today and decided to lunch at the Sip and Bite. Even when I have emptied half a shaker of Old Bay on them, they seem rather tasteless, and I have longed for the crab cakes of my youth. They seem to be made of nothing except huge pieces of crab meat (often imported, though the menu doesn't tell you that)and a little mayonnaise. In recent years, I have eaten many of the "new fangled" LUMP crab cakes, usually at restaurants purporting to have "Maryland's best". You got pretty much the same thing at Maryland restaurants way back then. The meat used in the crab cakes was a mixture of everything worth eating that came from the crabs, mushed together with soda crackers, egg, mayonnaise, a little milk, and Old Bay to give the cakes a well-blended, slightly hot, well-spiced taste. The next day, we "picked" crabs that were left and Mom turned the meat into crab soup, crab dip, and crab cakes. Dad steamed them with beer and Old Bay and we ate our fill directly from the pot. We usually when to the "shore" with string and a few chicken necks and caught our own. Crabs or crab cakes in a restaurant were a rare luxury. I grew up outside of Baltimore in a working class family. I am not sure when "lump" crab cakes became the standard in Maryland restaurants. ![]() Maybe next time we'll go in person but I suspect there are better choices. It worked especially given it was 2:00pm & the first meal of the day for us. I ended up ordering the fries which arrived limp & with no ketchup, or better yet, malted vinegar packets. I wanted the pickled beets but suspected there were onions in them. Since I'm allergic to onions & peppers, the choices then were limited. The crab was listed as having about 3 sides to choose from but when placing the order, the side salad was no longer a choice. ![]() Hers came with homefries which were quite good. It was supposed to have a strawberry marmalade (?) on it which was missing. The chicken was a good sized piece & there was egg & cheese on it. C ordered a chicken breakfast sandwich which tasted good (again good being the operative word here). Here's a better idea, pack the sauce & lettuce separate away from the heated food. Unfortunately, by the time the order arrived the lettuce was wilted. The bun was toasted & buttered which was nice, but the sauce was negligent. The crab was mostly crab of which I greatly appreciated (rather than lots of filler). I had the crab cake sandwich which was nothing outstanding. Food arrived in a more timely manner than can be typical when using Order Up (of which I'm not a huge fan). First, we ordered late breakfast/lunch for delivery versus dining in.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |