Mother's Federal Hill
Grille
1113 S. Charles St., Baltimore
410-244-8686
The restaurant's soy-glazed tuna, a house specialty, is
topped with a pattern of wasabi mayo. (Sun photo by Nanine
Hartzenbusch)
Mother's serves up ambitious menu in Federal Hill
Good food, good venue make dining enjoyable
By Karen Nitkin
Special to the Sun
Originally published on September 18, 2003
The thing we loved about Mother's is that it's both a fun bar and a
serious restaurant.
The fun part was apparent even before we walked in. There's
no missing the famed "purple patio," scene of many a Ravens
revelry. During home games, the crowds can number in the thousands, and
the party spills off the deck into the parking lot, said Marc Boyd, general
manager at Mother's.
But once we went inside and walked past the smoke and noise
of the bar, we came to a stylish little dining room, with a stamped-tin
ceiling, exposed brick walls and a cute sea-scene mural behind a counter
that allows peeks into the bustling kitchen. The tables were covered
with white paper, so we could color on them if we wanted.
The menu is fairly ambitious and includes six or seven
specials that change each week. But
even before we put fork to mouth, two items told me we were
in for a treat. One was the
gorgonzola vinaigrette salad dressing (doesn't just reading that make
your mouth water?) and the other was the homemade ice cream that's served
daily.
The vinaigrette was one of several house-made dressings and
the one we chose for our lobster and crab salad. It added
just the right zing to the attractive, fresh and delicious presentation
of cold seafood lumps and julienne vegetables over a mix of dark greens.
As for the ice cream, chocolate and vanilla are always
offered, plus a third flavor. We were lucky to get chunky monkey, which
was banana ice cream studded with bits of chocolate-covered raisins,
chocolate-covered pretzels, and a few other chocolate-covered morsels.
One of our favorite dishes was the house specialty of soy-glazed tuna.
It arrived rare, as requested, and topped with soy glaze and wasabi mayo,
which had been painted into a beautiful pattern. To get an idea of how
large it was, hold out your hand with your fingers outstretched. Like
other entrees, it came with two generous sides. Not bad for $16.95.
Speaking of sides, Mother's earned huge bonus points in my
eyes for taking them seriously.
The cole slaw, crunchy and fresh-tasting, was clearly
homemade, and the sauteed mushrooms swam in a rich, earthy marsala sauce.
Even the rice pilaf was fluffy.
We also loved that the service was friendly and quick, and
the beers were served cold.
This isn't to say that Mother's was perfect. The black and
blue filet, stuffed with a spicy gorgonzola and mushroom filling and
then blackened, was extremely salty. Our mussels came in a nice wine
sauce, but the mussels on the bottom were warm, and the ones on top
were cold. And a slice of apple pie, though served warm, had a soggy
crust. A better choice was the incredibly moist chocolate cake with
a fudge-like chocolate icing.
On Sunday nights, entrees at Mother's are only $10, with the exception
of crab cakes and a few expensive specials. We had the crab cakes anyway
and found them to be as tasty and lump-filled as some of the best in
town. The two-cake serving was very generous for $19.95.
Brothers Dave and Andy Rather, who own and operate Mother's, opened
a live music venue at nearby 8-10 Cross St. on Sept. 4. It's called Funk
Box, and the food will come from the Mother's kitchen. If the brothers
can re-create the atmosphere of Mother's, bring over the serious food,
plus add live music, they're sure to have another winner on their hands.
Ratings:
Food: ***
Service: *** 1/2
Atmosphere: ***
Rating system: Outstanding: ****; Good ***; Fair or uneven
**; Poor *
For more information, go to: http://entertainment.sunspot.net/top/1,1419,p-artslife-Home-email!PlaceDetail-1839,00.html
Copyright 2003 by The Baltimore Sun.
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