6.30.2009
Greystone Grill - Ellicott City
Although it's been open for a while, this was our first time at Greystone Grill in Ellicott City. John's friend is one of the investors and we'd read some good reviews over the years, so we decided this was the place we'd celebrate our anniversary.
It was a warm Saturday evening and our reservation was for 6:30 PM. Understanding that it is summer and people are probably away for vacations and such, I was surprised to find the place fairly empty. Not that I'm complaining... I like arriving at your designated, "reserved" time and getting seated right away. And it was also nice to not feel rushed through dinner.
Even though we knew the entree would be more than enough food, for the full anniversary dining experience, we also ordered an appetizer to share. The Seafood Cocktail came with shrimp cocktail, Limoncello crab and seared tuna. DELISH! It was a light, refreshing starter -- especially the crab in its lemon zest and Limoncello marinade.
Our dinners came with a salad -- a Caesar, your traditional iceburg lettuce wedge with blue cheese, bacon and tomato or the Greystone (my selection).
It was a warm Saturday evening and our reservation was for 6:30 PM. Understanding that it is summer and people are probably away for vacations and such, I was surprised to find the place fairly empty. Not that I'm complaining... I like arriving at your designated, "reserved" time and getting seated right away. And it was also nice to not feel rushed through dinner.
Even though we knew the entree would be more than enough food, for the full anniversary dining experience, we also ordered an appetizer to share. The Seafood Cocktail came with shrimp cocktail, Limoncello crab and seared tuna. DELISH! It was a light, refreshing starter -- especially the crab in its lemon zest and Limoncello marinade.
Our dinners came with a salad -- a Caesar, your traditional iceburg lettuce wedge with blue cheese, bacon and tomato or the Greystone (my selection).
This salad was simple in composition but very flavorful. Field greens in a raspberry dressing with Maytag blue cheese and candied cashews. It is definitely a runner up to my current favorite, the house salad at Red Sky.
My entree was a 16 oz. New York strip and baked potato. Three out of the past four anniversary celebrations, I've had steak (year 2 was lobster at the Palm, posted here). This one was topped with a special (and optional) steak butter (deliciously infused with baked garlic).
This was a very good piece of steak, perfectly cooked to my liking (med rare). I have no complaints. Truthfully, though, I was a little full of bread, seafood and salad by the time the steak hit the table, so I probably didn't fully enjoy it as much as I should have that night. The steak served me well for two more meals though!
Greystone Grill
8850 Columbia 100 Parkway
Ellicott City, MD 21045
410) 715-4739
http://www.greystonegrill.com/
Labels: restaurants
11.18.2008
The Fall of Trapeze
I'm glad Johnny took me to Trapeze for my birthday dinner this year, as they closed earlier this month. I got to have a favorite Trapeze dish, sea bass, which I raved about in an earlier post.
We found out about the closing from John's bro, but you can read more about it here. The company that managed Trapeze also runs two others in Columbia and Timonium. Apparently, the Timonium restaurant, Bluestone Grill, has similar fare as Trapeze. As much as I enjoyed Trapeze, I'm not sure trekking up to Timonium is in the cards for us. Maple Lawn was so convenient!
It makes me leery about buying restaurant gift cards for Christmas this year. What if the restaurant we select goes out of business within the first quarter of next year before we're able to get together to have dinner there?
If you can suggest someplace that serves a fabulous sea bass, ring in!
We found out about the closing from John's bro, but you can read more about it here. The company that managed Trapeze also runs two others in Columbia and Timonium. Apparently, the Timonium restaurant, Bluestone Grill, has similar fare as Trapeze. As much as I enjoyed Trapeze, I'm not sure trekking up to Timonium is in the cards for us. Maple Lawn was so convenient!
It makes me leery about buying restaurant gift cards for Christmas this year. What if the restaurant we select goes out of business within the first quarter of next year before we're able to get together to have dinner there?
If you can suggest someplace that serves a fabulous sea bass, ring in!
Labels: restaurants
5.07.2007
Trapeze - Maple Lawn
Although this restaurant has been open for about a year and a half, it’s not in an area John and I pass by very often. Maple Lawn is quickly developing and the business center (shops, restaurants and offices) reminds me of King Farm in Gaithersburg. My dad read about Trapeze in the Washington Post and decided it would be a good place for the family to celebrate John’s birthday and my parents’ 42nd anniversary. And man, it was!
I made reservations for 11 and we were given a private little dining room. That was a nice touch. Being Sunday night, the place wasn’t very crowded. The restaurant is a nice size, with a fairly large bar area. It’s upscale without feeling too high falootin’. The menu was not overwhelming and had a number of fish dishes but also had selections for non-seafood eaters.
For appetizers, we ordered Calamari, Seared Tuna and Fried Green Tomatoes. The calamari was more than enough for the table to share. Although I thought the breading was a little oily, the actual calamari was cooked very nicely (not rubbery!). The accompanying sauce was sweet, a little spicy and tart, but kind of runny. It could have used a dash or so of fish sauce and something to make it slightly thicker in consistency. Delicious, none the less.
I didn’t try the tuna (a wasabi sauce was drizzled over it) but the Fried Green Tomato dish ($11) was awesome. It was topped with chunks of crabmeat and I was a little disappointed there were only two tomato rounds on the plate (making it difficult to share with 11 people). The sauce was garlicky with a hint of sesame oil and really complimented the tart tomatoes.
Sadly, I didn't think to take pictures of the apps. We just dug in!
For dinner, I had a Chilean Sea Bass ($29) served with asparagus and Yukon mashed potatoes and topped with fried scallion strings. The fish was seared crispy on the outside but remained perfectly tender on the inside. I hadn’t seen Sea Bass on a menu in quite a while and was very happy not to be disappointed. The way this fish was prepared reminded me of a meal I had at Lamberti’s in Wilmington a few years ago, where I had the best (and very memorable) Chilean Sea Bass.
John had the Crab Cakes, despite the newspaper article claiming the cakes here are overcooked and dry. They were tasty, but not as good as Red Sky (according to John). Other dishes around the table included Hamachi (a fish similar to tuna), bacon-wrapped scallops, a grilled pork chop and a fish that looked like salmon (pink in color) but tasted like trout.
The dessert menu didn’t include Tiramisu (to Julianna’s chagrin) but did offer cheesecake, key lime pie and ice cream. Julianna, John and I ordered a chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell with berries and Jim had a “Snowball” (ice cream coated in crumbled Heath Bar). Geneva had fun sampling all the desserts.
We left full and happy to enjoy a wonderful meal with family.
TRAPEZE
8180 Maple Lawn Blvd
Maple Lawn, MD 20759
(301) 498-4411
I made reservations for 11 and we were given a private little dining room. That was a nice touch. Being Sunday night, the place wasn’t very crowded. The restaurant is a nice size, with a fairly large bar area. It’s upscale without feeling too high falootin’. The menu was not overwhelming and had a number of fish dishes but also had selections for non-seafood eaters.
For appetizers, we ordered Calamari, Seared Tuna and Fried Green Tomatoes. The calamari was more than enough for the table to share. Although I thought the breading was a little oily, the actual calamari was cooked very nicely (not rubbery!). The accompanying sauce was sweet, a little spicy and tart, but kind of runny. It could have used a dash or so of fish sauce and something to make it slightly thicker in consistency. Delicious, none the less.
I didn’t try the tuna (a wasabi sauce was drizzled over it) but the Fried Green Tomato dish ($11) was awesome. It was topped with chunks of crabmeat and I was a little disappointed there were only two tomato rounds on the plate (making it difficult to share with 11 people). The sauce was garlicky with a hint of sesame oil and really complimented the tart tomatoes.
Sadly, I didn't think to take pictures of the apps. We just dug in!
For dinner, I had a Chilean Sea Bass ($29) served with asparagus and Yukon mashed potatoes and topped with fried scallion strings. The fish was seared crispy on the outside but remained perfectly tender on the inside. I hadn’t seen Sea Bass on a menu in quite a while and was very happy not to be disappointed. The way this fish was prepared reminded me of a meal I had at Lamberti’s in Wilmington a few years ago, where I had the best (and very memorable) Chilean Sea Bass.
John had the Crab Cakes, despite the newspaper article claiming the cakes here are overcooked and dry. They were tasty, but not as good as Red Sky (according to John). Other dishes around the table included Hamachi (a fish similar to tuna), bacon-wrapped scallops, a grilled pork chop and a fish that looked like salmon (pink in color) but tasted like trout.
The dessert menu didn’t include Tiramisu (to Julianna’s chagrin) but did offer cheesecake, key lime pie and ice cream. Julianna, John and I ordered a chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell with berries and Jim had a “Snowball” (ice cream coated in crumbled Heath Bar). Geneva had fun sampling all the desserts.
We left full and happy to enjoy a wonderful meal with family.
TRAPEZE
8180 Maple Lawn Blvd
Maple Lawn, MD 20759
(301) 498-4411
Labels: restaurants, trapeze
