Baltimore Get-together

[Varmint]

Time to get a head count on these two different events. Please let me know, by either posting here or by PM, if you plan on attending the Afghan meal at the Helmand. I need to book reservations this week.

Please let vengroff know if you would like tickets (and how many) to the Orioles game.

[Malawry]

I'll be there April 2. And I'll be thinking of the rest of you on the 3rd!

[hjshorter]

Time to get a head count on these two different events.  Please let me know, by either posting here or by PM, if you plan on attending the Afghan meal at the Helmand.  I need to book reservations this week.

Please let vengroff know if you would like tickets (and how many) to the Orioles game.

Can't make it for dinner but I'll see you at Lexington Market on the 3rd!

Crabcakes!

[vengroff]

Last call for baseball tickets. PM me by 5pm eastern time today if you want them.

[edemuth]

If anyone wants to carpool to the Helmand on Wednesday coming from DC way, let me know. Or, if you'd like to come but are sans wheels, PM me and we'll see if we can figure something out.

[vengroff]

Due to a last minute illness, we have one spot open for crab cakes and baseball tonite. Actually, we could have many spots open for crab, but we only have one extra baseball ticket.

PM me if you are interested. Crab is at 4:30, baseball at 7.

[vengroff]

Due to a last-minute recovery, the ticket is taken. Thanks.

[Varmint]

Ah, the healing powers of baseball and crab!

[hjshorter]

Ah, the healing powers of baseball and crab!

Advil and lots of coffee.

Plus, it's 80 degrees. I would drag myself off my deathbed to see a game on a day like this.

[vengroff]

Thanks to all who attended. A great culinary time was had by all. It made up for the fact that there was only one decent half-inning of baseball in one of the shortest (2:14) full-length games I have ever attended.

For those of you who were not able to make it, some pics will follow.

The theme was crab and baseball, but it may as well have been crab baseball. The Fraidley's lump crabcake ($12.95) is about the size and shape of a baseball. Almost purely crab, with just a light crust on the outside.

It's served up simply with a small salad garnish and tarter sauce that should be skipped.

There was another place in Lexington Market selling "lump" crabcakes for $5.98, but they looked like a lump or two plus much filler. Stick to Fraidley's.

Also in the market, there were plenty of pork products and some good looking fresh fish.

We were also shocked to run into eGullet's very own awbrig, cooling his heels in one of the vendor's display cases.

[Varmint]

When I get back home, I'll post a couple of non-food pictures, including the first ever photo of Holly Moore to be posted on the internet.

The food at Camden Yards was fairly standard, with a few twists. Vengroff didn't post a picture of the pork barbecue sandwich that I got from Boog's Barbecue, owned by the Orioles' former first baseman, Boog Powell. The sandwich rated about a 3 on a 10 point scale. We were a bit taken aback by the fact that beers were being sold at $5.75 a pop; we recognized that for the price of 2 of those, we could buy a case -- A CASE -- of Miller Highlife at Lexington Market.

Vengroff also failed to mention that I was robbed in the Fan of the Game contest, as when my image came up on the Jumbotron, I clearly got the most applause and laughter (although I'm sure I caused several small children to scream in terror). Anyhow, some kid wearing a popcorn bucket (see, this is food-related) won the competition. I demand an investigation into this conspiracy!

A good time was had by all. hjshorter is a true fan of the game (and lots of music trivia) and knows where to find the best peanuts outside the stadium. Holly Moore told us great stories of his gastronomic wanderings. Vengroff is indeed a wild professor. And Charlie, Holly's friend from Philly, won the prize of the day, as he came along even though we didn't have enough tickets for him. He bought a seat 5 rows behind us and slyly moved up to sit with us during the course of the game. Seeing there were only 18,000 people in attendance, that wasn't a hard thing to do.

Baltimore may not be a great restaurant town, but it's a good food town. There isn't necessarily the level of creativity here that you'll find in other big cities, but there is a strong sense of tradition and pride in what they do. I wish I had more time to explore the culinary scene, but I'll leave that for another trip. Plus, I'm hopeful that Holly will be calling me shortly with a lunch idea before I head back to NC.

[vengroff]

Here's that Boog's BBG Pork Sandwich

and the mega-Weber it came from

Foot-long dog on the club level was a disappointment. Despite the fact that they were purchased before the game even began, both the bun and the dog had been sitting around to long and dried out.

Peanuts purchased by hjshorter from a vendor outside the park were very good. We didn't have any from in the park, but hjshorter assured us they are inferior.

[hjshorter]

Thanks for the pics, Vengroff. And I'm in complete agreement about the club-level hot dogs. Dry bun and overcooked dog = unsatisfying ballpark experience.

My brother told me this morning that club-level food is for tourists. We should have taken his advice and frequented the hotdog grill behind home plate.

[Steve Klc]

Did that delicious ball-o-crab hold together or did it flake apart? Did some of you eat it with a fork and others pick it up and eat it out of hand? Or is that too personal?

[hjshorter]

It was an effort, but I managed to use a fork. My big mistake was getting a soda; I should have ordered a cold beer.

The crabcakes held together remarkably well for something with so little filler. Delicious. Would make a damned fine sandwich.

[KatieLoeb]

Damn! So sorry I missed this. Looks like a good time was had by all. And the pictures are great! I'll definitely join y'all next time such a gathering takes place within a two hour's drive radius of me. If there were any way I could've snuck down to Baltimore with Charlie, I would have. Unfortunately being sick earlier in the week really screwed up my plans. And now I'm Beverage Manager by default, since a new sommelier/General Manager has yet to be hired, so it'll be busy, busy for a while. But any excuse to go eat and imbibe with like-minded partners in crime will be a welcome diversion I will look forward to...

[Holly Moore]

Did that delicious ball-o-crab hold together or did it flake apart?  Did some of you eat it with a fork and others pick it up and eat it out of hand?  Or is that too personal?

I never even considered eating it as a sandwich. Would be disrespectful way to treat such a great crab cake, probably the best I've ever had.

[vengroff]

I agree with the no-sandwich approach. If the crabcake doesn't need bread in it, it doesn't need bread around it, especially the slices of wonder-looking bread they offered. As for holding together, the cake flaked nicely into fork-sized portions of a couple of lumps each.

[vengroff]

I should add that deep down, I'm still a Dungeness guy. I'll have to sample more of this blue crab as the season goes on.

[Mummer]

I'll get around to sprucing up my eGullet persona, but, first, I'll add my "me too!" for our Crab Ball outing.

I had a great trip down chatting with Holly about food and his web page, plus a little about business. As we wandered the Lexington Market, Varmint recognized Holly's profile and we were three. Vengroff and hjshorter caught up with us soon and we were off to Faidley's oyster bar.

I switched to three large clams and three oysters when the fellow beside me was served his clams. They served my crabcake on top of two slices of ordinary wheat bread but I also used my fork.

The small crowd made for an easy pregame including watching the Tribe's batting practice from the right field fence (right by Boog's.) And the quick game allowed Holly to get me to the earlier return train. He was doing some additional MD eating on the following day.

Several MD micros on tap at the park; no more food for me - I got the word about the dogs from the others. Good fun with a nice bunch of folks.

[Al_Dente]

Wish I could have gone. Faidley's crabcakes are the bomb, and always get your peanuts outside the stadium. Also, there is a beer stand on the south end of Eutaw St that serves up some great, albeit expensive, beer. They have DeGroen's Marzen... mmm.

I went to opening day. Sat in the snow in the upperdeck. The storm was so localized that it was snowing like hell in right field, and the sun was shining in left. Go figure.

Anyone up for a repeat trip later in the season? Given the outlook for the O's season, I highly recommend going earlier than later. The turnout gets progressively worse as things become more hopeless.

[Holly Moore]

Faidley's is up on my site Faidley Seafood at HollyEats.Com

I've also got a group pic but don't want to post it until every says it's ok.

[hjshorter]

I've also got a group pic but don't want to post it until every says it's ok.

It's OK by me, Holly.

Great pics of Faidley's!

And Al Dente, yes, I would be up for a repeat. Perhaps a visit to the Frederick Keys next time? Pretty good beer, good hot dogs, and not a bad seat in the house. Frederick has a few microbreweries now too that might be worth a visit.

[awbrig]

That food looks great! Thank you for the wonderful pics and Im glad you all had a fun time!

[Varmint]

Here's another crabcake photo with a genuine Baltimore beer.

Some fish from Lexington Market:

Vengroff, Holly, and the Mummer formerly known as Charlie:

Vengroff and his rally cap (this was obviously not operational this evening):