A Relaxed Sunday Breakfast

Rafael's
32 West Main Street
Westminster, MD 21157
http://www.rafaelsrestaurant.com/
410-840-1919

 

I used to enjoy lunch at Rafael's quite regularly when my employment was in Westminster. The sandwiches were great but since retiring I admit I've unintentionally dropped this fine restaurant from my those I haunt for lunch with friends.

 

Debbie and I have traditionally only had breakfast on Sunday mornings at home but lately I've struggled with poaching the eggs just so and the cats have become begging pests so we decided to try going out to Westminster and let someone else fret over the Hollandaise sauce. Well forgedabout the likes of Denny's and Bob Evan's, where they don't employ cooks anymore, just microwave masters. McDonald's has a fine Egg McMuffin if that's your sort of thing - they are currently rebuilding a new store on their old site to handle the volume. Chic fil A has good sausage gravy on biscuits on weekdays but Sunday is verboten for them. Harry's  too is now closed on Sunday. Johansson's advertises a "brunch" but doesn't open to 10 AM and a brunch is more than we want.

 

We noticed some commotion down the block from Johansson's at Rafael's and sure enough they serve a full, regular breakfast menu on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 AM to 1 PM. Parking nearby is easy and we were immediately shown to a nice table in their rustic dining room. Coffee was quickly served and it's the real stuff - not some over roasted Starbucks confection but a full flavored breakfast blend.

 

The menu is quite complete with many egg specialties, pancakes and French toast. Meat choices include bacon, sausages, a kabob of bacon and sausage in a maple sauce glaze and, praise the lord, scrapple. Debbie loves French Toast but never prepares it for herself at home. I admit to loving the lush life on Sunday mornings and am addicted to Eggs Benedict any chance I can order them. Rafael's specializes in four Eggs Benedict preparations but I am quite pleased with their traditional approach which includes a yummy Hollandaise sauce, plenty of Canadian bacon, perfectly poached eggs and some grilled red skin potatoes on the side.

 



It appears that breakfast at Rafael's is no local secret as they are doing a good turn of business when we go there. Service is punctual. No one objects if you read the Sunday papers over your meal.

 

I heartily recommend you try Rafael's for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the weekend breakfast has become a very welcome, relaxing way to start the day for us and I can't imagine anyone being disappointed.

Restaurant Weeks Best & Worst

Restaurant Week Highs and Lows

My friends and I routinely take advantage of the reduced prices offered during "Restaurant Week" in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Carroll. This year we tried a real mix of cuisine with real mixed results.

We started with Kali's Court in the Baltimore's hot to trot Harbor East neighborhood. I'd dined there before and found our experience to be superlative to that first visit. The host is genuinely glad to receive you and there really isn't a bad table on either floor of the enormous restaurant, although when weather permits I expect those few tables in the courtyard or on the balcony are most desirable.

We were pleasantly surprised by the enormity and quality of our Prince Edward Island Mussels in a tomato, scallion and honey broth. There are PEI mussels and then there are these huge, choice PEI selections at Kali's Court. The grilled calamari preparation is wonderful but a turn off to some as the calamari is a bit chewier grilled than when in the usual fried style. I like the tentacles, others want only the round, sliced body parts.Some rolls to sop up the broth and this appetizer would suffice as a meal for many diners.

The Restaurant specializes in seafood but Debbie and I chose the Braised Lamb Shank. It was cooked to tender perfection over a bed of mashed potatoes. A friend chose the whole Bronzini, a house favorite. He was a bit taken the presence of the head of the fish on the platter but more impressed with the tender, non-fishy taste.

This is one of those restaurants that get it. They put their best foot forward during Restaurant Week and are rewarded with return customers every week throughout the year.

 

 Next up was the famously expensive Milton Inn in Sparks. This is normally a place for Hunt Valley executives to dine with their corporate charge cards in hand. They supposedly have one of those top rated chefs that restaurants fight for. It is quite a nice historic atmosphere - the Inn at one time serving as a private school that had John Wilkes Booth as an early pupil. Atmosphere abounds.

 

Alas we ordered the PEI Mussels as an appetizer once again. They were in a rich creamy broth but the size of the mussel was much smaller, and chewier than what Kali's Court had spoiled us with. The menu was very limited, as if the expected most customers to order from the pricier regular menu. Two of us had a pasta dish of rigatoni with large shrimp, very large crab lumps from something other than a Chesapeake Blue Crab and more of the dinky mussels. Once we got past the delicious seafood atop the pasta the exclamations came to a curt halt. The pasta below had been suffocated with a cheesy sauce which reminded me of Cheeze Whiz, straight from the jar. The temperature in the room rose at least 10 uncomfortable degrees while we dined there. The salvation of the meal was a crème brule and a fresh lime sorbet offered for desert.

 

No one grumbled about the dinner in the car on the way home but within a few days we began to compare notes and the truth outed itself; the Milton Inn is highly overrated and not serious about Restaurant Week. We suspected the offerings were inferior to what is regularly offered or they are magicians to pull off the prices and popularity of the place.

 

 

 

Our final choice was one that I visited during the last Carroll Restaurant week. Having reviewed the special menus offered by Carroll restaurants we felt once again that local diners are subjected to second rate fare at most Carroll restaurants and that it seems as if some restaurateurs were forced to participate in the event.

 

Leave it to Dante Liberatore to not disappoint during restaurant week. The menu choices are numerous and delicious. The calamari appetizers are almost to large and are prepared perfectly, fried or grilled.. Two of us chose the chicken parmigiana and while both were pleased with the dish they the quantity was so large that they took 1/2 their meals home. My friend and I had the Shrimp Fra Diavalo which had at least 7 huge shrimp atop the perfectly prepared linguine with a spicy red sauce. This is a house specialty and I recommend it to all. We also had a bottle of the Amarone blend red wine, whose name I have since forgotten but is buried on this blog in last years review. The desert choices are limited and most of us had the coconut cake which we all found to have ample coconut but very dry sheet cake.

 

Dante is a great host as he makes every guest feel special. We really should dine there more often throughout the year. Liberatore's $26.99 restaurant week price was the lowest of all the restaurants we visited. Surely there are some other good restaurants in Carroll County but judging by their Restaurant Week menus they aren't worth the try.

 

 

Next up: Great Sunday Breakfast at Rafael's in Westminster.