Baltimore - 7/6/2009

I had earlier discovered Max's Taproom purely by accident and needed to eat prior to sampling one or more of their 80 Taps. Miss Irene's patio was jammin (good sign) but the interior bar space was empty. Cool! I want in and against my better judgement went with the seafood risotto (after vowing the previous week never to order seafood outside the northeast after a fish tacos incident in NJ).

Miss Irenes
http://www.missirenes.com/
1738 Thames St
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 558-0033

The risotto was not that great. Picture a bowl of yellow goya rice LOADED with flavorless cheese accompanied by four nigiri sushi sized pieces of flavorless atlantic salmon, four mussels, and four cocktail sized shrimp. I expected more for $24 bowl of rice. I ate all the meat like my mom taught me, but that was the extent of my enjoyment of the meal.

Not a total loss however as I was introduced to Clipper City Brewing's Loose Cannon Hop Cubed Ale, part of their Heavy Seas Line. It was a big IPA, particularly by East Coast standards with the heavy body and mouth feel of its bigger West Coast counterparts but with a nice citrusy hop character that wasn't too singular.

I headed over to the Cat's Eye Pub, a few doors down.

Cat's Eye Pub
1730 Thames Street Fells Point/Baltimore, MD 21231 Phone: (410) 276-9085

They had some live blues going on which was great. It was a well established place (I think the bartender said to someone else it had been there for 35 years).

Had a quick pint of Dogfish 60 Minute ($6!) and headed to Max's.


Max's on Broadway
737 South Broadway Fells Point/Baltimore, MD 21231 Phone: (410) 675-6297

I was bordeline overwhelmed by the tap list which included numerous European lines I'd never heard of (with 3+ beers from each in some cases) along with more esoteric brews from houses I was familiar with such as De Ranke. American beers were also well represented; They had 5 different Dogfish on tap!

I had a Rogue XS ($4 for a pint - that're more like it!) Which was served quickly by a friendly bar tender.

That was the end of that night in Baltimore, but I had Max's in my sights for later that week for sure.