By I’m hard-headed. I’m sure you’ve heard that expression. If you haven’t, either your grandma didn’t help raise you, or you’re a goodie two-shoe. Let’s hope you’re not the latter. So many people have been telling me that Baltimore is an up and coming area that has great food that I need to try. Well, that’s where the hard-headed part comes in at, because as much as they say I need to try Baltimore restaurants, the more I ignore. I thought the only good thing that came out of Baltimore was The Wire. (“Where the f*** is Wallace at?!”) Apparently, I was wrong.
Fork & Wrench is located off of Boston, St in Baltimore, MD and features American food with unique cocktails. During my visit I was able to order four dishes. The interior of this restaurant gave me a rustic feel with it’s open display setting. The four dishes that were ordered consisted of Mussels, Beef Tar-Tar, Shrimp and Grits, and Scallops.
The first dish that I ordered were the Mussels. It consisted of a saffron beer broth, leeks, house chorizo, and criostini. The broth was great, but nothing too spectacular. What stood out on this dish was the house chorizo. It was salty but not over-powering. It was my first time having beer broth with mussels, but it wasn’t anything that I could particularly taste. I didn’t taste beer, more of like a regular salted broth. The mussels were meaty and sweet, but the overall dish was just okay.
The second dish that was ordered was the Beef Tar-Tar. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. It consisted of horseradish creme, pickled shallot, quail yolk, and fried capers. The beef was fresh and the horseradish creme added the perfect flavors to go with the pickled shallots. I wish the quail yolk was a little bigger, but then I had to remind myself what an actual quail egg looks like. The horseradish creme was a perfect blend of spicy and peppery, and the fried capers were salty enough to go well with the consistency of the rawness of the beef.
The third dish that was ordered was the Shrimp and Grits. It consisted of truffle grits, prosciutto, worcestershire, and lemon . The grits were not the best I’ve had and the flavor was a bit off. I don’t think worcestshire sauce goes well with truffle. The truffle over-powered this dish and the grits were too thick. The shrimp was cooked well where it wasn’t too rubbery, but the grits were disappointing.
The last dish that was ordered were the Seared Scallops. It consisted of bacon braised black eyed peas, cauliflower puree, and crispy sage. The best part about this dish were the cauliflower puree and the seared scallops. Both tasted amazing! The black eyed peas were a little too firm for me and too salty. They weren’t my favorite, and I thought I would be in for a surprise with a dish that consisted of Black-Eyed Peas and Scallops. To my surprise, it was the wrong side of the better side of being surprised.
Overall, this restaurant is a pass. There are interesting concepts and menu items, but nothing about this place stood out to me. I will try other restaurants in Baltimore, but the food at this place was too salty. The flavors didn’t go well, and other flavors over-powered the full dish. Maybe being hard-headed isn’t so bad?
SavoryTravels 