Innovative American Cuisine is their tagline. While crab may be the famous specialty in Baltimore, MD, this little restaurant by the bay is one of the main reasons I would go back to Baltimore with their very interesting and very delicious foods you will more than likely not find anywhere else.
Jack’s Bistro seems like one of those places that most people know about because someone else they knew had went there and recommended it to them. Well, that’s how I found out about this small restaurant as my friends invited me here for dinner after the last day of Otakon.
There’s no parking lots, large signs, it’s not even really in a commercial area. The restaurant is small, the service friendly, and the menu’s descriptions will have you wanting to try everything. Unfortunately, my stomach (and more importantly, my wallet) has a limit, so I’ll take you through my mouthwatering personal experience.
For my drink, I asked the waitress for any beer suggestions, and she suggested Aventinus. Aventinus is a dark doppelbock beer from Germany with undertones of banana and chocolate. It tasted great, but in case you’re looking for something else, their beer list is vast and you could spend tens of visits just trying them all out.
For our appetizers, we decided to get two interesting items. The first was macaroni and cheese and chocolate. They used a shell pasta, with a smoked cheese sauce and drizzled dark chocolate on top. It’s taste was as you can imagine, like mac & cheese with chocolate flavor, which actually tasted pretty good. The second item one of my friends wanted was bone marrow with pita bread. While I didn’t taste the bone marrow, the pita bread was delicious!
For the main course, I chose to order one of their Sunday specials, which was a meatloaf made with a combination of meat from New York Strip Steak and Filet Mignon. While that may sound expensive, it was pretty cheap at a price of $15.00. The taste is kind of like a very juicy meatloaf. Usually I don’t like meatloaf too much, but this one was pretty good, probably because of the steak taste. However, the highlight of this dish for me were the vegetables. They were beautifully cooked, and probably the best tasting vegetables I’ve ever had. They were crisp and light, but had a great flavor. I don’t know how they did it, but I wish I could cook my vegetables like that every time.
The dish my friend actually brought me here to try, although I didn’t, was their special take on a burger. I thought I’d like to talk about this a little bit because if you are in the area, this may be the item that seals the deal. This burger has no beef, and instead uses 100% ground bacon. Yes, you read that right, BACON! If you love you bacon, you really can’t pass up this burger. They call it a BLT burger, which makes sense since it uses the ground bacon patty, argula lettuce, and tomatoes topped with a ranch dressing and ketchup. It is normally sided with seasoned fries, although you can substitute for an additional price as my friend did in the picture above.
For our desserts, we ordered a strawberry rum cake (which I didn’t try) and a durian crème brûlée. The durian crème brûlée was chosen because we had a JPHiP.com eating challenge earlier in the year to try durian paste. Durian is considered in Southeast Asia as the “king of fruits” and is widely known for it’s very strong odor. The durian crème brûlée however has none of that odor, but all of the durian taste. Combined with the burned sugar, the crème brûlée had it’s traditional texture, but pumped with the flavorful taste of durian fruit. As a person who thinks durian tastes pretty good, I enjoyed the dessert, although I know some of my friends did not.
Jack’s Bistro is one of those spots food lovers such as myself cannot afford to pass up when in the area. With their vast selection of wine and beer, innovative takes on American cuisine, and most importantly, their friendly service, this is one restaurant that is a must for tourist and resident alike in Baltimore.
Jack’s Bistro
3123 Elliott Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 878-6542
