Brio tuscan grille - Baltimore

Brio written on their plates. Very cool!

Located near Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Brio tuscan grille is an Italian restaurant that has great water views. I first stumbled upon this restaurant when I spent a weekend at the Johns Hopkins Model United Nations Conference in Baltimore. With approximately 1,600 students from around the world attending the conference, we ate at various places in the downtown area.


Upon first glance, the restaurant seemed somewhat upscale but it still maintained a cozy feeling with its wooden tables, oversize booths, a high ceiling, and well lit rooms.

The first food that came to our table was complimentary bread  - a basket of average Italian bread and a tray of seasoned flat bread. The flat bread was tasty enough by itself but was even more sublime when I stroked it with butter.





Next, our main entrees arrived. I ordered the crab and shrimp cakes lunch with 2 cakes.  You can order a third cake but it costs more.  I usually only order crab cakes, so the shrimp and crab combo was an interesting twist - moderately moist and well seasoned with herbs and spices.






The dish was paired with side of roasted vegetables and crispy potatoes. The medley consisted of roasted broccoli, carrots, red bell peppers and squash.  The only downside about this dish is its relatively small portion, so if your starving, I wouldn't recommend eating this dish.


My lunch was $16 which is more than I normally spend for lunch. However, all of the restaurants around the Inner Harbor are more pricey that a neighborhood joint.

My Model UN friends ordered dishes like the chipotle chicken and bacon panini with tuscan fries and the ravioli di bello. My friend who ordered the panini said his dish was "huge and I don't think I can finish it."

I would definitely eat at Brio again but would try a different meal - most likely a panini.


-Thomas

Toyko Seafood Buffet - Hibachi Grill & Sushi Windsor Mill, Maryland

Toyoko Seafood Buffet 

Located in a building attached to Security Mall, Tokyo Seafood Buffet was recommended to our family by a friend in our neighborhood. It is unreal how much food they offer: over 250 items served in  multiple hot and cold buffets, salad bar, plus sushi, hibachi (make-your own) and dessert stations. We call it "Buffet Heaven"...and get this...... it's all-you-can eat for $8.99 during lunch.

True to its name, they offer LOTS of seafood - cooked or raw served a ton of different ways like crayfish (left) and ...












......crabs, shrimp, scallops, fish, calms and even whole lobsters (but the lobsters are extra).

We saw many people eating crabs.  Here's Thomas eating one.

Chinese items included traditional foods such as 4 varities of steamed dumplings (above), fried 

rice, lo mein, sweet & sour pork, spicy shrimp, teriyaki chicken, spring rolls, sauteed greeen beans, BBQ pork ribs and General Tso's chicken.  And not so traditional chinese items like frog legs below.  For the record, we didn't try the frog legs...and not so sure we will on a return visit. 

The buffet had an assortment of American food - fried chicken, mac & cheese, corn bread, spare ribs, french fries, wings, mashed potatoes, crab imperial,  and a variety of soups.

There was also Korean foods like BBQ pork,  Japanese sushi and Italian pastas.







For dessert, there were many choices - cut fruit, cakes, pies, puddings and cookies.

Our favorite dessert was the chocolate fountain where we dipped all kinds of fruit.  

Even after eating all the food and all the dessert we learned they offered  ice creams cups. So we ate that too!

















This new restaurant - opened only a few months ago - is on our "MUST GO" list.  This would be great for a family meal because it has soooo many choices to pick from.  We really liked the opportunity to get our own food from the buffets....and go as many times as we liked. It gave us a chance to try new a couple of dishes that we wouldn't have ordered off a menu.