Papermoon Diner

As a childless (childish?) adult, I’ve gone to Papermoon Diner and wondered at the crazy, eclectic, chaotically awesome interior and loved it despite the less than stellar service; usually a bit slow and not overly friendly.  On the day L was supposed to have her cast removed (Broken arm on the second day of school), I decided to wow her with this place as a special treat before our appointment.

Why I thought it would be any faster than it has ever been in the past is beyond me. We had a very short window between her pick up at school and her appointment, but I figured we were going there at 11, so how bad could it be? When they only have one poor guy doing all the cooking, it could be pretty slow. Though, honestly, in the history of my visits there it was actually probably one of the faster ones but I was a little stressed about time so it seemed like it took forever! All in all it was probably a little over an hour. Still not great for a speedy lunch, but not bad. The server was fine but not jumping for joy that we were there.

Anyway, on to the rest of it. L was amazed with this place. The first thing to catch her eye was the wall of Pez dispensers at the entrance. 

PEZ!!

She had recently been introduced to Pez at a friend’s birthday party (Star Wars) and then later got herself a Hello, Kitty dispenser at one of the ticket exchanges at Ocean City. I believe that was when she and my husband managed to hit the ‘jackpot’ and get 1,000 tickets one day. Of course she couldn’t get a few really high ticket items. Instead, it was a whole mess of little things that are really just junk to get lost or for me to step on.  But I digress. When we were inside, she was wowed all over again by the kitsch all over the place. Hanging from the ceilings, lining the walls, etc. 

Seriously in awe.

The fun décor allowed us to pass the time by playing I Spy while we waited for our food.  She’s not really good at this game. She always picks the things that are like, right in front of your face, or uses descriptors such as, “It’s a blue chair hanging from the ceiling.” I mean, come on, that’s not even trying! But that is probably for me the biggest plus of the restaurant. And luckily enough, L did not feel the need to run over and touch everything, which would have probably then turned that into the thing I liked the least about the restaurant. 

Perusing the Menu

 

The food was ok. Because I was in a hurry, I just ordered from the first thing I saw on the menu, which was a cheesesteak. 

Not the greatest I’ve had, but certainly not the worst. I might try something more fun in the future, but would have it again.  The fries were nice and crisp and the sandwich wasn’t so overstuffed that I felt the same way.  Their menu is cool and has some unusual things, as well as some down home favorites. I really like the idea of their TV Dinners, which are some old classics like meatloaf. I’m not sure if they come out in a little segmented tray, but I hope they do. Things are certainly a bit pricey but I guess you’re paying extra for the experience. Something has to help cover all the trips to the thrift store!

L got the chicken tenders and fries, which was actually a bit of a surprise since she usually opts for Grilled Cheese when it’s available. They were your average chicken tenders and really just a distraction from our game for her. 

See how distracted she is in the background

As you walk in/exit you can see the display of huge cakes that beckon you. If I had the time, I would have tried a piece, but instead I just took her out for Maggie Moos after her appointment which was good enough for her. 

Look, ma, no cast!

I am excited to go back again and linger over our meal since coming up with new games could be fun and I feel like you will never actually see everything. I also didn’t get a chance to hit the bathrooms to check those out but I will next time!

Kid Friendliness :  4 (though I suppose it depends on the kid and the day. It could end up being a nightmaer)

Service : 2.5/5

Prices: 3/5

Taste: 3/5

Bang Bang Mongolian Grill

Yikes, I am really far behind on these. I’ve been sitting on the memories of two restaurants and haven’t had a chance to write the reviews! Sorry for the delay.

Let’s start with Bang Bang Mongolian Grill in Canton.  This new restaurant took half the space of the old Austin Grill in the Can Company, and I personally think is a very welcome addition. The food is completely customizable and affordable, especially when you bought the LivingSocial coupon for two bowls and two glasses of wine (or beer) for $15! We also added one bowl for the kids to share, which comes with a child sized drink, and two children’s frozen yogurts. AND kids eat free on Tuesdays, so that’s pretty awesome. Less awesome is that we weren’t there on a Tuesday.

We went with a couple friends who had the same coupon, which made it easier to navigate the line with kids. The décor is nice, clean, and casual, which is always nice to see when you're dining out with your small fries. When you enter, there are directions on how the restaurant works as you walk to the cash register. You pay for your bowl, a drink, and your dessert (if you’re so inclined) and proceed along the raw buffet line, filling your dinner bowl with whatever catches your fancy. They have an assortment of proteins like beef, chicken, shellfish, fish fish, tofu, etc. and you can choose whatever combination  you have a hankering for on that particular day. Then you come to the vegetables. They have mixed vegetables of different styles – stir fry, teriyaki, pad thai – to make it easy, or the individual vegetables for your own customization. You can also taste the different sauces before committing and you also add your own spices. After you select everything, you bring it to the grill, choose your starch (or salad for those watching carbs) and they stir fry everything right before your eyes. 

Piece of advice here – if you think filling to the top of your bowl is a good deal, think again. Once it’s cooked down, it’s less than you expect. Everyone at the table (but me) had their contents balancing precariously over the tops of their bowls before cooking and were more satisified than I was.

Mine is the bowl on the left. They gave me an extra bowl so the kids could split L's creation

A huge plus of this was letting L pick out what was going in her (and her brother’s) bowl. I found she was more adventurous with her food when she had more control. She was happy to eat pink fish without balking when it was her idea!

The yogurt bar was a definite win!! The yogurt itself was very good in the regular chocolate, vanilla, twist variety and I love adding my own toppings. Pieces of Hershey bars, mini chocolate chip cookies, Reese’s, and the rest of the standards were there and were fresh and delicious!

Overall, the food was really pretty good and reasonably priced. The added bonus of having a kid not say “Yuck, I don’t like blah blah” before it’s even at the table was worth the price of admission alone!  Even though it was self-serve, I found the employees to be very helpful even after we were seated.

The only drawback is if you’re there with two kids by yourself, it would be really quite difficult juggling them and filling your bowls. This is definitely a multiple adult venture if you have more than one child with you. It’s also easier to drink booze when there are more adults than children. Luckily this restaurant is in walking distance.

Mr. B cares nothing for chop sticks.

And for those who care and might be doing something crazy like, say, P90X* (hence the lack of reviews), it was one of the healthier options around since you have complete control over your quantities and every single thing that goes in the bowl. If I could eat there once a week, I would.

L trying out her chop sticks.

One thing I had heard, but can’t vouch for since we were there pretty early so I have no idea if this is true or not – The later you go, the spicier your food might end up because of all the different food cooked on the grill. Though they do wipe it down, so take that with a grain of salt.

And yet again I forgot to check for changing tables! They did have high chairs, though.

Kid Friendliness :  3.5/5 (only because it would be hard if you were outnumbered by kids here!)

Service : 3/5 (since it’s mostly help yourself)

Prices: 4/5

Taste: 4/5

* And Yes, I’m aware I’m not technically supposed to have things like wine or frozen yogurt with yummy toppings.

Next up: Langermanns for lunch during Restaurant Week. YUM!

George Martin's Grillfire

When I visit my mother and step father in Long Beach, NY, we often go to George Martin’s Grillfire and I have always very much enjoyed it. I actually request it when I'm visiting because they give you freshly baked hot pretzels at the beginning of the meal! When I learned that a Grillfire was opening near Arundel Mills, I of course knew I’d have to check it out (alas, I learned that there are no pretzels with dinner service here).

I meet some of my non city friends for lunch ~once a month and we decided on this venue. It’s located not far from the Arundel Mills Mall in The Hotel at Arundel Preserves. Going there I was a little annoyed because the exit was closed, but the detour was quick. However, since I started off a little irritated, I was less than forgiving when there was no parking out front! Until I realized there was a free garage connected to the hotel. My bad. So parking was great and it’s really easy to get to from the Arundel Mills exit from 295!

I had placed a reservation since it was 3 adults, 2 kids a little over one, and 2 preschoolers. Sometimes I find the restaurants I reserve through opentable.com don’t read the comments when I ask for high chairs, but this one did. We had a great table with two high chairs already set up next to each other (so Mr. B could sit next to his date, Miss A). I always love bench seats for kids because I feel they need the sprawling room, so L and her friend G got to sit next to each other on that side.They gave us some crayons for the kids, but no special activities or pictures on the kids' menu.

 Their kids menu  had the standard fare as well as things like kids’ salads and steaks listed, which I thought was nice and allowed for kids to eat like adults. The kids’ entrees were a little pricey, I thought, with the kids’ chicken tenders and fries coming in at $7, but not so egregious that I refused to pay it. The waitress was competent and pretty speedy, so we got the kids’ meals not long after we placed the order. I told L that if she split her meal with B I would get her one of the $3 kids’ desserts so that’s what we did. She opted for the aforementioned chicken tenders and I was so distracted getting them fed that I didn’t take a picture until midway through their meal! Oops. Here is what some of it looked like. 

I opted for the chopped tomato and bleu cheese salad with a bowl of the French Onion Soup and thought that was a little high but not enough to make me balk at $10. I’ve had the salad in NY and I was not disappointed with it here. Overdressed for those who don’t like a lot of dressing, but the perfect amount for a standard chopped salad I think. Very tasty and filling and I will get it again. The accompanying soup was pretty much what you’d get anywhere else. It fits the standard formula but it isn’t special. Again, half my salad was gone before I remembered the pic.

Since I promised the girl dessert, I ordered her the $3 ice cream sundae and it came topped with some fresh berries, which I very much appreciated. The adult desserts seem run around $9 (I didn’t see a menu, just asked on the price) so I passed on that. I instead ordered B a $3 brownie ala mode and split it with him. I was pretty disappointed that he wanted to eat as much of it as he did. Oh well, better for my waist line. He enjoyed it so much that he actually kept picking up his plate to lick it. They do offer a s'mores dessert over an open flame, but with the crowd I was keeping that seemed a little too dangerous. The kids’ dessert portions were nicely sized– the way they should be without being so big and delicious that you keep eating it well after you’re full and you end up sick.  

Traditionally at dinner service, the check arrives with fresh spun cotton candy. One of the servers who kept oohing and ahhing at the babies came by with a cone for each kid, which they very much enjoyed. Well, L and her friend did, the babies not so much. Be refused to try it and Miss A seemed to think it was a hairbrush and kept trying to brush her hair (and B’s) with it. Overall, sticky, but adorable! And now my kids are so very high on sugar. At least once the cotton candy came out, L chose not to finish her ice cream, so that's a small consolation. 

The bathrooms were clean and had a nice changing table. The wait staff was attentive without being overbearing. The kids were not too loud, but it wasn’t so crowded that I worried too much.  It is definitely geared more toward adults, though I would bring kids here again. However, I would like even more to go with my husband and stay in the beautiful hotel afterwards!

Kid Friendliness:  4/5

Service: 4/5

Prices: 3/5

Taste: 4/5

IKEA

I dithered a bit about blogging my lunch experience at IKEA because, well, it's just IKEA, right? Will I next blog about my lunch experience at a mall food court? Well, maybe I would, I haven't put that one to the test yet.  But here I go. To the vast majority of the population who frequent IKEA with children, what I'm about to discuss is probably old news.

Anywho. Poor Mr. B caught whatever horrible ailment struck me in the early part of this week - I mean, it was seriously so bad I had to miss a Moms' Night Out with some rocking mamas at Chazz! Ugh! - so he stayed home and slept while I picked up L from school and brought her with me to IKEA to pick up some frames and have some lunch. If you don't already know it, they offer family parking right near the entrance, which is such a welcome convenience. Even when people in big fancy Lexuses (Lexi?) and no physical impairment I could see choose to use it themselves. Jerk.
This was our first jaunt there since my girl decided to no longer be potty trained. For those in the know, this was a very sticky wicket. You see, IKEA has this fantastic too good to be true place called Smaland (sorry, I don't know how to do accents) where you can drop off your potty trained child for one hour while you shop. For free. And someone else watches them while you browse, struggle with oversized Swedish boxes, or even just sit in the cafe and enjoy a cinnamon roll. As soon as we pulled up to the store, L asked if she could go to Small World (as she calls it) and I had to explain to her, without shaming her, that the rule is that everyone has to be potty trained. She told me that she decided she was ready to wear underwear now. Nice try, kid. But as luck would have it, she accepted the explanation and we made it past the entrance of this mystical place without incident. I think it was because she was really hungry.

Up to the Cafe we go, we each pick up our own sized tray, and enter the cafeteria line to order lunch. And not only do they have a kids' sized tray, they have little rolling carts so your not fumbling your way through the tables balancing two trays, a diaper bag, and trying to keep your eye on your child. I actually was that fumbling adult today because even though I walked right past the carts, noted how awesomely convenient that feature was (in my head), and picked up our trays, I never bothered to grab one. I is smrt.

I, of course, ordered the Swedish Meatball Combo ($5.99) which comes with 15 of the aforementioned meatballs, mashed potatoes, lingonberries (yuck), and a side salad. If you don't like swedish meatballs, this is not for you. If you like high quality very expensive swedish meatballs, this is not for you. These are cheap little balls of processed goodness that really hit the spot when you're craving some comfort food. The salad was enh - you serve yourself from a salad bar full of an iceberg lettuce mix, some cucumbers, tomatoes, and croutons. It was what you'd expect, but the poppyseed dressing was actually very tasty.

L got chicken tenders, fries, and an apple juice box. She also could have chosen white milk, chocolate milk, lingonberry juice, and (I think) elderflower juice. I meant to go back up to check, but forgot.You could have also chosen a different side but I didn't think that would fly when she knew french fries were an option. She likes them so much, she even took one off of another girl's plate during this jaunt. Real nice.

 The entire dining room was a great place to take a kid to lunch. As already mentioned, they had kid sized trays, an incredibly cheap kids meal - $2.49, except on Tuesdays, when kids eat free - and, as you can see, toys for them to play with. There are also some kid sized tables set up, outdoor dining, and a bottle warming station. The bathrooms, which are located in the store, are also equipped with emergency diaper kits in case you were out.

While we finished our lunches, L chased around the little girl for awhile (seriously, other kid, if you're going to sit at the same table as my child when there is another child's table right next to it, you can't get all shy or ignore mine when she keeps asking your name. And in L's defense, this was long before she stole her french fry). Finally, we headed out and into the store itself. Another thing I love about this place is that even though we couldn't go into Smaland, they have the kids toy section set up for kids to play as well, so we spent some time there before heading downstairs to get the few things we came for and L enjoyed following the arrows around the Marketplace section.

I've got to say, I don't often take advantage of IKEA just for kicks, but I think I need to frequent it a bit more in the future. Especially when someone decides they're going to be potty trained again!

Kid Friendliness:  5/5

Service: 3/5 (self-serve and I do a decent job)

Prices: 5/5

Taste: 3/5

City Cafe

After taking our children to the BSO Tiny Tots program of Babar on Friday, we decided to head on over to City Café for lunch.  I was sans Mr. B since I didn’t think the Meyerhoff and a 15 month old would mesh, especially since it was during his nap.  

There were two options for us at the Café – the Café itself which had a coffee bar and sandwiches, or the Restaurant. We opted for the latter and headed on over to the hostess station for a kid friendly seat. They took us upstairs, which was a good call. Four 3/4 year olds and a 2 year old can cause enough of a ruckus that I would have felt uncomfortable in the main dining area. The booth we got was against one of the walls and looked perfect. What I didn’t realize until I was midway through the meal and my friend, Janelle, commented on it was that the wall was only a half wall overlooking the restaurant. To be completely honest, it would have taken quite a feat for one of the kids to fall over but as a parent I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the meal because I kept imagining one of them toppling over so was pretty white knuckled every time one of them moved around on the bench.  Which was a lot. I’m sure I’m not the only parent whose imagination is such that it always goes there, right? Right? That aside, it was really nice to have the small upstairs area to ourselves for the majority of the meal. And added bonus distraction was that one of the other walls was a railing with Plexiglas panels so the kids had a ball standing by them and looking down at the tables below.

Unfortunately this place did not have a kid menu, which always drives me crazy because I hate spending adult size money a pint sized person who will usually not eat a large meal. That alone will dock the Kid Friendliness score down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t NEED for the kids’ menu to be standard chicken nugget type fare, but I also don’t NEED my almost 4 year old child to eat an adult sized portion and don’t want to have to pay for that.

Because of her love for the grilled cheese, we opted for that. It comes with a side and a bowl of soup. L’s not a big soup fan so they did end up taking a couple dollars off the meal since I got it without.  It was a standard run of the mill grilled cheese and nice and crispy shoe string fries, that L was kind enough to share with her friends. I can’t really complain about that, since, in most cases, a grilled cheese is a grilled cheese is a grilled cheese. One day I want to try the winning place reviewed on the (cool) progeny blog by Mary Alice, but this didn’t exceed any expectations. 

I got the French Dip and sweet potato fries and they were delicious! The meat wasn’t very fatty, the caramelized onions lent a nice sweetness to balance out the melted Swiss and the jus was delish. The sweet potato fries were certainly better than the Alexia ones in my freezer (which I also like) and it was a very satisfying meal, even if I chose not to finish it all. Though I did come pretty close because it was tasty.

The report on the bathrooms is that there was no changing table and because I didn’t have Mr. B with me, I can’t report on the high chairs.

The server was very accommodating to our party and didn’t seem at all scared or annoyed. I ordered L’s sandwich long before anyone else ordered because she can either take forever to eat, not eat at all, or start eating right away and scarf everything down and I had no idea what kind of day it was. For the record, it was the last one, but as noted she was kind enough to share.

I thought the prices for an adult sandwich were average, but I thought that charging $3.50 each for a soda and for a lidded cup of diluted lemonade was kind of ridiculous. If places can serve a soda for $1.50, I don’t understand why somewhere else thinks it’s ok to charge $2 more. 

Overall, I would go there again with my husband and/or friends but I don’t think I’d hit the restaurant side again with my kids.

Kid Friendliness:  2/5

Service: 4/5

Prices: 3/5

Taste: 3/5

Reading back over this blog makes me realize that I’m actually pretty cheap. Interesting.

Quick note on my reviews

Because I have a very active preschooler and a baby who prefers to be held above all else, I tend to do my best to avoid going to the bathroom at a restaurant while dining with the kids. Someone asked me about how the bathrooms were at some of the places I visited and I realize that is a gross oversight on my reviews of kid-friendliness. I will try to rectify that in the future and at least take a glance into the bathrooms!

I was informed that Cafe Hon, at least, does NOT have a changing table in the bathroom.

Sorry!!

Sticky Rice

As noted previously, my daughter loves sushi. Today, after a playdate with her best friend Mr. President, we all headed over to Sticky Rice in Fell’s Point. Now, I happen to be a big fan of this place, even if it costs a little more than other sushi restaurants I frequent, and I know some people are over it but I'm happy to keep coming back for the time being.

Looking at the restaurant, one wouldn’t necessarily think of it as a kid friendly establishment. The main room contains a bar and today they were playing some awesome classic rock. However, there are two main draws for me here. 

One is the sweet potato tots. 

Sweet Mary, these things are delicious and I am in no way a big tater tot fan (though I did out myself as a sweet potato addict a couple posts ago). I actually make fun of my husband for his love of something called a Tater Tot Casserole. To me, tater tots were always part of the ‘bad’ lunch day at school. But these sweet potato tots have won me over and when I win the lottery, I will have a constant fresh supply in my house, delivered by little hipsters vying for my attention.  My daughter, who somehow takes after her father with his disdain for sweet potatoes, will actually eat them too, so big bonus there. I know how to keep my kids fed on healthy foods!

The other draw is what I call (and maybe other people do too?) the Jesus Room. 

It’s a tiny little alcove of a room with light up pictures of Jesus and Mary and a TV. It makes me feel less guilty when my kids are having a loud day and if I have to resort to the TV so that we can finish our dinners in peace, it’s an option. Though honestly, the art and the sushi are enough of a distraction that I haven’t had to use it yet. But believe me, an L and Mr. President day will always be an extra loud day and, even in the Jesus Room, I was getting a little nervous and tempted to ask them to turn on Sprout or Nick Jr. !

The waiter was attentive and didn’t seem annoyed by our children despite being an indie hipster type guy, so yay. Side note: I know the owner is a father himself and actually has gone out of his way in the past to accommodate families. We immediately ordered a bucket of sweet potato tots for the table and then took a minute to look over the menu.  I settled on a South Roll, which was sweet potato tempura and got L a California Roll. What I failed to realize was that I had a huge bucket of sweet potato tots in front of me and I just ordered sweet potato sushi. Oh well, I just ended up  trading a couple of my pieces for L and felt less like a glutton. Except she wouldn’t eat the South Roll and wanted more sushi, so I ended up getting a second California Roll for us to split. I actually think the California Roll might have been tastier than my sweet sweet potato, so I’m glad we got a second roll. I brought B some baby food packs and he ate some sweet potato tots and everyone was happy. Except Mr. President who wanted pizza.  Sadly, there isn’t  a kids menu per se, but they do have plenty of tasty noodle and rice dishes that I’ve had in the past that many kids would enjoy if they don’t eat sushi.  L has enjoyed a delicious soba noodle dish in the past, and she is not what I would call an adventurous eater (except for the aforementioned sushi). 

The restaurant wasn't crowded, food was fantastic, service was fast, the kids enjoyed playing with the beaded curtain and getting to roam around the little alcove, the babies didn’t throw all their food on the ground, and it was a pretty swell time all around. Mr. President’s mom and I even got to have some adult conversation so I consider that fact alone to be the sign of a great lunch! My advice is go early in the day and not when it’s a crowded bar scene and try to get the Jesus Room. 

Kid Friendliness: 3.5/5 (because it's really best to only bring kids during certain times)

Service: 4/5

Prices: 3/5

Taste: 4/5