Clementine
I know that my last post was a restaurant review. I also know that I am not a professional food critic, so don’t worry, this is not turning into a restaurant-review blog. However, after eating at Clemetine, the new restaurant in Hamilton last Friday, I really wanted to get the word out about this great spot and encourage all of you to check it out.
Contrary to a certain review in the Baltimore Sun, Clementine, which is located in the 5400 block of Harford Road, is in downtown Hamilton and not Lauraville. The restaurant is housed in an unassuming storefront in the vicinity of a Blockbuster, a pawn shop, and a Dunkin Donuts. But please do not allow this to lower your expectations of Clementine.
Clementine is the epitome of a great neighborhood restaurant. As soon as we walked in the door my family was greeted by a cheerful, if extremely busy, woman who offered us a seat on one of their couches. Luckily we had a reservation, so we only waited a few minutes; just long enough for my father and I to walk down the street and pick up a six-pack of Blue Moon to accompany our dinner. That’s because, for the time being at least, Clementine is BYOB.
Upon being seated, you realize that Clementine is not a place where you should expect much privacy or a quiet conversation. The dining room holds 20-30 tables in a large open room. The table next to you is no more than 5 feet away. What it lacks in privacy, though, Clementine’s dining room more than makes up for with energy and life.
For my appetizer, I had a hearty bowl of Maryland Crab Soup. While the soup was very tasty, my only real complaint was that it came out less than 5 minutes before my entree. This forced me to make the tough decision as to which dish I would let get cold. Sorry Maryland Crab Soup, you lost this battle to a strip steak served with Gouda mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables.
My entire family, most of who are not extremely adventurous eaters, really enjoyed their meals. My sister and father also got the strip steak, while my mother got 2 stuffed peppers that looked and tasted fantastic. We passed on dessert, but everything that I saw being served looked really good.
I received a request that for future restaurant reviews I also discuss the restaurant’s “normal food” like chicken fingers or grilled cheese sandwiches. So, for all you Super-Buds out there, Clemetine does feature Mac and Cheese as one of their appetizers. I did not get a chance to try it, but it is one of their specialties and supposed to be really good.
Special thanks to my long-time friend Mike McNeive for suggesting Clementine. Mike is always hip to what is happening in Baltimore and the things that are worth checking out.
It’s hard to say exactly what it is about Clementine that I liked so much. Hopefully it’s not too cliched to say that Clementine just has a great vibe. There’s something about the atmosphere and the food that makes you want to relax and have a great time. It also is much less pretentious and more inclusive than so many other restaurants. The crowd spanned from families with young kids, to young adults, to older couples enjoying an evening out.
For those of us who grew up or live along the Harford Road corridor, it’s great to see new shops and restaurants coming to Hamilton. There’s also talk that one of the owners of Brewer’s Art is opening the Hamilton Tavern in the coming months. There’s no reason that within a few years this section of Harford Road should be any less popular than The Avenue in Hampden.