Kitchen Nightmares Special: Cafe Hon - Hampden, Baltimore 21211

I hadn't visited this restaurant for a couple of reasons, it looked tacky and I had not heard anything nice about the owner. The food was supposed to be ok, but I could not get passed the door.

I heard that Gordon Ramsey was going to film a Kitchen Nightmare at Cafe Hon and I could not resist getting a reservation. I really like Ramsey's shows, and I was excited to get a glimpse of the famous chef and try out some of his recipes.

I went with a good buddy of mine, and left the wife with the little one (the main reason I've not been blogging much recently!). We had to wait outside for a while, but were treated to close ups with Chef Ramsey and Terrell Suggs, a Baltimore Ravens American football player. Ramsey said hello to everyone as he was rushed back and forth by the production crew. You could sense everyone's excitment at seeing the Kitchen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen and Mater Chef star.

Roy’s - 720 B Aliceanna Street, Baltimore, MD 21202

Sometimes things line up just right. We’d been waiting for ages to sort out a dog with a shelter. One placement agency wanted $350 for a puppy we had seen online. We saw the same puppy for $175 on another placement agency. Ridiculous, but eventually the little mutt was ours. The same day, we decided we would go to Roy’s, on arriving home we found a nice surprise in our mailbox. It was a Roy’s gift card for $20. Honestly, we had just made the booking that day, so there was no way they had the opportunity to send the card after we made the reservation. The stars were just in alignment!

We’ve been to Roy’s a couple of times before, mostly for the Chocolate Soufflé. This time I went with the fixed price menu. You can’t argue with such a bargain, especially with $20 off! I had Satay Sirloin for the starter, Pork Pot Roast for main, and of course the Chocolate Soufflé for dessert. The wife had the short ribs. We shared the soufflé.

I definitely enjoyed the set menu, it was a lot of food. I dont think the wife would have managed it all, so just main dish was just right for her.

I like to think of myself as a man’s man. I usually choose a pint of beer over a glass of wine. But at Roy’s the cocktails are pretty impressive, so I plumped for one. Of course, I can’t tell you what it was called, I have know idea about cocktails, honest! It had the desired effect though, it seemed strong and was quite tasty. The wife had a glass of the house wine. She enjoyed it.

The clientele is like some of the other restaurants we’ve been to recently, quite a few J Crew wearing Ralph Lauren wannabes. It doesn’t get the trendy’s like some other places. But, the atmosphere wasn’t as stuff as with some of the other recent reviews.

We will definitely be back, even without a Everything was cooked to perfection. The service was excellent, and we hope we’ll get another gift card soon.

Miss Shirley’s - 513 West Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21210

I am not one for sending cards. My family hate it. They all send me wonderful Christmas and Birthday cards, but for me I don’t see the point. They get put on display for a few days, start to gather dust and you take them down. Then what? Do you recycle them or do you keep them? Imagine the massive pile of cards some people must have stored up. Will they ever read them all? My guess is no. People who display them for just a few days and then recycle them don’t look at them again either. So, what is the point?

Valentine’s Day is one of those days when we all feel obliged to give cards. They say this is to show love for one another. The cards don’t show that. They say, “I am unoriginal and feel the pressure of the media to give you this card”. It will get read once and then put in the trash.

Having said that, the wife loves receiving cards, so I HAD to get her one. The card itself meant nothing, but the what I had written inside was pure poetry! I can be smooth when called in to action.

Besides from the cheesy cards, Valentine’s Day is a great day. The day should be about focusing on your partner, letting them know you prefer them over yourself. That is a weird concept in this day and age, but something that people need to hear. My needs, feelings and emotions matter, but if anything I am doing hurts my partner, then I must prefer their feelings over mine.

And so on Valentine’s Day we went to Miss Shirley’s and I did something that I abhor. I shared my brunch with the Wife.

Usually, I tell her that if I wanted to eat what she was eating, I would have ordered it. But on this special day, I decided to prefer my wife over myself.

After reviewing the menu, I decided I wanted the Chicken and Waffles. But then because I was sharing I settled for the Bayou Omelet. The Wife picked a short stack of Banana Pancakes.As would be expected from Miss Shirley’s, the food was excellent and in big portions.

The mixture of Young, Old and Family diners is something that only Miss Shirley’s can pull off. The place feels trendy and homely at the same time.

Some of the Wife’s friends have one or two issues with one of the Waiters, but on this occasion the service was excellent. I don’t recall ever having an issue with service any time I have been there.

We really enjoyed our Valentine’s Day brunch at Miss Shirley’s. Sharing the meal showed my Wife I prefer her over myself. And fortunately for me, the portions are big enough for me to have a regular full sized portion of what I want, and to share the rest!

Our Rating (out of 5*s)

**** Very good, but portion size and calorie content stop us from eating here too regularly!