Thursday, November 16, 2006
DING HOW
“Do you feel like Chinese?”
“Ding How!”
It’s not a great joke, but it amuses us every time my wife and I walk by the place in Fells Point. We had originally planned on eating at the Chinatown Café on President Street, but there were no signs of life when we passed it. Maybe it isn’t open on Tuesdays, or maybe they don’t open until 8:00 p.m. or something. We hope it isn’t closed for good. It was one of the few places you could find dim sum around Baltimore.
Frustrated, but determined to stick with an Oriental theme, we decided to finally try Ding How. I think the best way to describe the interior is “comfortable”. The main door leads straight into the large and well-stocked central bar (that can’t be good feng shui, but I’m pretty sure that’s Japanese anyway.) Tables are arranged throughout the large room on either side. We had the place to ourselves, but maybe because it was just early on a weeknight. There is a dearth of decoration throughout, leading me to speculate that they make most of their business through takeout, with the restaurant just being a side business.
The food itself is definitely worth it. While my sister-in-law’s fried Lemon Chicken I found to be rather bland and uninspired, the lemon sauce itself was delicious. My wife really enjoyed her fried eggplant dish (“Like candy,” she said.) The seafood medley on my fried noodles was cooked exactly right and had me surprised at how much I enjoyed it. They may not have put lots of thought into the atmosphere, but food is where every restaurant makes its reputation and its living, and they know what they’re doing when it comes to that.
“Ding How!”
It’s not a great joke, but it amuses us every time my wife and I walk by the place in Fells Point. We had originally planned on eating at the Chinatown Café on President Street, but there were no signs of life when we passed it. Maybe it isn’t open on Tuesdays, or maybe they don’t open until 8:00 p.m. or something. We hope it isn’t closed for good. It was one of the few places you could find dim sum around Baltimore.
Frustrated, but determined to stick with an Oriental theme, we decided to finally try Ding How. I think the best way to describe the interior is “comfortable”. The main door leads straight into the large and well-stocked central bar (that can’t be good feng shui, but I’m pretty sure that’s Japanese anyway.) Tables are arranged throughout the large room on either side. We had the place to ourselves, but maybe because it was just early on a weeknight. There is a dearth of decoration throughout, leading me to speculate that they make most of their business through takeout, with the restaurant just being a side business.
The food itself is definitely worth it. While my sister-in-law’s fried Lemon Chicken I found to be rather bland and uninspired, the lemon sauce itself was delicious. My wife really enjoyed her fried eggplant dish (“Like candy,” she said.) The seafood medley on my fried noodles was cooked exactly right and had me surprised at how much I enjoyed it. They may not have put lots of thought into the atmosphere, but food is where every restaurant makes its reputation and its living, and they know what they’re doing when it comes to that.
# posted by Renfield @ 11:40 AM 
