I love Baltimore Restaurant Week because it promotes the city’s dining scene while encouraging people to try new places. I think that Baltimore offers an impressive array of restaurants, especially in the ethnic area. I can think of at least one restaurant in every sort of category – for example, before I moved to Baltimore, I’d never tried Afghan cuisine. When I first discovered The Helmand in Mount Vernon, I was blown away.
Restaurant Week is an excellent way to try something different, whether exotic or traditional. And for me, that was prime rib at none other than The Prime Rib. It seems shocking that I’d never have tried this type of meat, being the foodie I am! When my boyfriend Paul suggested we go to a steakhouse, I thought this was a brilliant plan. I chose The Prime Rib, with locations in D.C. and Philadelphia, because it is more local than Ruth’s Chris or Sullivan’s.
Regularly, the prime rib is priced at $47.99, or $33.95 for an “off the bone” cut. But with the Restaurant Week deal, not only do you get the prime rib (the less expensive one), you also get a soup or salad and a dessert for $35. This is the kind of the place I’d recommend going for Restaurant Week – a place where you can really save a few dollars (about $15 a person in this situation).
The Restaurant Week menu at The Prime Rib offers a choice of a soup or salad, followed by a choice of prime rib, filet mignon, salmon or crab, and finally a few dessert options. I could not pass up the prime rib.
I made the correct choice. Served with creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and a topping of freshly grated horseradish root, this prime rib did not disappoint. It was a beautiful medium rare, red all the way through, juicy and more tender than I expected. The buttery, rich flavor of the meat combined well with the pungent, slightly spicy taste of horseradish. I’d never seen grated horseradish with steak before, either.
The mashed potatoes and creamed spinach were the perfect savory sides. I loved mixing the juice from the meat with the creamy potatoes.
The only downside of the meal was the special house salad I ordered as my appetizer. Drenched in dressing, smothered with hard-boiled eggs and topped with some sort of yellow pepper, the presentation was a bit sloppy.
But nonetheless, my experience was memorable. The atmosphere inside the restaurant has a 1940s ambiance, with low-lights, white tablecloths and leather-padded chairs. And best of all, on Sundays, The Prime Rib offers a half-priced wine list. I selected a French wine from Saint Emilion, a vineyard in the Bordeaux region that I visited when I was abroad last year.
Having tried my first prime rib, and having sipped French wine, I was indeed satisfied. Not to mention, we both felt sophisticated – college students dining at a classy steakhouse. Not bad, right?
I love their grated horseradish! I don’t think I’ve ever seen it elsewhere either. At first I thought it was a cole slaw and ate it straight.