Wednesday, September 28, 2016

#17 Thames Street Oyster House

Our September Restaurant was #17 Thames Street Oyster House, located in Fells Point.  Sun Magazine claims that "Before Thames Street Oyster House came along in 2011, there was no place to send someone for decent seafood and a reliable raw bar near the waterfront in Fells Point.  Thames Street filled that niche, and went further by not pandering to notions of what a Baltimore seafood restaurant should be."

Our group agreed that the dishes were unique.  For the most part, what we ordered was delicious, but a couple of the dishes, while good, were not overly impressive.  Here's what we got:









While I would definitely go back for the food, and for the atmosphere, a few notes about reservations and service ...

This was the second or third time that I have tried to make reservations, and was again, unsuccessful.  The restaurant is on the smaller side, and they seem to book up well in advance.  The host I spoke to on the phone suggested we come anyway, and try out luck getting spots at the bar, or separating at two of their tables they don't reserve, so that's what we did.  Upon arrival, the hostesses were not very willing to work with us.  In the end we ended up splitting the group, three of us sitting at a table, and two of us sitting at the bar, which was not ideal, and while I understand every request cannot be catered to, pulling an extra chair up to a four person table seemed like an easy enough solution, but we were refused.  The bartenders and our waitress seemed more than willing to help, but were also held back by the hostesses.  Anyway, not the best impression, but to be fair, no accomodations were promised.

Next on our list is #16 Fleet Street Kitchen, stay tuned!