Fellow Food Fiends

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Michael's Cafe - Raw Bar & Grill

Michael's Cafe - Raw Bar & Grill   -   Timonium    Ghost Rating 69/100

Michael's Cafe is in Timonium, right between York Road and the year 1989. This establishment is always busy and has been a favorite amongst many aging baby boomers for years. This place is last call for the single folk in their 60's & 70's and they pack 'em in for happy hour. The Atmosphere is classic old school Baltimore, the walls are completely covered in old Orioles & Ravens Memorabilia, very cool! All in all it's a pretty nice joint on the surface, the menu seems to be full of the ocean's bounty and the price point is approachable. The Raw Bar is always on point, but the menu has its issues....

I have been to Michael's for Bloody Marys and Oysters with much success. However, when I venture from the raw bar to the other menus, strange things happen. We sat in the bar the other day to watch the Orioles play on TV and have some seafood during happy hour. Three of us shared some appetizers and ordered our own entrees. The server had no clue what was going on, took forever and apologized frequently. We started with a dozen Oysters on the Half Shell that were stellar as usual, super fresh, clean and shucked perfectly. We moved on to the Crab & Shrimp Dip with Garlic Bread, this monstrosity is a complete train wreck of a hot mess, the crab meat is back fin at best, and the shrimp was pureed and gritty. The Consistency was runny and the seasoning was off. The garlic bread wasn't bad but the dip was brutal. The Crab Cake at Michael's was very good, not much filler at all, fat jumbo lumps, classic. I ordered it broiled and it wasn't all that hot, good flavor but served warm at best.

The server had come to see what entrees we had decided on and I had a question about the tuna entree special. I asked the server what kind of tuna they were serving and she replied with "regular tuna". I laughed and decided to order the Seared Tuna anyway because she promised it was fresh and I assumed it would be at a raw bar. I ordered it Rare and it came out Medium. I rarely send back food so I scarfed it down anyway and proceeded to feel taken advantage of. It was a piece of tuna that had sinew running through it and wasn't very fresh to begin with, overcooked as %^% with some sauteed veggies and steamed rice. Kinda Gnarly especially for the price tag. My friend ordered the Tuna as well, ordering it Medium Well and receiving it Medium Rare. They recooked it for her getting it nowhere near medium well the second time either, she ate some and poked at the rest. Meh. My girlfriend ordered the Fried Soft Shell Crab Caesar which sounded awesome. The Caesar was actually good but the soft shell crab was horrific. It was burnt on one side and underdone on the flip side. The Crab itself was not tender and smelled of ammonia....really bad. Avoid. Quick recap: Michael's blew it. I have been here before and it was decent, however, the other day was a $200 nightmare for 3.

Food  -  53   /   Service  -  70  /   Atmosphere  -  87   /   Value  - 68
Overall Ghost Rating  -  69/100

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