July 24, 1997|By Kathryn Higham | Kathryn Higham,SPECIAL TO THE SUN
We went expecting mushrooms, but at Port O Bella's, the emphasis is definitely on the port -- the port of Baltimore. This newest offering from Jennifer Moeller Price, executive chef and co-owner of the Wild Mushroom and the Wild Mushroom Merchant, is a casual open-air bar and cafe, set smack on the water in Canton.
Oh, there are mushrooms, to be sure -- grilled on skewers and roasted on hoagies. A saucer-size portobello served as a plate for hot crab dip that was spiked with cheese but skimpy on crab.
If you're looking for an inexpensive place on the water to grab some appetizers and drinks or a light meal, this is it. Just go on a nice night. There is no indoor dining room. A blue plastic awning is all that shields you overhead. Also know that there's a major construction project going on next to the Baltimore Marine Center, where the restaurant leases space. The parking lot was a little rough.
Once we were settled at a table, though, our evening proceeded smoothly. It's hard to imagine a better deal than the mussels with spicy garlic butter and white wine at $5, or the small spinach salad at $3.50. Both were served in enormous plastic bowls and easily fed our party of four as appetizers. The mussels were mostly grit-free, in a flavorful light sauce with lots of cracked red pepper. The spinach salad was awash in colors, the greens set off by tangerine pieces, radicchio and shavings of Asiago cheese. The combination worked. Too bad the radicchio was browning on the edges.
There's a whole section of "pinchos," which the menu describes as "stuff on skewers." The idea must be to order several of them, because the skewer we tried held three grilled marinated shrimp and looked a little skimpy on a large plate. Squid, chicken and crimini mushrooms are the other choices. Red-skinned potato salad came with our skewer, but went uneaten. Either someone made a mistake or the chef likes the overpowering taste of chopped fresh rosemary.
Besides three versions of Caesar salad, main dishes fall into the sandwich category or the category of "things served on bread." What a bread it was. The oversized rolls were delicious, like a soft herb focaccia. They didn't overwhelm the taste of a well-seasoned crab cake, with nice lumps of sweet crab, or a soft-shell crab, all hot and juicy inside a crisp coating.
Surprisingly, only a grilled tuna steak was lost inside the big bun. It was a generous piece of fish, layered with thick bacon and topped with red pepper remoulade. The tuna needed either a better marinade or a more assertive sauce.
Our favorite sandwich was the thick ostrich burger, which we ordered with Cheddar cheese melted on top. Never having tried ostrich, we first had to purge visions of big fuzzy birds dancing in our heads. But we were amazed by the flavor. Remarkably lean, the meat tasted like the finest beef, only better.
For dessert, stick to the creamy New York-style cheesecake. The Key lime pie had a gritty sugar taste, and sorbet, frozen inside either a whole orange or lemon shell, was bitter and icy.
Dessert hardly mattered, though. Our waterside meal was inexpensive and pleasant.
Port O Bella
2701 Boston St.
410-522-2522
Hours: Open daily for lunch and dinner, brunch on Sundays
Credit cards: All major credit cards
Prices: Appetizers, $3-$7; entrees, $4.95-$7
Pub Date: 7/24/97
