08/29/09

always great

by rydaddy69

I can't tell enough people about how good the food is at The Old Canteen...I have never had a bad experience. It's a simple process...walk in ask for a bottle of La Crema (pinot nior) get the calamari as an app., then anything off the menu will do. They are fast, courteous, and very helpful. Honestly if you need help with the wine...go to the bar, or read a book...or better yet pay $80+ a plate and see the sommelier...Sal and his group are a wonderful experience.

• Pros: incredible calamari
• Cons: can't find one problem

12/15/08

A Federal Hill Treasure

by cbrhank

Our first time here and we are impressed to the extreme. An excellent-valued lunch of real home-style Italian fare. I had a wonderful haddock cooked Sicilian style (done that way especially for me) and my wife ordered her standard comparison dish of chicken cacciatore. Both are in a class by themselves regarding flavor and freshness. What differentiates this restaurant's dishes from the Vinny Ts and similar popular places is that here you taste all the natural ingredients -- the chicken, fish, and vegetables without them being overwhelmed with heavy garlic and oil coverups. This is the way my mother cooked and what I now seek out.

Their superb, endless bread basket starts the meal. True Italian bread with crispy crust and meaty center that is quite hard to find. Then came a homemade-style treat...their soups. We both chose the excellent broccoli rabe with bean offering - a large portion, seemingly freshly-made as the beans retain a nice firm texture while the rabe are cooked to tender, but not mushy. And then, along with the entrees mentioned, we could choose from several vegetable 'sides' or pasta. Again, we both took the same, penne as recommended by our waitress. Their gravy (if it comes out of a jar, it's sauce; if you make it yourself, it's gravy) is like everything else...first rate. Not salty, not burnt, not overly-seasoned like most other places. Our wine accompaniment was the house chianti, fine tasting to us but then we're not wine snobs, so maybe it was lousy. haha

We finished off with coffee, served in small pots so you had a couple of cups each without having to ask and wait, along with vanilla ice cream. All this, except for the wine, is included in the entree price in the $12 range. Several choices are less. For what more can you ask?

Last but not least our waitress, Angela, did all she could to enhance our dining experience.

08/17/08

Never go there!

by Aviator7878

The Old Canteen, has a great atmosphere, but horrible food and service. My wife and her family went there this past Saturday and had a terrible time. First the salads were extremely small, they give you more salad at the Olive Garden. Not judging quickly we pushed the salads a side and waited for the main course. I order a rare prime rib. I thought it would be a nice rare large piece of meat. Once I got it, it was about 10 oz and cooked well done!! I mean how hard is it to make a rare steak. The Outback can make a better piece of meat! My wife had the veal rollatini, thinking it would be stuffed with ricotta cheese and bread crumbs, they brought out a veal roll stuffed with ham and a little bit of cheese. Everyone makes it different which is not the problem, just they should have put the ingredients on the menu. She made a small complaint and the manager came over to make sure everything was ok and she said that she thought it was made with ricotta cheese and the owner said customers can make mistakes! Wow what a thing to say, especially to customers!! And that wasn't the end, we ordered tiramisu thinking how could anyone mess that up. Well it came out in a cake cut form and it tasted like death! Seriously how can anyone mess up dessert. Overall it was a horrible experience and the Old Canteen will never have my service again.

• Pros: Old Italian atmosphere.
• Cons: Everything but the atmosphere.