Ethel and Ramone’s
1615 Sulgrave Avenue
Baltimore (Mount Washington), MD
410-664-2971
Even with the oppressive hot weather we’ve had in Maryland recently, it hadn’t quenched my recent desire for some authentic Cajun food. Although there may be some jambalayas available in Carroll County, the place in the Baltimore region for the best in Louisiana’s spice fare is Ethel and Ramone’s in nearby Mount Washington.
It takes almost ½ an hour to reach Taneytown from our home in Finksburg so the mid-day ½ hour drive in the opposite direction for a specialty lunch seemed fair enough. Had I know how good our lunch would be I would have driven twice the distance and will certainly be returning one evening for dinner there.
I thought for sure we were off to a bad start when General manager Jeff Berkow suggested we dine on the porch overlooking shady Sulgrave Avenue because the dining room was actually warmer. Fortunately, this afternoon was much less warm than those preceding it and it was very comfortable sitting in the shade on a day when the owners could be excused for a broken air conditioning unit. The HVAC repairman was actually sizing up situation while we were there and explaining that he would have been there sooner were it not for the toll that several consecutive 100 degree days had taken on Baltimore’s AC and food refrigeration units.
Enough said about a minor faux pas. Jeff also quickly changed the music in the restaurant from the chef’s preferred acid rock to much more agreeable piano jazz (Ray Brown Trio I believe) for customers now arriving for lunch. There’s a nice selection of wines available by the bottle or glass but I stuck to my rule about afternoon imbibing and opted for some freshly made lemonade instead. The menu’s here are on plain paper and while I could have selected any one of several entrees, I spied the mention of a roux which was simmered for days before it was ready for use in the gumbo. Forgedabout everything else, it was a matter of just choosing from the “plain” Andouille sausage, chicken, crab, seafood or shrimp gumbos at that point. My wife decided to have the chicken version of their Po’ Boy sandwich. I am quite glad I settled on the shrimp gumbo because it was full of extremely large cooked shrimp with Andouille in a beautiful, thick, dark brown sauce akin to what one would expect in a serious stew. A heap of spicy rice accompanied the gumbo, leaving it up to the diner to decide on the right context of each for their meal – I found this much preferable to a more typical serving of the gumbo over the rice. One needs to take ample time to savor this very spicy dish, that brown sauce is extraordinary, the sausage and shrimp just delicious.
That Po’ Boy sandwich was very nice but not $5 nicer than one you get at Chick-fil-A. Served on ciabatta bread with roasted greens, tomato and a skim of fried potatoes, it’s no ordinary sandwich yet I wasn’t all that impressed considering all the advance fanfare given it in a Baltimore newspaper. Typically this sandwich is served with a remoulade dressing but with my spouse’s allergy to mayonnaise, the dressing was served on the side so I could evaluate it on the corner of her sandwich that I claimed. The remoulade does not make the sandwich but it is a nice accompaniment for some extra spice if so desired but then I wouldn’t miss the secret sauce on a Big Mac either.
Altogether, the gumbo alone makes this restaurant worth the trip. I plan on returning for a dinner to try either the Jambalaya or the pan fried Maryland Fried Chicken and their red beans and rice. Jeff did forewarn me to make a reservation for any Friday night or weekend dinner plans. They do serve that gumbo in the evenings too and an encore is not out of question.
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