George Coutros Restaurant

We arrived at 3 pm. I was sure we missed brunch but we were in luck, brunch at George’s is served until 5ive pm! When we sat down the only area occupied in the restaurant was the bar. We had our choice of tables in the cozy dining room and picked the one that over looked the circa 1920’s building lobby. A Gorgeous Building. The server shared brunch drink specials with us, $4 dollars Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s. We declined the alcoholic beverages and shared a large kettle of warm hot chocolate. For bunch I craved waffles unfortunately George’s is the first brunch menu I’ve seen in sometime that does not make waffles available. After pouting to my girlfriend about this dilemma she ordered for us, a Crab Spring salad to share Lox for me and an Apple Brie omelet for herself. Our wonderful server split our salad for us (I love initiative!) and served the dish as our first course. The dressing served on the side, jumbo lumps of crab meat covered all of the mix spring lettuce, along with pecans and dried cranberries. I devoured mine and in hind sight I feel that if received that salad as an entrée not as a split item I’d still be left hungry after consumption. Never the less the salad became the highlight of the meal. For the main course I was most excited about my girlfriend’s Apple Brie omelet, second the Lox. Very little can go wrong with Lox, as long as you have all the fixings: the capers, the red onion, the tomatoes etc. , I’m a happy camper. As I prepared my spread I noticed my girlfriend’s reaction to her first bite of the omelet which was served with small cubed home fries and wheat toast. “Something doesn’t taste right,” she said poking at her plate. I tasted a full bite of her dish and agreed. Off the bat I tasted a meat flavor. Though she is a vegetarian she accepts that some food will be cooked in the same area as meat items but the omelet tasted as if it was intentionally cooked in bacon grease. As a meat eater I applauded the bacon grease effort…what I couldn’t get over was the lack of bold flavor I expected from this dish. I felt the omelet was simply thrown together. Little thought had been applied to actually blending the flavors of the brie and especially the apples together. The apples were not cooked or carmizlied before they were place in the egg mix nor was the brie properly melted. There was simply nothing holding the dish together. The home fries were quickly devoured, perfect texture and seasoning. Overall I enjoyed my experience at the George’s on Mt. Vernon Square. However it was the atmosphere and our server made the visit enjoyable and changed our minds from “probably won’t come back,” to “yes, we will give this place another try.” I am excited to see their dinner menu, which is served everyday starting at 5ive pm. A note to the curious diner: the menu on George’s website is not the menu available in the restaurant. I don’t know that I’d recommend this place to someone who is visiting from out of town. But for someone who is looking for something new in Baltimore, try George’s on Mt. Vernon Square.