Water for Chocolate by Sarah Croessmann
Baltimore is a city packed with a spectrum of
unique restaurants, bars, and diners.
Home to Diners, Drive-ins, and
Dives’ Blue Moon Café, Baltimore’s breakfast and brunch locations are often
overshadowed by this TV-proclaimed hotspot.
Unbeknownst to many, one of Baltimore’s best breakfast spots is tucked
away in Butcher’s Hill. Water for Chocolate (WFC), located at
the corner of Wolfe and E. Lombard, offers
an exceptional menu that differs from your everyday pancake breakfast. The
owner, nicknamed “Chef Sean,” originally started WFC as a catering business but
transitioned to the local go-to coffee shop and soon after breakfast cafe for
Butcher’s Hill residents. Brewing and
selling fair-trade coffee, WFC offers unique coffee drinks not found at your
local Starbucks or Daily Grind. For the
summer months his coffee-ice cube Iced Coffee (say that five times fast) offers
a strong brewed coffee that will never get watered down in the Baltimore heat. A current winter favorite, the Dirty Chai, is
a coffee-based Chai latte with added espresso that will give any Starbucks
specialty drink a run for its money.
A frequent diner at WFC, it is hard for me to choose only a few dishes to highlight, which is why I encourage everyone to try everything once. Reasonably priced for students, most breakfasts are priced between $5-10 depending on the number of sides. For first time diners with a sweet-tooth, the Raisin Bread French Toast is my first recommendation. Not your average syrupy breakfast plate, the French toast offers both a sweet and hearty breakfast that doesn’t leave you feeling loaded with sugar. Made with fresh-baked thick slices of raisin bread, the French toast is served with a lemon zest and crème anglaise topped with strawberries and roasted pecans. While your first inclination may be to think, “Lemon? Raisins?...In French toast?” The combination of the crème sauce, roasted pecans, and hint of lemon gives the French toast a rich pastry-like taste that balances sweet and wholesome perfectly. This dish is completed with a side of fresh breakfast sausage (as shown) and a Dirty Chai.
A frequent diner at WFC, it is hard for me to choose only a few dishes to highlight, which is why I encourage everyone to try everything once. Reasonably priced for students, most breakfasts are priced between $5-10 depending on the number of sides. For first time diners with a sweet-tooth, the Raisin Bread French Toast is my first recommendation. Not your average syrupy breakfast plate, the French toast offers both a sweet and hearty breakfast that doesn’t leave you feeling loaded with sugar. Made with fresh-baked thick slices of raisin bread, the French toast is served with a lemon zest and crème anglaise topped with strawberries and roasted pecans. While your first inclination may be to think, “Lemon? Raisins?...In French toast?” The combination of the crème sauce, roasted pecans, and hint of lemon gives the French toast a rich pastry-like taste that balances sweet and wholesome perfectly. This dish is completed with a side of fresh breakfast sausage (as shown) and a Dirty Chai.
For those who like the savory-side of breakfast, the Pulled Pork Breakfast Burrito with a side of Parmesan Cheese Grits is the best way to go. Coming from upstate NY, I was unaware of what “grits” even were until attending college in the south. A savory staple of most local southern breakfast taverns, grits never really grew on me…until I had them at WFC. No words can do these grits justice. A smooth texture with just the right amount of parmesan cheese and seasoning has converted many nay-sayers and eye-rollers with this specific plate of grits. The grits alone, combined with a few slices of fresh bacon, would be enough of a dish to have me frequenting this restaurant weekly but the breakfast burrito seals the deal. The Pulled Pork Breakfast Burrito is easily one of my favorite dishes. Hearty, packed with protein, and flavorful, this plate leaves you feeling full well into the afternoon. The breakfast burrito features TWO burritos for the price of one. Each breakfast burrito is filled with scrambled eggs and cheese, fresh spinach, peppers, a corn salsa, and your choice of an additional meat. The pulled pork, in my opinion, is the only way to go. The pulled pork was originally featured as a sandwich but frequent restaurant goers started requesting this meal at breakfast (that’s how good it is). A combination of both South Carolina and Memphis style BBQ, this pulled pork has just the right amount of tangy and sweet.
Last, but definitely not least, for those of you who go out to brunch and have a difficult time deciding between breakfast or lunch, WFC has the solution: both. The Mac and Goat Cheese brunch plate offers a bacon filled macaroni and cheese entrée, with a side of scrambled eggs and WFC’s famous Jalapeno Corn Bread. The goat cheese provides a rich, earthy taste to the mac and cheese that compliments the smoky flavor of the bacon. This really brings out a baked, home-cooked taste to the dish. While the scrambled eggs aren’t anything to scream about (there are really only so many ways to cook eggs), the Jalapeno Corn Bread is amazing. The sweet honey taste of the cornbread is enhanced by the bits of spicy jalapeno. More importantly than the taste, this corn bread has a thick, moist texture that resembles a hybrid of spoon-bread and corn bread in one. Overall this dish has the best of both worlds and is a close second in my list of favorites at WFC.
Reasonably priced, amazing food, and a small café atmosphere, Water For Chocolate is by far my favorite breakfast spot in the city and potentially, the east coast. While this review focused on breakfast, WFC does not stop there. Featuring a unique set of lunch and dinner entrees, Chef Sean has really hit the nail on the head when it comes to affordable gourmet-quality food.
Last, but definitely not least, for those of you who go out to brunch and have a difficult time deciding between breakfast or lunch, WFC has the solution: both. The Mac and Goat Cheese brunch plate offers a bacon filled macaroni and cheese entrée, with a side of scrambled eggs and WFC’s famous Jalapeno Corn Bread. The goat cheese provides a rich, earthy taste to the mac and cheese that compliments the smoky flavor of the bacon. This really brings out a baked, home-cooked taste to the dish. While the scrambled eggs aren’t anything to scream about (there are really only so many ways to cook eggs), the Jalapeno Corn Bread is amazing. The sweet honey taste of the cornbread is enhanced by the bits of spicy jalapeno. More importantly than the taste, this corn bread has a thick, moist texture that resembles a hybrid of spoon-bread and corn bread in one. Overall this dish has the best of both worlds and is a close second in my list of favorites at WFC.
Reasonably priced, amazing food, and a small café atmosphere, Water For Chocolate is by far my favorite breakfast spot in the city and potentially, the east coast. While this review focused on breakfast, WFC does not stop there. Featuring a unique set of lunch and dinner entrees, Chef Sean has really hit the nail on the head when it comes to affordable gourmet-quality food.