Dukem- Ethiopian and Yummy

I generally post every few weeks, but I’m posting two entries tonight becuase my last entry, Andy Nelson’s BBQ, was a no brainer. If you have a kid and you live in Baltimore, you’ve probably been there or have heard about it already as a good place to go. On the other hand, Dukem is a little more out there.

Dukem offers Ethiopian food. I really like Ethiopian food. My wife, not so much.

Ethiopian food is generally served communally on one large plate for an entire table. The plate is covered with a thin bread, and all ordered different menu items are served on the breaded plate.

My wife’s main complaint with Ehtiopian food is that different vegetables, meats and lentils are often half-hazardly put together by Ethiopian restaurants on the breaded plate, so you neither have an idea of what you are eating nor an ability to limit what you are eating. For example if you personally don’t eat beef and someone in your party orders beef as an item, the beef ends up mixed with the vegetables at many Ethiopian places. But my wife’s general complaint with Ethiopian food is not an issue at Dukem. Rather Dukem puts different items in clear spaced areas on the breaded plate, so you can eat what you like.

The other unusual aspect of Ethiopian food is you eat it with your hands. Some people don’t like this, but those people have forgotten what it means to be a kid.

Dukem is a fantastic family restaurant in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore City (not far from the Meyerhoff), because they really like kids. And this is perfect food for kids. Ethiopian food has items such as lentils, potatoes, egg, easy to chew chicken and beef and plenty of bread. Kids love all those things, and Dukem does them well. Additionally, because everyone eats with their hands, young children like my toddler don’t have to worry about being embarrassed from having difficulty with utensils. Everyone uses their hands, so kids don’t feel self-conscious.

Kids have no preexisting opinions on what food is or should be. They like what tastes good. They like being where people want them, and they like being where they can be kids. Dukem is a great family restaurant for all these reasons. It’s also very inexpensive and should cost a family of four about $40, which also really helps in this economy.

Dukem Restaurant
1100 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 385-0318

http://www.dukemrestaurant.com/Baltimore.htm

Andy Nelson’s BBQ

Writing about Andy Nelson’s BBQ seems to be sort of a cop out, because everyone who knows anything about Baltimore-area eating knows Andy Nelson’s. It’s the classic Baltimore BBQ joint, albeit located very close to Hunt Valley rather than the Inner Harbor.

Andy Nelson’s will cost a family of four under $40, and they have excellent BBQ. As long as you eat chicken, beef or prok, a family can’t go wrong here. Conversely, a family of vegetarians and/or vegans would be best going elsewhere, but this is classic BBQ.

I’m not even going to write about the food. It’s fantastic BBQ and I’ll leave it at that. A lot of blogs will tell you as much. No reason to get that from here.

Instead I’m going to write about a few things that probably wouldn’t show up in other blog posts on Andy Nelson’s but further show why it’s a great family restaurant in Baltimore.

The outside area is just picnic tables, but the inside area has seating that reminds you of being in a southern shack with different small rooms. I went to college in Georgia, and I’ve seen my share of southern shacks. Andy Nelson’s has character. Also the walls are covered with different items and knick-knacks, many from Andy Nelson’s days on The Baltimore Colts. There are also a lot of pigs on the walls. Kids can look at these things and be entertained.

The music played through speakers is blues, rockabilly and Little Richard. My son can dance here in his high chair. The music and all the things to look at make eating at Andy Nelson’s fun.

But the best thing I can write about are the people who work here. The last time we went here, one guy was cleaning tables, and he came by several times to play with my son. And this same man also gave my 2 year old a small package of Oreo cookies. For the record a small package of Oreo cookies comes with the kid’s portion meal, but this guy gave my kid a second pack. And that was really nice. My son was much happier to get the second small pack of Oreo cookies than the one that had been sitting on his plate since I brought over the food.

Andy Nelson’s BBQ
11007 York Road
Cockeysville, MD 21030
(410) 527-1226

http://www.andynelsonsbbq.com