Pt. Richmond - Baltic Square Pub reopens

[rworange]

The Baltic restaurant just reopened as the Baltic Square Pub.

Let me start this by saying I made the absolute worst menu selection and I did so knowing that you don’t go to a pub and order the salmon with strawberry sauce.

So I’m hoping there are some Pt. Richmond people out there who have tried or will try it and report back. It is my opinion that there are some good dishes to be found on the menu. Not that the salmon was bad, but I would think that fish of the day is not the restaurant's stregnth.

I never went to the old Baltic Restaurant, but the new place looks very nice with wood-paneled walls and a deep green ceiling. Wooden tables are covered with green tablecloths. It is decorated prettily for Christmas and has a cozy feel.

On Thursday and Sunday there is live jazz and dance music on Friday and Saturday. Nice feature if you are in the Point Richmond area which is pretty much devoid of entertainment except some Chinese harp music once a week.

Chef and part owner Jaime Molina was born in Mexico and there are some Mexican dishes on the menu in addition to standard pub fare like burgers, beer battered fish and chips, and beer battered onion rings. Molina worked previously at Hotel Mac, down the street.

Mexican dishes include:
Shrimp cocktail – ceviche style
Birria mini tostados (beef)
The pub quesadilla (available also with crab and shrimp)
Sopes
Chilaquilles
Devilled prawns (Diablo)

At first I thought I was having a 90’s flash back with fruit inspired dishes like tonight’s special of fried chicken with mango salsa. I’m guessing that it might be the Mexican influence with dishes that have fruit or spicy flourishes like:

Fried calamari with chipotle lime aioli
Grilled chicken breast, tasso shrimp sauce and dirt rice
Pan roasted pork chop with orange chipotle sauce

There is also other standard pub grub including a shepard’s pie and ploughman’s board. For dinner the rib eye comes with Jack Daniels glazed mushrooms.

Sandwiches include a club, Rueben, BLT and the pub steak sandwich with red onion, tomato, lettuce, chili AND bbq sauce. A veggie sandwich served on foccacia has portobello mushroom, onions, zucchini and pesto aioli. Soups are made in-house daily. There are a number of salads like Ceasar, spinach, house,

There is something for everyone so there’s pasta primavera, clam linguini, risotto Florentine and even a winter vegetable curry stew. Crab cakes and oysters on the half shell are available.

Given my salmon experience, I would guess stick with the Mexican food or pub grub. Prices are a little odd. Sandwiches are in the $7 - $9 range and dinners about $9 - $15, topping out at $18 for the steak. However the sopes are $10. Those must either be some very generous of exceptional sopes.

Dinner was fine, but nothing exceptional. I have to applaud the fact that the strawberry sauce, though odd, wasn’t awful. It was just some nice stewed strawberries on the side of the salmon. Didn’t hurt it. Didn’t help it. I scraped it off the salmon and enjoyed it on its own. The veggies seemed to be previously frozen. The salmon was served with some herbed fried triangular polenta. A lot of these items made me think Sysco.

Desserts are presented on a tray and are not house made. I passed. There was an nice sourdough roll with dinner.

There’s a full bar a few decent enough wines that run in the range of Gloria Frerrer to Korbel in terms of sparklers. The whites and reds were along the same category. There are six beers on tap – Guinness, Fat Tire, Foster's, Lagunitas IPA and Sierra Nevada.

The entrance of the restaurant is the bar and the dining room is separate. There’s a small area for a dance floor.

So I hope someone is out there in Point Richmond and reports back on some of their visits. It might be a nice place to hang out, listen to some live music (after 7 pm) and have a decent meal.

Baltic Square Pub

135 Park Avenue
Pt. Richmond, Ca 94801

510-237-4782

Grace Ann Walden gave the restaurant a mention in this week’s Chronicle.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...

[rworange]

It seems Baltic Square has a website now though the links to the menu are not currently working.
http://www.balticsquarepub.com/index....

They also have Sunday brunch and special events like a winemakers dinner ... last one mentioned was Concannon ... and a flamenco diner. Live music on the weekend.