Cynthia's Severna Park

[lovegreatfood]

I want to take my daughter to dinner (She is a Chef) and was thinking of Cynthia's. Seems to get nice reviews - interested in hearing about anyone's experiences here. thanks

[chowsearch]

Fine choice--Owned by a husband-wife pair of young chefs that do really well and will want to meet her.

[wookyluvr]

Cynthia's made #25 in the Washingtonian's top 100 list: http://www.washingtonian.com/restaura...

[namret]

I love this place. Fine cuisine. Good choice.

[venera]

Updates, anyone? I am considering taking a birthday boy there Tuesday. But there are mixed reviews on the board, and I'm wondering whether we should go to something new and unknown, or something tried and true.

Any new info would be appreciated.

[namret]

Never been disappointed in 6 visits. Never seen a bad review.

[venera]

At least they're consistent. Any recs on what dishes are standouts?

I've read a few where they said the desserts and bread are better than the entrees.....the menu isn't totally doing it for me, but I think I'll give it a shot.

[lainamalone]

It's true that they're not wildly ambitious, and stick to more or less standard American fare, but what they do, they do extremely well. I've been there only for lunch, and highly recommend the steak/blue cheese salad and root veg./chick. pot pie. All in all, a very pleasant convivial setting, good wine list, excellent rolls, and an overall good experience.

[chowsearch]

Maybe more New American, I think way better than standard--there was a fresh peapod pureed soup - I begged for the recipe - and I don't like peas.

[Annapolis07]

The place is good, but not really standout in my opinion. The food is very heavy.

[venera]

We went Tuesday night, and it was lovely. Definitely a great place to go, one which we will add to our rotation of faves.

We had reservations which weren't entirely necessary. At 7:30 there were only 4-5 other tables taken, with another 3 coming in that night. The greeting was swift and pleasant, and we were seated with plenty of "personal space," i.e., not immediately next to any other occupied table.

The service was great all night. According to previous reveiwers, the front of the house was young and inexperienced. A young girl was working as the secondary to the server (seating, clearing, running food) but she was exemplary: competent, polite, and gracious.

The amouse bouche was a fried salmon ball with pesto. Not bad, but not out-of-this-world, either. The dirty martini my friend ordered was PERFECT, however.

We ordered two apps: fried oysters and the foie gras. The oysters were hot, and friend nice and crisp. The remoulade was lacking a little kick. The foie gras was paired with a sour cherry marmalade-like fruit, which I thought was divine. My dining partner preferred the liver naked, but I thought that the sweet/sour cherry really lightened it up. The liver was cooked so perfectly: tender tender tender, moist, and light as a feather. Nice work.

Friend ordered bouillebaise, which is what I wanted. It was LOADED with seafood (whole lobster, about 10 mussel shells and about 10 clam shells) but I found the broth lacking a little zing. I think a bit of salt and a hint of something spicy would have evened it out perfectly. He had to ask for the rolls to sop up the juice with, and was given three more hot, tender-crisp homemade buns.

I had the duck breast, which again was cooked perfectly. Great wine glaze, was a perfect compliment. The potato cake and spinach that came with it were also lovely. I thought I'd leave 1/2 of my entree, but it was so good we quickly cleaned my plate.

The chocolate souflee was heavenly. The carrot cake was about average.

The take-home muffins KICKED ASS. Wow, was that crumb topping good.

$170 for two apps, two entrees, two desserts, 4 glasses of wine, a cocktail, and 2 espresso coffes. While I thought the martini was overpriced ($12), the rest I didn't mind paying what I paid. Which says a LOT.

They had several regulars there that that chef and the waitress were chatting up. That was nice to see.

I can definitely see us becoming regulars. It's nice to have a dining option like this outside of Balto city or Annapolis.

[naptownfoodie]

I looked up Cynthia's web site and the owners are alumi from Patina which was my favorite restaurant while I lived in LA. The menu looks good also, no veg and starch du jour anywhere. I also noticed the humor on the menu which is so Patina. Who wouldn't want to try scallops ala "don king".
I'll try to give them a go soon based on your rec.

[crackers]

Cynthia's is closed, blaming the poor state of the economy, among other things.

[crackers]

Tom Sietsema reported yesterday in his live discussion and got confirmation from someone else who got an email from the owners saying they are closed. The website apparently didn't get taken down yet.

[I do wish people would try to search the site before starting a duplicate new topic. ]