The Black Olive

Steve and I went to The Black Olive (http://www.theblackolive.com/) for my birthday dinner a couple Saturdays ago. Grandmom watched the kids while we went out for an early dinner. We actually took the Miata... a TWO seater car... we haven't been able to do that in years! LOL Bonus, the miata fits in small places so parking in Fells Point became almost a non-issue for us.

The Black Olive is in a remodeled row house... I'm thinking it's two rowhouses together, actually. The setting was a grade above casual, though there were people there who were wearing jackets/ties, too.

The menu is short and sweet (http://www.theblackolive.com/menus-dinner.html); seafood prepared in a traditional Greek style. We ordered Stuffed Calamari on the Grill as an appetizer. This was fantastic. If I could have ordered that as a meal, I would have.

We also ordered Black Olive's Advocado Salad with Mixed Greens. This was really simple, but the dressing was *perfect*. It was a light vinegrette that I can't describe besides *perfect*. I wish I could make that for home.

I had the Rockfish, which was grilled, lemon-butter sauce, and a side of mushroom-feta polenta. The only part that I actually ordered was the rockfish; everything else was done by the chef without any direction from me. The Rockfish came out perfectly grilled, the sauce was not too heavy and the polenta was surprisingly scrumptious. I didn't expect the mushroom and feta flavors would go together since they are so strong, but polenta doesn't taste like anything without something in it. But the two strong flavors really did mix well!

Steve had the grilled tuna - sashimi style. He said it was perfectly cooked.

For dessert, we had baklava ice cream and loukoumades. And yes, baklava ice cream tastes exactly like baklava... walnuts, cinnamon, syrup... just in ice cream!

We each had a glass of wine from Santorini, too, which was very good.

Our waiter was incredibly attentive, and we had a most pleasant evening. We didn't even talk about the kids once until we were on our way home.

I would highly recommend The Black Olive if you want to eat some fantastic fish. Look forward to going again!!!