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Given that my anniversary conveniently falls on Valentine's Day, we postponed our celebratory dinner until Saturday evening. We chose the Bayard House in Chesapeake City, Maryland; a quaint little town on the bank of the Chesapeake and Delware canal. A beautifully appointed, nautical themed (but not cutesy) old house is home to the restaurant.
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Menu focuses on the local catch of crabs. Secondary focus on other sea fare and a few cuts of beef.
We ordered a bottle of Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Noble House Riesling, however we were delivered a 2000 Geyser Peak. Oh well. I didn't want to fuss, so we kept it. A bit on the sweet side, but tasty, nonetheless. For an app, we started with baked brie crusted in almonds and puff pastry, fresh fruit garnish. Maybe a quibble over details, but there were no almonds to speak of. Also, they garnished with slices of orange. A bit obscure for the cheese, but they left 30% of the rind in tact. Not too much for detail, I guess.
For entrees, we had the Salmon in Champagne-Lobster sauce with lumpfish caviar. A decent fillet of salmon on what was supposed to be polenta. Actually, it was cornbread. No kidding! The veg accompaniment was a well suited selection of wax & green beans with the requisite splash of red bell pepper. There was also a smattering of wild rice mix. Not completely sure why the two starches were necessary, but I am certain we would have enjoyed it much more had they not used the tell-tale boxed rice mix with that overly salted seasoing packet. Oh well.
Dessert was a warm pecan-chocolate ganche pie with ice cream for me and a selection of petit fors for my wife. Pie was loaded with great flavor and nestled in a flaky crust. Petit fors lacked the panache this classic dessert so richly deserves. Quite difficult to tackle a toffee-topped morsel in public.
Overall, a good attempt but nothing stellar. Great scenery and decent ambiance. Could have gone for some instrumental background music rather than Brian Setzer.
![]()
Menu focuses on the local catch of crabs. Secondary focus on other sea fare and a few cuts of beef.
We ordered a bottle of Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Noble House Riesling, however we were delivered a 2000 Geyser Peak. Oh well. I didn't want to fuss, so we kept it. A bit on the sweet side, but tasty, nonetheless. For an app, we started with baked brie crusted in almonds and puff pastry, fresh fruit garnish. Maybe a quibble over details, but there were no almonds to speak of. Also, they garnished with slices of orange. A bit obscure for the cheese, but they left 30% of the rind in tact. Not too much for detail, I guess.
For entrees, we had the Salmon in Champagne-Lobster sauce with lumpfish caviar. A decent fillet of salmon on what was supposed to be polenta. Actually, it was cornbread. No kidding! The veg accompaniment was a well suited selection of wax & green beans with the requisite splash of red bell pepper. There was also a smattering of wild rice mix. Not completely sure why the two starches were necessary, but I am certain we would have enjoyed it much more had they not used the tell-tale boxed rice mix with that overly salted seasoing packet. Oh well.
Dessert was a warm pecan-chocolate ganche pie with ice cream for me and a selection of petit fors for my wife. Pie was loaded with great flavor and nestled in a flaky crust. Petit fors lacked the panache this classic dessert so richly deserves. Quite difficult to tackle a toffee-topped morsel in public.
Overall, a good attempt but nothing stellar. Great scenery and decent ambiance. Could have gone for some instrumental background music rather than Brian Setzer.
next year Jim, Buy some of those wonderful crabs, some butter, some bread, some wine, some chocolate, some blankets,some flowers,some lemons, a hibichi grill and bring it to the beach by that restaurant and have a fun time on your own 
