The Fill 'Er Up (Parkton, MD)

As someone who grew up in The Land of Diners (aka New Jersey), I have long bemoaned the dearth of decent cheap breakfast and late night eats here in the Baltimore area. The two closest to our home are flat out terrible, and shall remain nameless. The Bel-Loc Diner closed back in 2017, only to replaced by a Starbucks, and Baltimore's 24/7 landmark The Sip & Bite is only open from 7-3 most days (and is a bit of a haul for some runny eggs and toast).

But is it possible that the best diner in the Baltimore area is at a gas station near the Pennsylvania border?

In search of some pre-golf eats on a beautiful mid-October morning, we zeroed in on The Fill 'Er Up (21307 York Road, Parkton, MD), a gas station and convenience store that offers everything from coffee, soda, chewing gum, snack chips, lottery tickets, and jerky to a home cooked meal brought to one of the tables that dot the store's floorspace.

There were pre-made homemade sandwiches available for those in a rush (egg and cheese with a variety of breakfast meats, alas no pork roll), but we had time to kill before our tee time and besides, wanted to soak in the ambience.

We ordered our food (eggs over easy with sausage and grilled hash browns, mushroom and steak omelette), grabbed coffees and took seats in a small dining area. A group of middle-aged guys who looked like regulars took up another table and we enjoyed FOX's breathless coverage of the upcoming 'No Kings' rallies as we waited for our grub.

Big plates followed featuring perfectly cooked eggs, lightly spiced pork sausage, and hash browns with nice crunchy burnt bits of potato and onions mixed in, alongside a mound of buttered toast. My friend's omelette was large and stuffed to the gills, leading to a debate about the best steak to use when making cheesesteaks. (The answer, of course, is rib eye.)

Everything ran less than $10 per plate and filled us so much we eschewed the traditional "hot dog at the turn" during our round at nearby Greystone. Add in a super-friendly staff and an inviting menu board filled with specials (I almost wanted to come back for the meatloaf dinner) and I can see why The Fill 'Er Up has earned the glowing reviews from faithful regulars and newbies like me. — Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is editor/publisher of The Hungover Gourmet and can't wait to try The Fill 'Er Up's famous cream of crab soup.

Lighthouse Bistro (Annapolis, MD)

This was our second visit to this small, bustling restaurant located off Annapolis’ busy main drag. With the Eagles getting bumped off local tv and assuming the Ravens would get slaughtered by Houston (44-10, how prescient!), we decided to drive down and meet friends on a warm, October afternoon. 

Without fail the first beer I ordered was no longer available, so I settled for a crisp, light Delco Amber Lager. (This happens so often that it has become a running joke with my wife and me.) An appetizer of Crab Dip with a Kick ($20) arrived with crisp house-fried tortillas sturdy enough to hold the creamy, crab-filled, jalapeno-spiced dip (garnished with bonus fried jalapeno slices), and the plentiful lumps of crab justified the price. 

Though I was initially drawn to the Meatloaf Hash, I’d already had breakfast and went for a half-pound burger topped with Swiss cheese, mushrooms and onions ($18). The meat was a little bland and the whole thing was in desperate need of a sturdier bun (classic Maryland), but it was juicy, filling and accompanied by a bounty of delicious skin-on fries that my wife and I couldn’t finish.

However, I’d like to suggest to restaurants that if it’s late-summer/early-fall and you no longer have access to local tomatoes, you can skip the anemic, industrial adornments to my burger. It’s just sad after eating so many juicy, delicious, garden-fresh slices for the last few months. Quibbles aside, the rest of the group enjoyed the Pulled Chicken Salad, Bistro Club, and Eggs Benedict with pork over biscuits. 

In addition to the good food, friendly staff and lively atmosphere, Lighthouse Bistro gets high marks for a mission focused on providing hands-on training, job experience, and living-wage employment to individuals facing barriers to work, especially those transitioning out of homelessness. –
Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of The Hungover Gourmet. Stay tuned to this blog and our website for details about the upcoming issue 13.

KRIMI! Issue One Debuts from THG Contributor

I'm pleased to report that the new magazine KRIMI! The Magazine for Continental European Crime Cinema Culture is available now from THG contributor and old pal Holger Haase. 

Krimi, for those who are unfamiliar, is short for Kriminafilm (crime film), a series of German-language crime movies that were popular in the 1960s and early 1970s. Often based upon the works of author Edgar Wallace, the films were populated with mysterious villains, intricate plots, and red herrings aplenty. (The one and only Klaus Kinski was a frequent krimi ko-star.)

The debut issue is lavishly illustrated and clocks in at more than 200 pages of information, history, analysis, reviews and more. 

For more on the debut issue and worldwide ordering links, visit the Krimi! Magazine blog. — Dan Taylor

Happy National Coffee Day from THG!

Happy National Coffee Day! 

I was a hardcore tea drinker well into my 20s, largely due to the fact that I grew up in a home where percolated (and later, automatic drip) coffee brewing / burning all day long was the norm. Once my dad retired in the early 80s, a pot was started in the morning, burned, and then got microwaved until it was gone.

🤢 

It wasn't until my buddy Lou and I hit the diner for a traditional late night post-movie meal (ahhh, I miss that metabolism) and I was informed that they were out of tea that I was forced to make a decision. Or, as Lou put it, "just order a cup of coffee like a man".

I'd like to think that since that fateful meal I've been making up for lost time. Cheers to all who loves them some java, brew, jitter juice, dirt, mud, etc. — Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of The Hungover Gourmet, which devoted an entire issue (available from our website) to the mean bean. These days, he consumes anywhere from 4-10 cups per day. On average.

RIP X. Marcel Bouelstin (1943), The First Celebrity Chef

Today marks the passing of chef and cookbook author Xavier Marcel Boulestin (1878-1943). 

After working as a secretary, ghostwriter, and interior designer, Boulestin was commissioned to write a cookbook on French cooking for English readers, which became a huge hit. 

His eponymous restaurant opened in London in 1927 and was regarded as the most expensive in the city. 

In January of 1937, Boulestin hosted the BBC's 'Cook's Night Out', the first television cooking show. — Dan Taylor

Remembering That Guy Who Made Checking Food Temperatures Easier

Today marks the death in 1736 of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. 

And, if you guessed that he had something to do with thermometers, you'd be right! 

Fahrenheit was a German inventor who made his mark by developing his own thermometers, which were more accurate than what was currently available. Using Fahrenheit thermometers, users could reliably compare temperatures. 

He also created the first mercury-filled thermometer, which was more accurate than the alcohol-filled versions that were common. — Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of The Hungover Gourmet and never gave any thought to where the Fahrenheit temperature scale came from, despite being really concerned about under cooking things like chicken, pork and fish.

Hanger is Real — Science Says So!

Hanger is real! On this day in 2011, the University of Cambridge published research confirming that "[f]luctuations of serotonin levels in the brain, which often occur when someone hasn’t eaten or is stressed, affects brain regions that enable people to regulate anger." 

So, the next time somebody tries to tell you that "being hangry isn't a real thing," you can tell them they're wrong. Because science says so! — Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of The Hungover Gourmet and suffers from chronic hanger.