jarandhel

jarandhel t1_j9vp5y3 wrote

Glad that I could help!

Oddly enough, the best Philly cheesesteak that I have ever had in my life was not in Philly or Jersey - it was at a little gas-station grocery store in Shanghai, West Virginia back in 1999. I have no idea what exactly made it so good, but every cheesesteak I have had since then has simply failed to measure up.

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jarandhel t1_j9uh5nk wrote

I'm from South Jersey and I share the same opinion as your wife on the quality of most cheesteaks in the entire DC/MD/VA area. So far, the best Philly Cheesesteak I've found in Baltimore is Sunshine Carryout in Park Heights, but if she finds a better one please let me know!

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jarandhel OP t1_iwdm9up wrote

Was reminded of one more place my husband and I found recently: Grilled Cheese and Co. It's outside the city proper, in Catonsville, but still close enough that I think it would count for our purposes. I wasn't expecting too much, I mean it's just grilled cheese right? Boy was I surprised! I've had two of their Grilled Cheese Sandwiches so far - the Sweet Caroline and the Philly, and both were excellent. Their Broccoli Cheddar soup is also great! And my husband loves their Crabby Melt!

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jarandhel OP t1_iwdlaf3 wrote

Franchesca's looks great, though I may end up being a little inauthentic and trying one of their fusion options - that Korean BBQ Steak bowl is tempting me. I'm sure I'll try the more traditional options on the menu too! And not sure what I'll get at Sajhoma, there are a lot of options looking tempting. Thank you for the recs!

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jarandhel OP t1_iwdhnu1 wrote

Not everyone is going to agree on food. For some people, whether it is authentically Cuban is going to take a back seat to whether the food tastes good. For others, the two are inextricably linked. I can understand both sides - if I've never had something before, I probably wouldn't care so much how authentic it was if I enjoyed it, while if it was something I was very familiar with and had grown up with, I probably wouldn't like it if it significantly deviated from my expectations even if it might be enjoyable if billed as something new. If you can't recommend Little Havana, where would you recommend?

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