Thames Road Oyster Home
By: Lily Cope
Tucked alongside the cobblestone streets of Fells Level in Baltimore, MD, Thames Road Oyster Home has been serving among the Mid-Atlantic’s freshest seafood since 2011. On the helm is Chef Eric Houseknecht, who, alongside proprietor Candace Beattie, has constructed the restaurant right into a cherished vacation spot for each Baltimore locals and guests.
Eric and Candace, each impressed by time spent in New England, envisioned bringing Cape Cod and Rhode Island flavors to Baltimore’s historic waterfront. For Eric, the connection runs deep—he grew up between two bays, Narragansett and Chesapeake, the place he developed a lifelong appreciation for the seafood traditions of each coasts.
The result’s an upscale but approachable eating expertise. Company could arrive in denims or dressed for an evening out, however everybody discovers the identical factor: a menu constructed on seasonality, scratch-made dishes, and uncompromising high quality. Thames Road Oyster Home is open for dinner seven days per week, with lunch service Friday by Sunday—excellent for a weekend outing or a weekday custom.
Seafood is the star right here. “Ninety-eight % of our menu is seafood,” Eric explains. “We’ve one steak and one burger, however every thing else comes from the water.” That dedication reveals within the numbers throughout peak season:
• 5,000 oysters shucked every week, sourced from the Chesapeake to Nova Scotia
• 800 North Atlantic lobsters served weekly
• Maryland crab muffins, made completely with contemporary native crabmeat each time out there
Clams, mussels, squid, octopus, fish after all and extra spherical out a menu that celebrates the total breadth of East Coast seafood.
Eric credit Samuels Seafood as a significant associate in retaining his menu each constant and distinctive. “Our driver Orlando is the perfect—he’ll even assist different distributors unload their vans. Samuels makes issues straightforward, and I attempt to replicate that effectivity right here,” he says. From oysters to lobsters, Samuels is his go-to for the merchandise that outline the restaurant.
At Thames Road Oyster Home, freshness and repair are the cornerstones. “We take satisfaction within the high quality of our meals and the eye to element—it doesn’t matter what you order,” Eric notes. The restaurant’s staff displays that very same dedication: a number of cooks have been there because the doorways first opened in 2011.
The menu shifts with the seasons, weaving in native produce alongside East Coast seafood. This fall, diners can sit up for lobster polenta with chanterelle mushrooms and a Hubbard squash aspect dish served with their basic lobster roll. And for these within the know, “Meat Monday” has change into a convention—working robust for a decade, the braised meat particular is passed by 6 p.m. most weeks, making early reservations important.
