It had been 9 years since I had last eaten here and I made the mistake of trying it again. The owner and waiter is a dufus and appears to not care whether your dining experience is pleasant or not. The over touted wine list is SPARSE! While it had some good wines, the selection was less than 25 wines. You either had the choice of low cost wines from nondiscript wineries or you had to pay an arm and a leg for the FEW top wines that they had. Nothing in between. Not much selection among varietals. I thought that maybe they had good food. Wrong! The tomato bisque was a ham handed rustic creation that was better left alone. I had the Cherry Duck. It contained less than a half of a breast that was sliced thin and cooked to death and then smothered in a not very complex or imaginative thick and syrupy cherry sauce better used for a bad cherry pie. The potatoes and vegetables were close to raw. I then made the mistake of having the Bananas Foster for dessert. It was apparently made the in the kitchen and was lacking any banana liqueur or rum and had practically no bananas. This is not a gourmet restaurant and you would be better off going somewhere else.

We finally made our way to Cynthia’s in Severna Park, MD on Friday and attended a South African wine tasting dinner in five courses with passed hors d’oeurves. 54 people attended and, of course, the restaurant was closed for this event to the general public. The décor inside is nonexistent and spare with a tasteful bar at the back. Everyone were seated at tables of 8. Brian and Cindy put on a wonderful event and the restaurant was very loud with all of the talking that got louder as more wine was consumed. I expected tasting portions but they were anything but that. The hors d’oeurves were plentiful. The prawns were giant and there were 3 of them. Only one of the courses is on the regular menu and that was the crispy moulard duck breast. Everything was perfectly cooked and the only criticism that I would have is that many of the courses were over seasoned. With the venison course, all I could taste was the cracked pepper crust. It was like eating pure cracked pepper and overpowered the dish itself. Backing off on the seasoning would have made the dinner perfect. The dessert was perfect and ethereal. I wanted more of that. An odd aspect of this dinner is that they poured coffee before the dessert with the dessert wine. I refrained from drinking the coffee until after the dessert and wine so that I would not ruin my palate before drinking the wine. After the dinner, we talked with Brian and Cindy. This was their first wine tasting dinner event that was not tied to a wine store. At the end of dinner, we were all given a gift wrapped cinnamon streusel muffin to take home. I would rate the experience equivalent to a one star Michelin restaurant. Very good but not exceptional overall. However, the experience was way above average for the DC area and well deserving of a place in the Washingtonian top 100. We will definitely go back. Below is the menu and wines for that dinner.

Passed Hors D’oeuvres:
King Crab with Pineapple and Mango
Peri Peri Chicken Wings
Beef Satay with Ginger Peanut Sauce
Curried Lamb Samosas
Sweet Potato Chips with Chickpea Puree
Wine: Raats Family Wines “Original” Chenin Blanc, Unwooded, 2007
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GRILLED PRAWNS
julienne vegetables, red curry lobster nage
Wine: Klein Constantia Sauvignon Blanc, 2005
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SAUTEED SWEETBREADS
wilted spinach, smoked bacon sauce
Wine: Rustenberg Estate Chardonnay, 2006
——— _ ———
CRISPY MOULARD DUCK BREAST
honey glazed apples, cranberry gastrique
Wine: Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage Blend, 2005
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ROASTED PEPPERED VENISON LOIN
potato gratin, mushroom asparagus ragout, cabernet sauce
Wine: Mulderbosch Vineyards “Faithful Hound” Bordeaux Blend, 2004
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CAPE BRANDY PUDDING
pecan ice cream, brandy sauce
Wine: Kanu Kia-Ora Noble Late Harvest, 2004