Return of the Lake Trout

I decided to give lake trout a second chance, believe it or not. If you're gonna live in a city like Baltimore, you gotta appreciate the local cuisine. With that said, I knew there had to be somewhere better out there than Sea Blue on Greenmount. That was some truly terrible lake trout, soggy and mushy and tasteless. I had heard about another place in Baltimore, actually I had seen it mentioned on Anthony Bourdain's series No Reservations a few months ago - The Roost on Reisterstown Road has the reputation as being Baltimore's best lake trout.

Honestly, I can't stand Anthony Bourdain, but he does know his food, even his lake trout apparently. The Roost's lake trout is a clear winner.

I've never seen anything like this place in my entire life. After driving through an interesting part of town (by Pimlico race track), we approached the tiny roadside establishment. We walk inside, there's no where to sit, just a counter from where you order. The menu consists of "soul food" options ranging from fried chicken, collard greens, fried catfish, mac n' cheese and of course, lake trout. As we waited for our food, we browsed through a man's collection of pirated DVD's and CD's he was selling inside.

Our order arrived, we grabbed the plastic bag filled with lake trout and got in the car and ate it back home (if you care to stay, there are a few picnic tables outside). Instantly the aroma of freshly fried crispy lake trout filled the car.

This was serious lake trout - everything about it was world's better than my past experience. The fried part was crisp and crunchy and flavorful, unlike Sea Blue's soggy mess. With some catsup on the side, the flavors of my lake trout came alive. I ordered mine with fries, which I found underneath the lake trout. They were soggy, unremarkable. Next time I would order the lake trout dinner, and choose from The Roost's side options (not to mention you also get cornbread!).

This place is an institution among Baltimoreans. No, it's not something I'd eat everyday, but I admire the pride The Roost puts into not only their lake trout, but the rest of their food as well. The name of their website, thebestlaketrout.com says it all (but I couldn't get the link to work for some reason..oh well).