This Week: January 31st to February 6th

This week's "This Week" is really the story of my weekend. Which means it's really the story of my Saturday, since I've already posted about our Sunday Super Bowl festivities.

Sunday might have belonged to queso but Saturday was just as delicious. After dropping Dixon at my parents' house, Cooper and I stopped for a spontaneous lunch at Midtown BBQ & Brew in Mount Vernon. We hadn't been there since it was Midtown Yacht Club and I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner.

I had pulled pork and Cooper had a ginormous beef rib - plus we ordered the sauce sampler. And I do love a tray of sauces. The sampler included the usual varieties - mustardy and tomatoey BBQ sauces plus less typical options like a bacon jam and Thai peanut. We liked them all, though admittedly, what they call crazy spicy is not really that hot. Which is fine by me.

Overall, we were so happy with our lunches. Both of our meats were excellent, as were the french fries. It's a fun place, too. I love a dive bar that's not really that divey.

Saturday night, we went out for our friend Sean's fortieth birthday. The night started at The Waterfront Hotel and ended at The Point in Fells; both were a good time.

In between, I decided that I absolutely had to eat something, or the night was going to end badly, so with Alicia and Mike, we hopped into Thames Street Oyster House. Our plan was to grab some oysters and an appetizer or two at the bar but we ended up sitting down upstairs, where Teresa (our neighbor and Baltimore mag's Best of Baltimore waitress in 2013) was working.

A few oysters turned into mixed dozen on the half shell plus calamari (it's so tender!), a lobster roll for Mike, clam sandwich for Cooper and a shared entree for Alicia and me. The entree - a special that day - was spectacular both to look at and to eat. An entire porgy, breaded and quickly fried, was served standing up with a salad of avocado and peppers.

My description doesn't do it justice and neither does Alicia's photo (at the top right). Texturally, flavor-wise and visually, it was remarkable. One of my favorite meals for a long time.

In fact, this was one of the best eating weekends I've had in a while. Fun and delicious, all the way around.