Blue Island — Restaurant in Baltimore

Blue Island (Aug 31, 2023, Thursday, ~ 2p.m.)

Blue Island is located in the Lexington Market in the heart of Baltimore City. I first went to the Lexington Market pretty early mid-morning on Aug. 30, 2023 before I headed to the B&O Railroad Museum (A MUST-SEE when visiting Baltimore.) and was expecting a food market selling fresh produce, unprocessed foods, confectionaries, flowers etc. I was totally wrong. It is instead a two-story structure carrying many different types of cuisine. Blue Island is located on the second floor. After climbing stairs of many steps right in the middle of the structure, Blue Island is located on the left side towards the back end of the second floor. There are a few tables and chairs set up so you can “dine-in”. I was way too early, and the store was not open yet. I decided to come back the next day to try out the food due to my tight schedule that day.

If you do some research, some of the other sites claim Blue Island offers Malaysian cuisine. Being born in Singapore, a very close neighboring country of Malaysia, I can tell you that it is most definitely NOT Malaysian cuisine. Their food, however, may have some Malaysian spices incorporated into it, and I taste that in the “spicy” dishes (Not spicy enough for my taste though. Way too Americanized.). The high quality ingredients are also part of the Malaysian heritage. What impressed me most was the pretty large sized shrimp that was part of the ingredients in the fried rice and fried noodles. In my many decades living in this country, I’ve eaten a lot of what I call “fake” Chinese/Asian cuisine, and I have never encountered shrimp of that size with any of those rice/noodle dishes. What stood out even more was that shrimp was FRESH - a double bonus.

As in many places, you can order the combos, but there is a catch. My past experiences with these places is that when you order a 2-item combo, that means either a base rice and/or noodle PLUS 2 entrees. At Blue.Island, the rice or noodle IS COUNTED as one item (No half and half either.) in the Combo. I ended up ordering a 3-item combo with fried rice and two of their spicier entrees. The food was very delicious, and a definite cut above the rest. I also had time, while in line to order the food, to have a quick chat with one of the servers. I discovered that the owner and some of the servers were originally from Hong Kong. The two I spoke with also spoke Cantonese, and I was provided with a little discount off the total price, which was totally unexpected and appreciated. If you decide to eat at this place, please be prepared for a constant line of people doing the same. I was there for about 90 minutes to rest my tired feet after long hours of sight-seeing, and the line never ceased throughout that time.

Do yourself a favor and patronize this place. I don’t think you will regret that decision. Ah, those large tasty shrimp!

For the taste, quality, and value. I rate this place a full 5...

Food is pretty good. Portions are small for the price (a handful of chicken, very few shrimp in the rice, etc.). Veggies are charged as an individual food item instead of as a base with the rice or noodles like other Asian restaurants. You get WAYYY more food at the Dragon Bowl in the market (on the other side from this place and at the back) for the same price. Like, a ton more food. I'll stick with...

I get the shrimp 🍤 lowmein noodles 🍜 with 🌶 🫑 pepper chicken 🐔 and vegetables 😋. Nicely seasoned not too spicy. The beef and 🥦 broccoli is super delicious. I don't know how they cook that broccoli 🤔 but it's good. The 🌶 🫑 pepper steak and rice is good, the curry chicken 🐔 is good 😋. Try any combination you like or want you won't be...