Charming Elephant — Restaurant in Baltimore

Charming is definitely an understatement!! Charming Elephant brings the flavor and culture of Laos street food to the streets of Baltimore. The nation of Laos is one that in itself is a charming country but not a well known country.

It is primely located on a popular street across from the harbor, where the congestion of people and traffic are manageable.

The ambience is cute and has the traditional Lao script along with traditional pieces of art and beliefs of Laos.

The food is by far the most authentic Lao food in Maryland!! Lao food is considered by most Americans similar to Thai food and while that is somewhat true, Lao food is generally more tart and not as spicy. Lao food also their own unique twist on classical Thai dishes such as tom som. In Lao, it is call thum maak houng which translates to “pounded papaya plant”. In traditional Lao meals, we more often use cucumber (maak thang) over papaya and our ingredients in addition to appearance slight differs.

Being able to use my native tongue with the server was such a joy being Laos communities in America are so far and few. My server was so sweet and thoughtful. I watched as she bussed table, hosted and sat guest, interacted and suggested dishes, and served with fluidity.

And the food!!!! The food is spot on culturally accurate!!! It was like having dinner at my grandparents house. I had the Laos sausage and jiew maak len (tomato “salsa” is the best description), a traditional side that accompanies a protein. When I was a kid, my grandpa would make this with his home grown veggies and I would dip my sticky rice in it and have it as an after school snack. The flavor profile of the jiew transported me back to 1992, sitting cross legged at our low table watching power rangers with my siblings and snacking on sticky rice and jiew with grandma’s sausages.

Jiew maak len is a tomatoes base that has been roasted and ground in a mortar and pestle with added ingredients such ask cilantro, garlic, peppers, fish sauce and lime.

Laos sausages are typically pork that has been sweetened and infused with herbs like lemongrass, cilantro, watercress, lime leaves, garlic, oyster sauce, lime, and fish sauce.

If you’re seeing a trend with lime and fish sauce, you can understand how Lao food is different from Thai food.

I also enjoy thum maak thang (a spin off of papaya salad made with cucumber) and naam khao. Naam khao is fried rice balls that are broken up and mixed with pickled pork sausage, green onions, fish sauce and lime, and eaten with lettuce like a wrap. It is a savory dish and the lettuce balances out the dense fried rice while also toning down the pickling flavor that naam generally carries.

If I could give Charming Elephant more than 5 stars I would, not only because I’m so proud to be a first generation Lao-American, but because they hit it out of the park with the traditional flavors and brought another charm into the...

TLDR: Excellent Laotian food, mediocre Thai. Highlights were the Lao sausage, Lao Pho and Savanh Jerky. Don't bother with the drunken noodles or banh mi. Go at happy hour for cheap drinks and apps!

Vibe: 4/5. Went on a Thursday night and we were the only table in the entire restaurant. There were several 4 tops and a small bar seating area. Decor is pretty basic with the exception of the large elephant logo painted on a brick wall in the main dining room.

Service: 5/5. There was only 1 person working both the bar and restaurant, however he did a fantastic job. Orders were taken quickly and did a great job filling cocktail orders as well as running our food. On top of that, he was also manning any phone orders that came in throughout our entire meal. Talk about efficient multitasking!

Food: 4/5. The Laos portion of the menu is what shined the brightest during our meal. This was our first time dining, so our group of 5 ordered almost the entire menu. We ordered fried meatballs, egg rolls, savanh jerky, nahm khao, Lao sausage, Lao banh mi, Lao pho, drunken noodles, pad Thai and green mango sticky rice for dessert. The Lao sausage was by far the best thing on the table. The unique seasoning in the sausage was perfectly balanced, especially when dipped in the spicy jaew bong sauce that accompanied it. The biggest loser unfortunately was the drunken noodles. The noodles were overcooked to the point of disintegrating into the sauce, giving the dish an odd...

This place wows me every time I go, and I consistently order something new every time! Anything with the moo grob (crispy pork belly) is absolutely to die for, as is anything with the sausage. Also the jaew mak lin (side sauce) is extremely flavorful. This was my spread tonight. Because it was happy hour and some things were a bit cheaper, I took the chance to splurge a bit and got two apps to start - the garden rolls and the savanh jerky. The sauce they served with the garden rolls - a tamarind version of the usual peanut sauce typically served at viet places? - was nice and tangy, contrasting well with the savory and fresh rolls. But the jerky was the real winner - savory, slightly sweet from the glaze, with a solid bite and texture. They also have three new drinks for the summer (2023), of which I tried the coconut smoothie, which was very creamy and sweet. Very good drinks here. #keepthedrinks Finally, I got the sausage banh mi as the entree, which was very good. Nice combination of flavors, the sausage was very well seasoned as always, with some nice kick from the jalapeno. Tried it with the sauce that came with the garden rolls, which was interesting, but the sourness was a bit overpowering. All in all an excellent meal. A (somewhat) hidden gem in Canton, am surprised it's not more consistently full, probably due to occasional difficulties finding parking. Will keep coming back and...