Hootch and Banter — Restaurant in Frederick

Very disappointing visit overall. I ordered the Lambo, a braised lamb ragu over pappardelle pasta, and found about 5 pea-sized bone shards in the lamb mince. That’s a big mistake for any kitchen to make, let alone one at this price point. I let the staff know, and they offered to replace the dish with another lamb ragu notifying me that the chef was going to go through the lamb, but I declined. I just picked the bones out myself as I wasn’t going to trust someone that already let the bones slip out. That alone was bad, sadly the front of staff did not make it much better. When the check came, it was full price—no discount, no comp of the dish I had to eat with extreme care, no complimentary anything. I expected greater effort for fixing such a big mistake. This is the main reason for my rating being so low.

Entree ★★☆☆☆ Bones aside, the Lamb Ragu itself was just boring. Visually it was unappealing. A plate of pappardelle covered in red tomato sauce with tiny, and I mean tiny, bits of braised lamb. There could not have been more than 1/3 a cup of braised lamb. For $36, I expected more— not just sauce over a cup of pasta. The flavor wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that good. Just, average, something that could easily be made at home. The only saving grace of this dish was the pasta, which was made fresh and the only reason this dish was not one star.

Appetizer ★★★☆☆ The fries were a letdown. They were very fat, which gave them too much potato flavor without the crispy exterior you’d expect from a good fry. I went for the truffle and parmesan fries, but there was barely any of either. Not much truffle flavor, or parmesan for that matter.

Desert ★★★★☆ The dessert was the best part of the meal. I had the apple cake. It came out with a generous scoop of ice cream atop it and was drizzled with a caramel sauce. The apples were fresh and delicious. The cake was moist. The only issue I had with this dish was that the caramel sauce was a bit too overpowering which made the dish slightly too sweet, but overall, not bad.

Not a great experience. I remember this place being better a couple of years ago. It feels like the excitement has faded, but the prices have remained the same. Shame. I hope they can get it...

Took the boyfriend to Frederick for the first time and wanted to find a great brunch spot. The reviews pointed me here and he was sold as soon as he saw the Montreal Breakfast on the menu the night before.

We arrived here around 11:45 a.m., and there was already a wait after they opened at 11:00. That told me that it was well worth the wait. There is a beautiful park right there and took a walk near the water. We ended up waiting for about 45 minutes but it seemed like it calmed down a little bit after we were seated. Our server was super friendly and playful, which we enjoyed (Khol, sorry if spelled wrong) and we already knew what we wanted to eat since we had browsed the menu the night before.

Our food came out faster than any food that we've eaten in restaurants in years. I think it was about 8 minutes tops. We were all surprised, but I guess we caught them while the kitchen was a little bit slow after the first rush. The presentation of the food was in itself fantastic but we were both really happy with our choices.

His Montreal Breakfast was his favorite poutine with egg on top and meat, that was closer to corned beef, but the portion size was insane! It was fun watching him eat his meat spaghetti we called it. 😂. As the one with the sweet tooth I had to get the fruity pebbles stuffed French Toast. I have had some really bad French toast lately and this was light-years the best in ages. It was cooked perfectly, sweet, a tiny bit crispy but also chewy, syrup was perfect. I really enjoyed the whipped topping with cereal on top, the cream in the middle was a little too much for me, but it was still delicious. Next time I may just ask for it unstuffed. For $40 for that meal, including unsweet tea, was a deal!

Although we live further south, we will definitely be back next time we're in town! Highly...

Mediocre at best.

BETTER OPTION: Breakfast-Silver Diner

My husband and I came to hooch and banter after looking for something different in the Frederick area. The restaurant is located in a very busy part of downtown Frederick. There is outdoor seating, which, unfortunately, for us was packed due to the really nice weather we were having. When we arrived, we were seated immediately without a reservation. Since it was just the two of us, were taken in a very small table in the middle of the room. The restaurant is very loud, and it is difficult to hold a conversation with someone sitting across the table from you.

My husband ordered the chicken and waffles and I ordered the French toast. Our server frequently forgot items that we asked for such as my husband's mimosa, my syrup, etc. Once we finally got the food, unfortunately it was relatively flavorless. We ordered regular coffee and my husband's was cold, so that's great. There was no seasoning on the chicken for the chicken and waffles or the breakfast potatoes that were on my husband's plate. The waffle itself was rather plain. My French toast was just OK. The bread was rather thin and lacked flavor.

To be honest the only thing that tasted good was my husband's mimosa. I really don't understand why this place has good ratings. After speaking to some other residents, we learned that people generally come in for the bar drinks, and the food is almost always very inconsistent.

Unfortunately, we don't plan on coming back. If only Silver diner kept their outdoor seating that they had during Covid we would've went there. If a restaurant can't even make coffee I don't really trust them to make...