Timbuktu Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

I tried out some menu items at Timbuktu, a well-known seafood restaurant in the Baltimore area, and boy was it a treat! It's located minutes away from BWI and the shops at Arundel Mills.

For starters, the staff was super helpful and very friendly. My server, Christiano, was one of the best waiters I think I have had the pleasure of being assisted by in very long time. He was polite and very attentive. He answered every question with a smile! (Very handsome with a wonderful accent too!) Another attendant, Charlie, came over and chatted for a while. He added laughs, jokes, and even more smiles to the table. I would definitely ask to be seated in either one of their sections when I return!

This place is perfect for families! They also have a bar area that is perfect to grab a bite and a beer to watch the games. There is even a small section that serves as a liquor, /convenient store, where you can order carry out.

Now let's get into what you really came here for. the food!

If you cannot find something you like on this menu, let me hold your hand when I say this, the problem is YOU! This menu includes everything from steak, to burgers, to subs and fries, to wings, and of course, seafood.

Here's what I had:

-Half & Half Soup Bowl: A blend of MD style crab soup and cream of crab soup...This was surprisingly good because I am not a fan of MD style crab soup, but I absolutely loved this! (8/10)

-Timbuktu Wings: The honey old bay was my favorite. They had the perfect amount of old bay seasoning, and they were fried crunchy, just like I like them. The honey garlic wings were good as well. I found myself licking the sauce off of my fingertips! (8.5/10)

-House Salad: It's just your basic house salad with your choice of dressing. (8/10)

-Chicken & Shrimp Alfredo: Often times, restaurants tend to serve (any type) of alfredo that has no taste to the noodles or sauce. This was different!!! Everything was seasoned; the chicken, the shrimp, the noodles, and the sauce, and the flavors blended together perfectly! (9/10)

-Crabcake Eggrolls: It's like having a handheld crabcake. They come with a dipping sauce that is amazing!!! I would have loved to see these fried just a little bit harder, but they are very tasty, and I would definitely order them again! (8/10)

-Jewels of the Sea: Seafood lovers, this is for you! This entree comes with one crabcake, one massive shrimp stuffed with crab meat, 4 shrimp, and 4 scallops. I might tell you a joke, but I'll never tell you a lie! This is a MUST HAVE! The portions are enough to fill up on while dining in and still have enough to take home. (10/10)

-Lobster: Charlie was nice enough to crack and break down the lobster for me (because I wasn't going to do it lol) Those that know me know about my phobia. But the lobster was very good. Cooked and seasoned well. Be sure to ask for warm butter. (9/10)

-Double Crabcake Entree: If you like crabcakes, this place is for you. Timbuktu has some of the BEST crabcakes in Maryland. There's is not a lot of filler. There crabcakes contain all lump crab meat. You can get them as an entree or a sandwich. I would suggest the entree. It comes with your choice of two sides. (10/10)

-Key Lime Pie: The key lime pie is more on the tart side. If you like a sweeter pie, this might not be for you. Comes topped with whipped cream and a berry drizzle. (8/10)

-Bread Pudding: Now, I am not a HUGE fan of bread pudding but if done correctly, I can tolerate it. This bread pudding was DELICIOUS! I tasted it before it was warmed up (I had to take pictures) but once they warmed it up, which is how it's served, OMG!!! It's so good and it's enough to share with the table. (9/10)

I thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience, and I will definitely be returned soon with my family.

Be sure to check them out and don't forget to tell them,...

Yesterday evening (12/9) myself and my wife went into Timbuktu for a nice dinner date. Once seated it took awhile for the waiter to come, but once he did he wasn't too pleasant and seem to be in rush, but we chucked it up to maybe he was busy or over overwhelmed, even though our section wasn't extremely busy.  He was an Asian gentlemen maybe in late 50s. Food came pretty prompt after ordering but nothing too major was ordered. Just a crab cake sandwich and a salad, but nevertheless it wasn't a long wait for the food and it was good.

When the check came, I noticed  he had doubled circled around the entire tip section. As an African American man, I started to take offense to this but then tried to just ignore it. However there was another table next to us( a Caucasian couple) who were wrapping up at the sametime. I asked them if they had received the same circle to see if maybe this was common practice with this same waiter, and they hadn't received the circle.  Once he came back for payment, I notice that in his hand there was another receipt with payment from a whole other table and they didn't have the circle either.

I continued to pay and even leave 22% tip as I planned and always do,  but I asked for the manager after he brought my Credit Card back.   He never got the manager!  So I had to ask another waiter for the manager.

Once the manager arrived, I had explained I wasn't trying to make a scene, but assumptions or stereotypes are offense and need to be addressed with staff.  He advised that sometimes waiters do that which I'm aware of as we frequent restaurants on date night often, however this wasn't done to any of the other patrons he was waiting on at the time. Just us! He advised we didn't have to leave tip which I quickly advised the tip had already been left and furthers the stereotype if I wouldn't have left the tip.  He asked us to wait so he could address. After sometime I noticed the waiter was back tending to his tables, but then came back to us as I still had his pen in hand. The waiter explain he did that so we could understand what the percentage of the tip was so I wouldn't have to calculate and he does that for certain tables at the other restaurant. I was now further dismay and now without a shade of a doubt new I was correct in my thoughts of being profiled. I just replied "OK Sir, you aren't seeing it, and we are going to leave" and we started to head out. The Manager had rushed back out from the back with a gift card and was very apologetic and assured us he understood and would do some training.

This may not seem big to most and isn't in the grand things of life, however it's an ugly sterotype or assumption that Black's and other races don't tip and that simply isn't true. The majority should not be judge based on a few regarding and sterotype or related race. Our dollars have power and where we go or choose to spend is in our control.

This review is not to bash the establishment but to let patrons know to be aware of any situation that may present itself to you and that I do appreciate mgmt for jumping in right away to address the issue...

It's been years since I've been here, but heard they've improved as they were under new ownership/management. There aren't really any seafood restaurants in Hanover, so I figured we'd check it out as it's close to his house. I checked open table before I got to his place and they had plenty of reservations available. Once I got to his place, he asked me to check the availability as it was close to 7, he was just getting off work and starving. I checked and reservations were available every 15 minutes. So how shocked were we when arrived just 10 minutes later and there was a 30-minute wait. Note to self make a reservation.

We're finally seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant and were "greeted" by a less than friendly server who placed 2 glasses of ice water on the table. No he didn't give us his name and right after he sat the water down asked what we wanted to order. Significant other was trying to get an appetizer that we would both eat and I just wanted soup. He was torn between the egg rolls, calamari and nachos. I thought the safer of the 3 would be the calamari. Wrong again, smh. These were the most overcooked calamari I've had, i mean super chewy. They looked as if they had been fried twice. That works for fries, not seafood. The cream of crab soup, on the other hand, after some old bay and black pepper was delicious. It was full of lump crabmeat.

For entrees, we ordered the broiled seafood platter and broiled red snapper with house salad and broccoli. The portions were pretty large. This isn't a place you come for the sides as the salads were full of the center hard white pieces and the broccoli was overcooked. He said the crabcake was good and after a few dashes of old bay enjoyed the salmon. He's not a fan of stuffed shrimp and this one didn't help that case. The red snapper was seasoned well, but overcooked.

He said he would come back for the soup and crabcake. I'll find other places for us to...