This was my first visit to Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill. Though I have visited other restaurants in Towson Town Center and greater Towson many times, this was the last one to experience. My daughter raved about her visits but I still never tried it. Since it was her birthday, I thought it would be one of the options to consider. Out of five other restaurant choices throughout Maryland and DC, we finally decided that this would be the place.
From the moment that we entered, I liked the ambiance. A nice atmosphere is always important. Though it is located in the mall alongside two other popular restaurants, this one gave me a little more refinement in comparison to the other two. Please do not get me wrong, I love the other two restaurants but it was something about this one that was just a little different. Perhaps, I sensed this because it is not as overexposed as the other two. This is just my opinion.
The lighting was right and the soft holiday music playing in the background was enjoyable and season appropriate. The tables were wooden without tablecloths but that was fine. We were seated not too far from the bar but nestled cosily in a less traveled part of the restaurant, which meant that we did not have a lot of traffic walking by our table. I am so happy about that.
Once seated, the waiter came over immediately to greet us and take our order, which was great. I had not eaten since earlier in the day, so I was more than ready to partake in this meal. We ordered our usual drinks and agreed that we would like some bread. Oh my, this was some of the most delicious bread I have ever tasted. One little question that I would like to ask is why is it that some restaurants bring an odd number of bread that is not commensurate with the number of people at the table? It would seem that you would bring an even number of bread but I guess that's just me. Perhaps, it is restaurant policy. Nevertheless, it was delicious.
The bread alone deserves another paragraph. Copelands and Hops were two other restaurants formerly in the area that had some rave worthy bread. I love bread. I love homemade bread. This bread reminded me of a donut hole from a local coffee shop in presentation with all of the flavor and goodness of a donut from another local donut shop minus the sweetness. Alone the bread appeared a tad bit savory but once the butter was added, it had some sweetness and maybe cinnamon flavor. It appears that they ration the bread but as good as it is, I can understand why.
Since the grilled salmon was highly recommended by my daughter that is what I selected. I decided on the standard sides, which were sautéed spinach and jasmine rice. I added the Burgundy button mushrooms just because I love mushrooms. I was pleasantly pleased with the meal overall. This is a pretty typical meal that I regularly prepare at home, so I could not go wrong with this choice. The mushrooms were perfect in flavor, texture and presentation. The sautéed spinach was good but it did not have a lot of flavor for my taste. The jasmine rice was good and nicely steamed. In my opinion, it too lacked flavor but it was good. Finally, the salmon was good, it just lacked a little flavor. It was nicely cooked though. I definitely could have eaten it without added sauce, however, my daughter mentioned that she usually has sauce with her grilled salmon.
We asked for the sweet and sour sauce, which added some depth of flavor to the fish. It definitely presented like a healthy meal in appearance and taste. I just like my food to have big bold flavors. Next time, I'll add some chimichurri sauce to see if that brings up the flavor a little more. Overall, it was a good meal. It was a nice portion and it was filling. Thank you because that is so important.
The meal ended with a complimentary piece of chocolate cake for my daughter's birthday. It presented complete with some of the most decadent chocolate cake that I have ever tasted. Chocolate cake is not my typical go to dessert but this was such a dense fudge like cake yet moist in texture. It was topped with fresh whipped cream, a sprig of mint, a fresh sliced strawberry, a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and some chocolate sauce. It was elegant in presentation and not only that, it was quite delicious. My dessert fork was dirty but I remedied that by keeping my dinner fork.
Last, but certainly not least, we had an attentive waiter, who visited our table enough but not too much and not too little. The manager also visited our table to see if everything was okay and to extend his services if we needed anything during the visit. It was a nice mid-meal touch. Needless to say, I have never been here before but I will definitely be back. Thanks for making it a nice birthday dinner for my daughter. read more