Anyone who goes to Ullswater Restaurant & Wine Bar in South Baltimore expecting a second Bicycle will be sorely disappointed. But if you lower your expectations, you can have a very nice meal there.
Ullswater is the new restaurant of Nicholas and Saundra Batey. They were the owners of Bicycle, the popular and upscale bistro nearby, now closed. Their new place, by contrast, is an unpretentious neighborhood bar and restaurant. They were wise not to aim any higher; the parking situation alone will keep them from drawing much traffic from elsewhere in the city.
Ullswater is a relatively quiet place. The bar in front probably gets pretty rowdy during a Ravens game, but the night we were there as many folks were eating at the bar as drinking there.
The lighting in the dining room in back and the one upstairs is subdued, and easy-listening jazz was playing. The colors of the rooms are soothing: soft greens, browns and creams for the most part. The peaceful picture of Ullswater Lake in England that inspired the name is the main art.
I don't think you would guess from the name or the looks of the place that it's a straightforward little Italian restaurant with traditional dishes. I've heard people complain about the name, given the menu. But it makes sense to me. The Ullswater picture has some personal meaning for Nicholas Batey, who is the chef as well as the owner. He's not Italian, and if he gets bored cooking mainstream Italian, he'll be able to switch his menu to - say - New American without having to change anything else.
Right now, though, he's producing mostly pasta, chicken and shrimp dishes at very reasonable prices - less than $20. It reminds me a little of Amicci's in Little Italy in that regard.
He's kept a couple of favorite dishes from Bicycle, like the corn and crab soup and a sashimi tuna and avocado appetizer. But for the most part the menu is fried calamari, spaghetti Bolognese and eggplant Parmigiana. His versions of these familiar dishes are often more offbeat and more elaborate than you'll find at restaurants like Amicci's, though.
A fried eggplant appetizer has fresh mozzarella topping the little eggplant slices, with a fine kalamata tapenade and a sun-dried tomato sauce adding pizazz. A Tuscan onion soup is as thick as a stew but has a great combination of caramelized Vidalia onions, shallots and garlic cooked down with chicken broth and filled with crisp croutons.
Chicken alla Siciliana begins with tender boneless breasts, which are sauteed and covered with artichoke hearts, crescents of fennel, capers, and pimento strips in a very likable, lemony white-wine sauce.
Creamy risotto, a special that night, is filled with shiitake and portobello mushrooms. If you want something to balance its richness, I recommend the green bean salad, with halves of roasted plum tomatoes, radicchio, goat cheese and fried pancetta bits and toasted pine nuts for crunch, all tossed with a well-balanced vinaigrette.
As you can tell, many of the dishes are complicated, but some of the most successful aren't. Take the shrimp trio appetizer, with fat shrimp cooked three different ways, each better than the last. There were three of each: chilled, grilled and fried. One set of three was supposed to be wrapped in pancetta, but wasn't. I didn't mind; I liked the fact that the shrimpiness of each came through undiluted. They didn't even need their cocktail sauce.
Chef Batey's specialty seems to be the spaghetti Bolognese. I'd prefer wider pasta to soak up the sauce; but the flavorful, meaty combination of ground beef, veal and sausage is a steal at $11.50. Just as comforting on a cold winter night is the penne with a deliciously vegetable-heavy sauce of peppers, fennel and tomato as well as sausage.
Food like this cries out for good bread. According to our waiter, Chef Batey is experimenting with different vendors and sometimes making his own. The hot, chewy rolls available this night weren't made in house and weren't traditional Italian, but they worked for me.
As I said, the focus at Ullswater seems to be the neighborhood, so a light-fare supper menu is offered Monday through Thursday, with burgers and sandwiches served with a small green salad - all under $10.
The restaurant's wine list isn't memorable (and it's hard to take Ullswater seriously as a wine bar, in spite of the name), but its modest bottles of both Italian and non-Italian wines fit very well with the food.
Surprisingly, we had better coffee here than I've had recently at much more expensive restaurants. And it was hot. The three desserts we had with it were all made in house. Cannoli were filled with chocolate chips and pistachios, and there was a fine bread pudding with fruit and nuts, but if I were in the kitchen I'd skip the chocolate syrup and powdered-sugar decoration. The kitchen seemed to realize there was no need to gussy up the ricotta cheesecake. Its very plainness after a rich and filling meal was a big part of its appeal.
Ullswater is off to a good start because the owners haven't taken on more than they can handle. They haven't tried to make it more of an Italian restaurant than it is. The servers are friendly and good at what they do. They don't know more about Italian food and wine than you do, and maybe less, but don't let that put you off. Expect a decent, low-key dinner that won't break the bank and nice folks waiting on you, and you won't be disappointed.
Ullswater Where: 554 E. Fort Ave., South Baltimore
Contact: 443-563-1620, UllswaterRestaurant.com.
Hours: Open for lunch Monday through Friday, for dinner nightly.
Appetizers: $6.50-$12, entrees: $11-$18.
Food: ***
Service: ***
Atmosphere: ***
[Outstanding: **** Good: *** Fair or uneven: ** Poor: *]