The folks at Manor Tavern are certainly giving thanks this holiday. The Monkton restaurant is back in business.
Owner Mark Greene closed Manor Tavern after an Aug. 29 fire destroyed its second-floor offices and part of the banquet dining room. (The catering business remained open.)
Greene vowed to get the restaurant up and running as soon as possible. True to his word, Manor Tavern reopened for business on the goal date of Oct. 31 -- with an updated interior, a slightly changed menu and a new chef, Henry Doyle.
Greene says he reconfigured the front foyer to make it more inviting, and he enclosed the bar area. He and wife Renee also softened the dining room's color scheme, taking it from dark hues to beiges and golds.
Menu-wise, Greene says he incorporated some changes into his usual semi-annual seasonal switches. He says the food is still continental-style with both light fare and fine dining, but he's added an "Asian flair" to this fall's menu.
New appetizers include Oriental shrimp and scallops, lightly blackened and served with wasabi mashed potatoes, mustard soy sauce and sesame beurre blanc ($7.75), and Hawaiian shrimp, hoisin-glazed and served with sauteed shiitake mushroom and spinach wontons ($6.95).
New entrees include hibachi swordfish, with an Asian glaze, served with Oriental vegetables and wasabi mashed potatoes ($13.50), and Sichuan short ribs, glazed with a Sichuan barbecue sauce and served with garlic smashed potatoes and Oriental vegetables ($11.95).
Manor Tavern is at 15819 Old York Road in Monkton. It's open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., except Sundays, when it opens at 10:30 a.m. to serve brunch till 1:30 p.m. The regular menu is available until 11 p.m.
Sonny Lee's back
Some residents of Randallstown and Pikesville have happily discovered that their favorite 1980s Chinese restaurateur has returned to the Baltimore area.
Sonny Lee opened Hunan Taste on Liberty Road in 1985 and quickly gained many fans. But he returned to his native Hong Kong in 1989 to run a computer business and raise his children. He says he moved back to the Baltimore area this year because his kids are now going to college in the United States, and he missed the restaurant business.
In June, he opened Sonny Lee's Hunan Taste in Reisterstown, and many old customers have found their way to him.
"It's very emotional for me," Lee says. "After 13 years, customers still remember me. And it feels like I saw them just yesterday. ... I tell my wife, 'That's it, no more moving around. We're staying here.'"
Lee offers an ample Chinese menu at his new place, and he has Japanese cuisine and a large sushi bar.
He says that the new Hunan Taste is the only restaurant in the area where you can order half a Peking duck ($12.95). (The whole duck will run you $23.95.) And you don't have to order the dish 24 hours ahead.
Sonny Lee's Hunan Taste is at 750 Main St., Unit 104-A, Reisterstown. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
The restaurant doesn't have a liquor license, but you are welcome to bring your own alcohol.
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