Waterfront rowhouse neighbourhood around O'Donnell Square, packed with bars, NiHao for Sichuan and crab decks along the Patapsco.
NiHao on Boston Street in Canton is chef Peter Chang's Baltimore room, plating Peking duck, dim sum and dumplings in a busy waterfront rowhouse.
Signature: Peking duck, Dim sum, Dumplings
Order: The Peking duck and a spread of dumplings and dim sum.
Tip: Weekend dim sum brunch is the move; reserve, because the rowhouse seats fill fast.
Love, Pomelo on Canton's O'Donnell Square is a Roman-leaning Italian room, plating spaghetti with bottarga and anchovy butter in a candlelit storefront.
Signature: Spaghetti with bottarga, Anchovy butter, Roman pasta
Order: The spaghetti with bottarga and anchovy butter.
Tip: The storefront is small and date-night busy; reserve for prime weekend windows.
Gunther & Co. in Canton is a contemporary American room in a restored boiler building, plating fried oyster tacos and a Thai-spiced seafood hot pot.
Order: The fried oyster tacos, then the Thai seafood hot pot.
Tip: The restored Gunther boiler building and atrium bar are the draw; brunch is a quieter visit.
Mama's on the Half Shell on Canton Square is a neighbourhood crab-and-oyster house, working steamed crabs, oysters and a crab cake across two busy floors.
Signature: Steamed crabs, Oysters, Crab cake
Order: A dozen steamed crabs in season, or the crab cake the rest of the year.
Tip: Weekend afternoons overflow with locals; ask for a seat upstairs or out on the patio.
Of Love and Regret in Brewers Hill is a gastropub from the Stillwater beer team, pairing a tight craft tap list with seasonal plates and Belgian pours.
Signature: Belgian ales, Craft beer, Seasonal plates
Order: Whatever Stillwater or rare Belgian is on draft, with the seasonal plates.
Tip: The tap list rotates fast and leans Belgian and sour; ask the bar what just landed.
Mobtown Brewing in Brewers Hill works a rotating tap list of IPAs and sours from a Foster Avenue warehouse taproom with a dog-friendly patio.
Tip: The patio is dog-friendly and food trucks rotate through on weekends.
Monument City Brewing in East Baltimore pours an everyday range of IPAs, lagers and ales from a warehouse taproom with a patio off Haven Street.
Tip: The taproom hosts run clubs and food trucks; weekend afternoons are the busiest.
Oliver Brewing in northeast Baltimore is a long-running English-style ale brewery, pouring cask ales and IPAs from a taproom on Shannon Drive.
Tip: It leans English, so the cask-conditioned ales are the pours to seek out.
Schola runs hands-on cooking classes in a waterfront Canton kitchen, teaching seasonal and international menus in a BYOB setting with validated parking.
Tip: It is BYOB, so bring a bottle; the waterfront kitchen at Lighthouse Point validates parking.
Cafe Dear Leon on Canton Square is a cafe and bakery for a quieter brunch, plating fresh pastries, egg sandwiches and careful coffee off the square.
Order: A laminated pastry and an egg sandwich with a careful pour-over.
Tip: It is more cafe than full brunch; the pastries sell through quickly on weekend mornings.
NiHao in Canton runs a weekend dim sum brunch from chef Peter Chang's kitchen, sending dumplings, buns and soup dumplings to a packed rowhouse.
Order: A spread of dumplings and soup dumplings off the dim sum cart.
Tip: Reserve the dim sum brunch; the small rowhouse fills fast on weekend mornings.