Place #4: Rocket to Venus

Rocket to Venus is a hipster bar and restaurant located in the emo hood of Hamden. Hamden is about 7 minutes north of downtown Baltimore via 83 for those of you who don't know/haven't ventured into the neighborhood.

Rocket has a chill, hippy atmosphere and makes for a great place to grab a bite on a weekday night. It's not loud - in fact, if I remember correctly, there was no music playing, but there IS a jukebox. So, you can actually hear yourself talking with your party, and can also make some indie rock selections from the box.

The interesting piece of history about this place is that the idea for its theme was inspired by a real man from Baltimore who wanted to build a rocket ship to take to Venus. Apparently, in 1928, a family member of the owner, who was a scientist, had a dream to get to Venus. He attempted to build a rocket, which sadly backfired and subsequently did NOT make it to Venus.... Well duh.

Thankfully, the only injury sustained was to his ego.
He soon left Baltimore after the humiliation and gave up his dream of reaching Venus :-(
But his damaged ego lived on in spirit through the creation of the restaurant! I'm sure he's thrilled about this....

In terms of food selection, I was disappointed. The menu is skinny. But not in a diet sort of way. In fact, the best things on the menu, are the things that are the worst for your waist line.

I ordered fried pickles as an appetizer, which were pretty gross actually. This was my first time trying fried pickles, so I am in no way a fried pickle connoisseur, but they just weren't good. I still ate them. But... I was hungry! Then I ordered a salad, which was a mistake. It was literally a pile of lettuce with a few chunks of tofu. Without any dressing. When I asked for dressing, it was a pretty bland raspberry vinaigrette. Meh.

My lovely friend Laura ordered something quite interesting that I've never seen before - waffles with chicken on top....? I guess to you meat eaters, this might be appetizing, but to me, that looked gross too. Comes with maple syrup and gravy. Mmmmmm (sarcasm).

However, I WILL give Rocket mad points for offering a fantastic dessert....

A fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich! WHAAAAAT?! Yup... it's true. This unique and fun dessert made up for the disgusting dinner food.

Other things on the menu include spring rolls, falafel, a couple sandwich choices, a burger, a noodle dish - not a wide range of choices. My question is - what do any of these food items have to do with the planet Venus?! For such a cool idea, couldn't the owner have thought of creative dishes that would only be served on Venus? Like I don't know - some type of alien food? Just saying...

Overall, I have to say that Rocket to Venus is a "Do or do not. There is no try" type of place. I think if you are going to check it out, it would be best to go for a drink and/or a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich with someone you feel like catching up with. Actually - a night full of alcohol and fried pb&js could be a pretty fun night out!... I'm obviously pretty easy to please; and a pretty cheap date :-)

Check out their website for additional information and to see their drink menu:
http://www.rockettovenus.com/

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