The food offerings at Camden Yards are getting a little more elitist this year.
At an Orioles media preview on Tuesday, we were shown The Truist Club, the ballpark’s first-ever premium club created by clearing out the former press box located behind home plate. Those who can afford to spend roughly $15,000 for a 40-game Orioles plan there will receive an exclusive complimentary dining experience that is still being workshopped.
That exclusivity extended to the regular club level (Level 2), where Brick & Whistle Food Co. executive chef Daniel Doyle, Levy Restaurants’ hospitality team, and collaborations with new chefs on dishes like a Japanese-inspired cheesesteak and twists on Baltimore desserts will only be available.
Fear not, though: The $4 value menu the team introduced last year is still in action. A pretzel stick has been added to that lineup, along with beers that cost around $6.50, said Doyle, who is in charge of “everything from peanuts to caviar.” Also staying in the stadium are the plethora of local vendors, including Attman’s, Ekiben, Stuggy’s and The Local Fry.
I got to sample some of the menu items that will be available on both the main concourse and club level to help you decide your best food choices. Prices are not yet available for any of the dishes.
Main concourse food
B’more Yak
- Available at the Eutaw Street Butchery by Gate A
The B’more Yak features stir-fried udon noodles with grilled shrimp, onions and hot dog slices in a rich, dark soy sauce gravy. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
Perhaps the most delicious and exciting new item I tried is the B’more Yak, short for yakamein, a soy-based noodle dish that popped off on social media last year. It was my first time trying this Chinese-influenced dish, which found fusion via Baltimore. The seasoning was on point here. The sauce was actually super flavorful and on the higher side of salty, which I enjoyed. Mixed with garlic, soy sauce, a little sambal and ketchup, I don’t think patrons will want to make the dish “dirty” by adding more ketchup to it. The portion size is also quite large, or “nap size,” as Doyle said. The 16-ounce Chinese carryout container comes with a bed of toothsome thinner noodles (not quite udon) with slices of hot dog to pay homage to baseball alongside the usual shrimp, onions and hard-boiled egg. The egg white was the winner here, marinated in soy and evoking Korean mayak eggs, but the yolk was dry.
Baltimore Banana Pudding
- Available at Charm City Chicken Shacks near Sections 15, 65 and 79
Baltimore Banana Pudding is a local staple with a cookie crust and topped with house-made banana pudding. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
If you’re looking for dessert, follow my sugar high, which peaked thanks to the delightful Baltimore Banana Pudding. Doyle said he wanted to offer the “Baltimore staple” as a cold alternative to ice cream, which can melt quickly during the summer heat. The version here is slightly elevated and not truly a parfait. Dollops of pudding topped with whipped cream are added to a cookie crumb base made with a mix of graham cracker and Biscoff cookies. The crumbs are also mixed into the pudding, resulting in a thicker, darker yellow concoction. You could really taste the banana, which guarantees I’ll be a repeat customer the next time I’m at the stadium.
Crab Smash Tacos
- Available at Baltimore Seafood House in Section 5 on the lower concourse
Served at The Baltimore Seafood House, Camden Yards’ signature crab cakes are pressed into corn tortillas, grilled a la plancha, and served with a crab consommé for dipping, then topped with a cilantro lime crema. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
In true Maryland fashion, one of the main new offerings is crab-centric. The Crab Smash Tacos are essentially a crab cake split into three street-style tacos, with a bit of birria inspiration. While the taco itself was a little dry — the crab cake is smashed and pressed into a corn tortilla, after all — the seafood consommé it’s paired with was the winner here. The deep red crab stock that comes as a dip turns the taco into an oceanic flavor bomb. The order also comes with a side of cilantro lime crema, which wasn’t available to taste. Doyle said he thinks the tacos might go for around $25, but have no current fixed price.
The Big Scrap Burger
- Available at the Bleacher Grill off Eutaw Street
The Big Scrap Burger from the Bleacher Grill off Eutaw Street is a Maryland take on a classic burger. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
The Big Scrap Burger, an homage to the McDonald’s Big Mac made of two smashed beef patties, American cheese and fried scrapple, was a miss for me. Much like the Big Mac, which tends to be dense and dry because of the third bun in the middle, the burger patty here was also dry and overpowered by the massive, greasy scrapple patty in the middle. It is, I will contend, a carnivore’s dream. I actually like scrapple, the Pennsylvania Dutch-originated meat dish popular in the city. And the scrapple here, also accompanied with toppings of lettuce, onions, pickles and house-made brick sauce, tasted very much like a breakfast sausage patty. But personally, I would rather eat a scrapple sandwich sans burger patty piled high with their mix of slaw and brick sauce.
Club-level food
Kat’s Japanese Cheesesteak
- Available at the All-Star Kitchen near Sections 214 and 256
Kat’s Japanese Cheesesteak features thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in a sweet soy-dashi broth, topped with Kewpie mayo, pickled beni shoga and ichimi togarashi on a toasted sesame roll. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
A cheesesteak from chef Katsuya Fukushima is one of the new menu items available on the club level. In it, sukiyaki or shabu-style thinly sliced beef is simmered in a sweet soy-dashi broth and served with a mix of cheese on a toasted sesame roll. But I found the bread-to-meat ratio suffered here with the thinly sliced beef. I enjoyed the marinade despite it leaning on the sweeter side, but desperately missed the toppings that accompany a regular cheesesteak, like onions, bell peppers or something crunchy to counteract the soft texture of both the bread and the meat.
Sweet Graffiti Desserts
- Available near Section 234
Dulce de leche Mallomars from renowned pastry chef Romina Peixoto. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
Argentinian pastry chef Romina Peixoto of Sweet Graffiti Desserts, which operates out of New York City, recreated the famous Berger cookie with a twist. The Baltimore Fudge Cookie, a fluffier, cakelike cookie the size of my palm, is topped with a crumbly chocolate fudge that tastes exactly like the Berger. For those who can’t get into the club level, ask a friend or order one online, you can just go to your grocery store for a Berger cookie fix instead. The highlight of the treats here instead was the Mallomar, a blend of Peixoto’s heritage in which she takes an alfajor — a shortbread-style thin cookie sandwich with dulce de de leche in the middle — and encases it with marshmallow and chocolate.
