Upscale Chinese fusion dining: Baltimore’s Nine Tailed Fox

Ever since I heard that there was going to be an Atlas Restaurant Group restaurant in Cross Keys, I was pretty excited. Upscale Chinese definitely fits a vacuum in Baltimore’s dining scene. So, I decided to go to Nine Tailed Fox on my birthday.

The restaurant is only a few weeks old, so there may be changes as they settle in.

Because the weather was great, I decided to eat on their rooftop outdoor space. Most people were inside and the interior is definitely beautiful. It’s modern, but golden. More chic than Chinese restaurant themed. Outdoors had some lighting, but honestly: really, really not enough. I had to do my own lighting magic to get you photos of the food. But people eat with their eyes first! And of course, these days, people like to take selfies on an enjoyable evening out. You want people to see your outfit, your presentation as well.

Since it was birthday time, I ordered a cocktail to start. The drinks each have an Asian flare, through the liqueurs, fruits and flavors. I ordered the (Down)(Up)+(Kick) — Oka Rice Vodka, St. Germain, Lychee, Mango, Lemon. It was pleasant, refreshing, not too sweet. A lychee instead of a maraschino cherry was a nice touch.

I was pretty underwhelmed by its presentation. I don’t know if it’s the martini glass, the color of the drink or garnish that was the same color of the drink, which in its ingredients is a cloudy color. There just wasn’t any special snap to make it memorable. Nobody would see this drink floating by and demand to know what it is.

Sooo . . . here’s something that they print on the dim sum list of items: they all come out at the same time. Ok, fine. But really what they mean is EVERYTHING comes out at the same time. Apps with entrees. I was kind of offended. I was told by someone running food that the kitchen was slow, so pretty much they didn’t have anything else to do but to shove all my things out at once.

I had told the the hostess and my server it was my birthday, but that seemed to not do anything more for the program than some infamous lyrics of Tom T. Hall: “Well I told him who I was and told him I was workin’ steady . . .
That part about me bein’ who I was did not impress him.”

I do order Chinese food frequently and I make some, too. So, I told my server I was interested in trying some different things, especially since it’s a fusion-type restaurant.

I ordered an item off the dim sum menu as an appetizer: Smoked Pastrami Egg Roll with bell pepper, celery, honey mustard dip. It’s excellent, definitely must-order. It’s made tempura-style, much more crunchy and fun than an ordinary egg roll. The tender pastrami seems like it would be weird, but it really works! The honey-Chinese mustard provides that perfect counterpoint to the rich meat.

It being the B-Day, I splurged on Maryland’s pride and joy, rockfish. Crispy Whole Fried Rockfish is 1lb rockfish, asian slaw, sweet and sour sauce. The tempura was not as crunchy as the egg roll.

It probably suffered a bit — but still not starting out like the egg roll — from sitting there as I enjoyed the egg roll. Again, this bringing out everything at once gives short shrift to more luxurious entrees as well as to the diner.

The fish itself was exquisitely fresh, mild and sweet. The sweet and sour sauce was just not worthy of the rockfish: it was very sweet-corn syrupy, with tomato ketchup notes. It’s like something that you’d get from the corner carryout. I really hope they change it to something more unique and special in the very near future.

I didn’t order dessert, though I was originally up for it.