Ixia
Ixia deserves a slightly hipper language than English. Something with more words for swank or bizarre is required, because in English it’s hard to describe how the blue walls and crystal chandeliers and paintings of dancing skeletons translate into something stylish but without the self-importance of the style-dives of Manhattan.
My date and I debated the cocktail menu until the bartenders could stand it no longer. They asked if we wanted them to make two awesome cocktails and when we agreed they went to work and made, as ordered, two awesome cocktails. We ordered grilled octopus later, and combined with the complimentary bread, had a delicious and pretty decently sized snack for ten bucks.
So I’ve eaten octopus now, and had a cocktail containing ginger (it tasted something like the pickled ginger you get with sushi, which is, of course, the best part of sushi). My date had a cocktail called the Queen’s Melons, a very watermelony drink based around Queen Vodka (get it?) and I had a phenomenal drink with some kind of vodka-saki infusion and a lemon taste, crisp, just slightly sweet, and with a perfect edge.
And as a bartender, I have to comment on the skill of the bartenders at Ixia. They read my situation perfectly, strolling by for the occasional chat but generally keeping away, perhaps well aware that the date didn’t need their input. I appreciated it, especially since we were early and as the only people in the bar, it may have been tempting as a bartender to sit and talk to us.
And you heard it here first: Ixia will be the first spot in Baltimore using liquid nitrogen to freeze drinks. It hasn’t happened yet, but our bartender said it’s coming.
518 North Charles Street
Baltimore MD 21201
Tues-Thurs: 5- 9:30 (last dinner seating)
Friday-Sat: 5-10:30 (last dinner seating)
410-727-1800
