• Harbor East is a mixed-use development located, as the name implies, just to the east of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The pedestrian-friendly 12-block area features high-end shops, businesses, a movie theater, apartments and condos. As it is in close proximity to a number of Baltimore's top tourist destinations, including the National Aquarium, Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, it is also home to several hotels and to a wide range of restaurants.
  
  

James Joyce Irish Pub and Restaurant

• The James Joyce is a traditional Irish-style pub that was actually built in Ireland and shipped overseas to be assembled in Baltimore's Harbor East area. The pub offers live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and the restaurant serves lunch every day and dinner and brunch on weekends. While you can order steak, pasta or the ubiquitous Baltimore favorite, crab cakes, the specialty of the house is, of course, Irish cuisine. Irish menu favorites include lamb stew, shepherd's pie and beef and Guinness Stew. Guinness on tap is served in the bar, along with 13 other draught beers, bottled beers, wines, cocktails and specialty drinks such as Irish coffee and hot toddies made with Jameson's whiskey.
  
  

Talara

• Talara describes itself as a "Nuevo Latino" bistro, putting a fresh spin on a fusion of the sushi bar and tapas bar concepts. The dining room's main attraction is a 15-item ceviche bar, featuring numerous variations on the classic dish of citrus-marinated raw fish. Among the unique spins Talara puts on their ceviche are the Peruvian-style ceviche known as tiradito, with your choice of seafood prepared with lemon juice, red chili and chipotle paste, cilantro oil and sea salt and their signature "fire and ice" ceviche, marinated with lime juice, habanero peppers, scallions, red onions and cilantro and topped with a prickly pear granita. A tapas menu is also available, as are mid-size plates of Latin American-influenced items such as smoked duck with mojo criollo glaze, chili-rubbed salmon and crab meat chili relleno. The drinks menu includes variations on the mojito, the Brazilian caipirinha and the Peruvian pisco sour.
  
  

Cinghiale

• Cinghiale, which is Italian for "wild boar," features cooking from the northern and central regions of Italy. Two fixed-price dinner menus are offered: the formal four-course "Prezzo Fisso" and the casual, less expensive three-course menu known as "La Cucina del Nonna," or "grandmother's kitchen." Both menus feature an antipasto dish and a dessert, although selections differ. With the "Prezzo Fisso" menu you get a first course of pasta or risotto followed by a larger main course featuring items such as grilled duck with walnut pesto or pan-roasted veal loin with chanterelles and polenta. "La Cucina del Nonna" offers just one main, pasta-based dish such as veal lasagna or spaghetti with shrimp and capers in a white wine sauce. All menu items are also available for a la carte ordering, and cocktails, panini and a variety of cheeses are also offered a la carte.
  
  

Charleston

• Charleston's menu blends French cuisine with that of South Carolina's Low Country. The results have received accolades from such sources as Wine Spectator, the Mobil Travel Guide, the Zagat Guide and Baltimore Magazine. All menu items, which include such specialties as big eye tuna served with duck fat potatoes and grilled veal sweetbreads with caramelized cauliflower, are listed along with suggested wine pairings from the restaurant's extensive cellar. A six-course chef-selected seasonal menu is also offered, with soup, salad, cheese, dessert and two main dishes: one seafood item such as shrimp with grits and Andouille sausage and one meat item such as beef tenderloin with hoppin' John and whiskey sauce. The seasonal menu may be ordered with or without wine pairings, a total of five different wines in all.