Food & Drink
Review: Palance Brings Trinidadian Food to Butchers Hill
Chef-owner Sean Stephen has transformed a former Irish pub into a destination to explore an extensive rum-based cocktail menu and terrific Trinidadian food.
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[Editor’s Note 2/4/25: After we ran this review, it was announced that Palance would be temporarily closed while management “works through some important matters with our landlord.” Follow the restaurant on Instagram for further updates.]
Walk into Palance Trinidadian Restaurant and Bar and the first thing you’ll see is a wall of rum. This is fitting, as owner-chef Sean Stephen’s Butchers Hill restaurant is an ode to his native Trinidad, an island well-known for its rum production and bottles.
You can happily grab a seat at the bar and settle down to watch a game on the giant TV while you explore the extensive rum-based cocktail menu and terrific Trinidadian food. But it’s also worth heading upstairs, where one of two dining rooms overlooks Castle St. Park, for a quieter dinner.
Palance—the name is a Trinidadian word for party time—inhabits a century-old rowhouse that was formerly the Life of Reilly Irish pub. Last summer, Stephen transformed the 3,000-plus square-foot location into a swank space, showcasing the exposed brick walls and opening the second floor up via two staircases to give it easier access. But the kitchen is where Stephen works his magic.
He’s currently the chef, though his business partner, LaRon Robinson, does some cooking and Stephen is looking for a sous chef, as he still has a day job with the State Department. When he’s not making callaloo, he’s a communications analyst at Andrews Air Force Base.
“I’ve always cooked, even when I lived in a barracks,” Stephen says.
He and his family moved from Trinidad to New Orleans; he joined the Army after high school and has spent his career stationed around the world. After continually cooking for area events for free, Stephen decided to start charging for his food. He searched for spaces closer to his home in Prince George’s County, then found Baltimore.
“Baltimore used to have a big Caribbean population; a lot of the immigrants came in through the shipyard,” says Stephen. He was drawn to the architecture and community of Butchers Hill, as well as the still-sizeable Caribbean community in the city for whom authentic Trinidadian food appeals.
Thus, the menu revolves around classic dishes like doubles, a street food featuring two turmeric-tinted flatbreads called barra topped with curried chickpeas; salt-cod croquettes called accra; and calaloo, the coconut milk-based stew named for the Caribbean greens (also called dasheen) that form its base.
“I try to stay true to Trinidad,” he says, returning frequently to see family—and to get a new jar of his aunt’s homemade hot sauce. That Scotch-bonnet-based hot sauce is doled out judiciously, a fiery but necessary addition to many of the dishes, adding both heat and depth of flavor.
Be sure to douse the excellent calaloo, as well as the brown stew chicken—a rich bowl of bone-in bird in a sauce made with caramelized brown sugar and ginger—and those doubles, all high points of the menu.
And if you need to quench the fire, there’s that wall of rum.
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PALANCE TRINIDADIAN RESTAURANT AND BAR: 2031 E. Fairmount Ave., Butchers Hill, 443-601-5232. HOURS: Wed., Thurs. 3-10 p.m.; Fri., Sat. 3-11:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to closing. PRICES: Starters and sides: $3.30-11; entrees: $15.40-30.80; desserts: $7.70