Portland ME Restaurants

[Siren]

went down rt. 1 yesterday and had some nice full bellied clams @ the cape nedick lobster pound. probably some of the best I've had in the area.

[Yannii]

hi, i am stopping through Portland on a Friday morning on my way up to Bar Harbor from Philly (sorry to be such a tourist) i am planning to load up on fresh produce and such at the market, and was wondering what would be the best place for breakfast. i was thinking the front room, any other suggestions? i am looking for fresh, creative, and of course, delicious. price/atmosphere unimportant, thanks

[johnnyd]

The Front Room is great for breakfast. I had poached eggs on house corned beef hash which had a hint of mustard - outstanding.

i am planning to load up on fresh produce and such at the market,

By "the Market", I hope you don't mean the Portland Public Market - 90% of it has closed. Your best bets are:

Rosemont Market & Bakery at 559 Brighton Ave., Portland

Maxwells Farm out on Cape Elizabeth

[CSASphinx]

hi, i am stopping through Portland on a Friday morning on my way up to Bar Harbor from Philly (sorry to be such a tourist) i am planning to load up on fresh produce and such at the market, and was wondering what would be the best place for breakfast.  i was thinking the front room, any other suggestions? i am looking for fresh, creative, and of course, delicious. price/atmosphere unimportant, thanks

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Speaking of breakfast...is the second coming of The Good Egg operational yet at the Pepper Club? and if so, has anyone been?

I still remember those delicious whole grain pancakes that would fill an entire plate, with a dollop of Maine blueberry compote. The Good Egg is also where, as a then mid-20-something person, I had my first cup of coffee. I figured it smelled so good I just had to try it.

It's been two cups a morning ever since.

[Yannii]

I did mean the public market, thank you so much for the heads up, i will try one of your other suggestions.

[Ellie]

Speaking of breakfast...is the second coming of The Good Egg operational yet at the Pepper Club? and if so, has anyone been?

I still remember those delicious whole grain pancakes that would fill an entire plate, with a dollop of Maine blueberry compote. The Good Egg is also where, as a then mid-20-something person, I had my first cup of coffee. I figured it smelled so good I just had to try it.

It's been two cups a morning ever since.

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The Good Egg is operational but I have not yet made it in. The only I've been hearing is that the wait is long. Really long... my coworker went there the Friday morning around 8am and it took 45 minutes. I'm sure they'll work that out!

[Irwin]

We ate at 555 Congress Street last night and the food as well as the service was excellent, but my 3-chop rack of lamb was extremely small for $32.95. I guess I need to take my business back to Fore Street where the prices are less, quantity is more, and the food is just as good.

[CSASphinx]

We ate at 555 Congress Street last night and the food as well as the service was excellent, but my 3-chop rack of lamb was extremely small for $32.95. I guess I need to take my business back to Fore Street where the prices are less, quantity is more, and the food is just as good.

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Well if quantity is the deciding factor, then by all means Fore St. is the place to land.

That said, I still believe the food and service are much more refined at 555 than Fore St., James Beard award notwithstanding. Similarly, I wouldn't use quantity as my judge when discussing the food at Hugo's.

[sara]

Lunch this past Saturday at Duckfat-- spot-on perfect food.Seriously, I am enormously impressed by what's going on there-- an insanely perfect special salad of feta, cluster tomatoes, hearts of palm and arugula; a delicious cubano; one of the world's best milkshakes; delicious ginger soda.. All with FAST, and very friendly service in a calm, clean place-- this model NEEDS/ cries out for/ DEMANDS to be replicated elsewhere. I'm drooling with jealousy now from Madison WI.

[sara]

Quick note: There is much amiss with the mussels at Fore St. They are no longer the very delicious Casco Bay variety. I used to devour huge portions, sopping up that sauce with much bread. No longer-- the waitress reports trouble with sourcing, and the strong likelihood the dish will be yanked from the menu. What a shame.

[larrylee]

I'm posting this in the hopes that other visitors will benefit from my mistake. I'm hoping this is an appropriate thread, since it's where I learned of The Front Room.

My wife and I were in Maine this past weekend and this thread was immensely helpful in picking out some excellent places to eat. We had a late brunch at the Front Room. I ordered the two eggs with biscuits and gravy plate. The eggs were over easy and basted in bacon drippings. An excellent choice. What struck me about the eggs is that they were quite fluffy. I'm used to extremely thin egg whites, and these had substantial volume. The dish was best when my fork had a little bit of everything on the plate. The fresh fruit plate featured some Maine blueberries, which makes the best stuff in the Union Square greenmarket pale in comparison. The staff was very friendly and allowed me to take some pictures of the interior.

Regarding the location, I should have paid more attention to this post from Jack Rose, or the text on the Front Room's web site. Google Maps puts "73 Congress St" at the intersection of Congress and High, which is not right at all. It's near the Eastern Promenade, around Merrill St. Strangely enough, Google Maps puts "100 Congress St" in what appears to be the right vicinity.

Speaking of the Front Room's web site, it's http://www.thefrontroomrestaurant.com/. Below is a picture of the exterior. It's also across the street from a large stone church.

[ghostrider]

Regarding the location, I should have paid more attention to this post from Jack Rose, or the text on the Front Room's web site. Google Maps puts "73 Congress St" at the intersection of Congress and High, which is not right at all. It's near the Eastern Promenade, around Merrill St. Strangely enough, Google Maps puts "100 Congress St" in what appears to be the right vicinity.

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That's why I use MSN MapPoint. Quick & always accurate (so far, in my experience). Try 73 Congress, it points to somewhere near Merrill, see if that looks right.

I used to use MapQuest but they changed their software and are now too slow a load.

[johnnyd]

Quick note: There is much amiss with the mussels at Fore St. They are no longer the very delicious Casco Bay variety. I used to devour huge portions, sopping up that sauce with much bread. No longer-- the waitress reports trouble with sourcing, and the strong likelihood the dish will be yanked from the menu.  What a shame.

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Harbor Fish tells me mussels are spawning in Canada, the current source of mussels in Portland, since there's a closure in force on Casco Bay. Spawning mussels are mushy and don't taste so hot.

If they do pull the dish, it will re-appear when conditions improve.

[sara]

Hi

I don't think our waitress said the mussels were from Canada--I believe she named a bay in Maine. But they were a bit mushy.

Apparently they pulled the dish earlier this year, then put it back on with these new mussels. I'd pull it again if I were them.

[erikd]

New cheese/pantry shop in Scarborough.....just opened last week. Amazing selection of cheeses, charcuterie, wines....high end pantry items. The owners and staff are super schooled in their product, and extremely excited about it. Take a peek into their cheese cave.

[johnnyd]

New cheese/pantry shop in Scarborough.....just opened last week.  Amazing selection of cheeses, charcuterie, wines....high end pantry items.  The owners and staff are super schooled in their product, and extremely excited about it.  Take a peek into their cheese cave.

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Address? Name?

[erikd]

The Cheese Iron. 200 US RT 1. about 1/2 mile south of Lois Natural foods, on the left side. It's in the same lot as a huge antique store.

Vince and Jill, the owners, are absolutely fantastic, and can chat cheese for hours!

[Ellie]

The Cheese Iron.  200 US RT 1.  about 1/2 mile south of Lois Natural foods, on the left side.  It's in the same lot as a huge antique store.

Vince and Jill, the owners, are absolutely fantastic, and can chat cheese for hours!

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erikd--

Thanks so much for the tip! I stopped in on Saturday and had a wonderful time. The salumi looked amazing and I ended up buying small portions of 4 different meats as I couldn't decide what I wanted to try (Prcosciutto San Danielle, hot Coppa, Toscano style dry salami and a mortadella rustica). All were excellent. After several cheese samples, I decided on two - Ossau Iraty (french, sheeps milk) and Hooligan (raw cows milk from Connecticut). I can't wait to work my through the cheese selection.

I also picked out some olives, cornichons, mozarella di bufala from northern California and bread. I was also tempted by a baking chocolate I sampled, a bruschetta spread, tasmanian cherries (? I think thats what they were called)..... I never even got to wine.

The staff was incredible. So patient and helpful but still very effecient, handling multiple customers at once. I told them I heard about them from eGullet.org. They hadn't heard of it!

Thanks again!

[johnnyd]

Okay, I have to go in there and get something for all these heirloom tomatoes I got over the weekend. Thanks for the update, Ellie!

[erikd]

johnnyd-

i'm sure you will find many accoutrements for your heirlooms......god......most of the cheeses on the runny or fresh side. Honestly, any cured meat there should be able to hang out with the tomats. The oliveoil and vinegar selection is priced pretty close to wholesale, which is unheard of. If anything, drool over the cheesecave, or chatter with them. Their choco covered nuts are ballsy, and their sammiches are delish.....

regards

erik

[larrylee]

Hopefully this isn't too off-topic:

From yesterday's NY Times:

What are the up-and-coming food cities?

There are so many! Both Portlands — Maine and Oregon — are obsessed with good food.

I definitely agree after our recent trip.

[halcyongolf]

In mid-october I am traveling to Portland Maine and would like to squeeze in one wonderful meal while I am there. From this thread the top choices seem to be:

1. Hugo's

2. Street and Co.

3. 555

4. Fore Street.

Price is not really an object, though I would prefer to keep it under 250 for two people with wine and service if possible, however this is by no means a requirement. My wonderful girlfriend will be with me so this is a romantic evening, and would like some input as to which one of the above-noted restaurants best fills that quality. Just looking for a wonderful place to compliment a weekend getaway for a young couple looking for a romantic evening out.

[Siren]

I would put Cinque Terre up there, also, halcyon...

www.cinqueterreonline.com

[erikd]

You're fortunate to have a handful of great restaurants like the ones stated above. They each offer something different, and are all at the top of their game

[halcyongolf]

I would put Cinque Terre up there, also, halcyon...

www.cinqueterreonline.com

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Thanks for the replies. I like the look of cinque terre and my girlfriend does enjoy Italian food so I might have to consider that. However, it looks like I am leaning heavily towards Hugo's at this point. ANy idea on how far in advance I have to book at a Portland rest. to get a prime seat for two?