Mainely Food

[lala]

Well, I'm back from my trip to Maine, almost over the flu contracted on the plane, and am finally able to offer my thoughts on my eatin' in Maine for a week in September!

Thanks to all the generous eGulleters, we didn’t have a bad meal (well, at any EG approved places!) Here’s what we had:

Fairfield, CT.

Super Duper Weenie:

We got dogs to go in between my nephew’s baseball and soccer games. I had the New England dog, with chili and cole slaw. While the bun was a little cool and soggy by the time we found the field, the dog itself was very tasty, with a meaty texture and a good snap to it. Fries were greasy and forgettable.

The other meals that we had in Fairfield were not worth any mention, but in their defense, they were chosen to accomodate a rambunctious 7 year old, not for the food.

Brunswick, Maine.

Sea Dog Brewery, which is actually across the river, in Topsham. An easy walk from downtown Brunswick, but I recommend driving, because as a pedestrian you have to cross the road twice, once at each end of the bridge, with no light to stop traffic.

This is a fun little brewery in an old mill building, right on the river. Inside, it’s open and airy, with the original brick walls and wide wooden plank flooring. We sat out on the deck, overlooking the river at comfortable log tables. I had the Windjammer ale, which is their lightest, and more like a good, hoppy pilsner. We had the mussels (PEI) in beer, and then again in wine. The beer liquid for the mussels was a little bitter (which I've found typical in this preparation anyway), but our next order of mussels in white wine were very nice, with shreds of onion, and a little cream to finish the sauce. The crab cakes were rolled in cracker crumbs and sautéed, and were light, yet full of crab, with a creamy lemon spiked dill sauce. The fries were properly double cooked, tender and fluffy inside, with a crisp exterior from the second fry.

Provisions:

Looking for picnic grub, we stopped in at this store, which is a quite comprehensive ‘gourmet’ shop in downtown Brunswick, with lots of goodies both savory and sweet. We had a baguette from Standard Bakery (delicious - are they using hard Canadian wheat? It seemed more truly French than what we get on the West Coast). We also had some Quebec sharp cheddar and fantastic D’affinois brie. We rounded out the meal with tasty tomatoes and blueberries from the farmers market on the town green

Southwest Harbor, ME

Had a couple of meals at the Drydock Café. The first night, when we arrived, ravenous, near 8:00, we enjoyed the hot artichoke and crab dip, wishing for a good bread instead of the crackers. I had a perfectly cooked rare steak with gorgonzola butter and garlic mashers, while Dad enjoyed his seafood pasta (scallops, shrimp and fish in alfredo over angel hair pasta). Our other meal, I wasn’t feeling very well, so I had the Pasta Primavera (I know, I know….), but it was actually quite good, with olive oil, oregano, and lots of veggies. A perfectly respectable place, but if you go, avoid the blueberry crisp, as it was a soggy, flavorless mess. Also, beware: they try to seat everyone in the deadly second dining room, full of frou frou, when the room by the bar is simpler, where the locals eat, and much more enjoyable.

Little Notch Bakery:

After a disastrous first breakfast at our B&B (a soggy, flavorless excuse for ‘apple’ crepes, with too many squiggles of irrelevant, mystery substances on the plate), I marched up to town to lay in my own breakfast supplies, since we had our own kitchen. This included a loaf of the 7 grain bread ($4.00), which was fantastic. Sandwiches eaten from there included the daily special Black Forest Ham and Cheese on Sourdough (proclaimed to be the ‘best sandwich I’ve ever had’ by my Dad, who didn‘t give me a taste), and a delicious chicken breast sandwich with caramelized onions and aioli on foccacia for me. The foccacia was half a round, split into a pocket, with heaps of tender chicken breast, and tangy aioli. It was excellent, and too big, and I snarfed up the whole thing.

Another day, we had the Turkish lentil soup (vegetarian, using de puy lentils and spinach, very nice, a tiny bit spicy.) and Spicy Black Bean (creamy, delicious and indeed, spicy). Their Caesar salad had a good garlic/anchovy kick.

Bar Harbor:

Rupununi:

I guess I didn’t understand that Rupununi and Carmen Verandah were the same place, as we walked by it twice before going in. I also hadn’t seen from any postings what a fantastic building it’s in - a sprawling log lodge, in downtown Bar Harbor, with multiple seating areas, outside, at street level, inside, and upstairs on a deck overlooking the town green, which is where we sat. I had the steamed mussels with curry sauce, which were presented in an interesting fashion - the mussels were steamed plain, and presented nude, while the sauce was presented in a bowl on the side, for dipping. I guess it makes sense, for those who are afraid of the mess (all those cruise ship passengers who had invaded the town, perhaps?), but it seemed a little odd to me. However, it was delicious, with a good lemongrass edge to the curry. Dad had the chicken/pesto sandwich, and proclaimed it to be very good. I also had a Caesar salad, which for $7.00 for a tiny mound of limp lettuce in nondescript cream gunk, was not worth it at all.

The Lobster Claw

At 54 West street, just off the main harbor area, this little shack was a gem. I was sad that it wasn’t lunch time, as the lobster roll that one patron had looked just scrumptious, but I was very happy with the blueberry pie and ice cream. I had three different blueberry pie/crumbles for desserts in Maine, and this was the best. I definitely recommend this little hole in the wall for anyone wanting a quick lunch or snack.

Manset:

XYZ:

If you didn’t know, you would never find it, and I’m glad we had reservations, because they filled up quickly. At this point in the season, they’re only open on weekends. We had Bohemias and started with the Queso Fundido, with chorizo. Mildly spicy, with gooey cheese, eaten with the finest fresh flour tortilla’s I’ve ever had. Fresh, light, soft, like little pillows to wrap around each bit of queso. We both had the pork, the name of which I’ve unforgivably forgotten. It was pork butt(?), rubbed with ancho, stewed in a citrus sauce, served with black beans, rice, and pickled onions. Fantastic flavors, delicate, yet robust, and delicious. The flan was perfectly cooked, creamy with a deep caramel sauce.

Thurston’s

Unfortunately, I am unable to toss my opinion into the Thurston’s vs. Beals debate, as we never ate at Beals. They close at 6pm at this time of year, but from looking at it, I do agree with those who are not fond of the physical space on the dock. You can’t see the harbor from the dining area, and it seems a bit cramped and nearly industrial, right there next to the Coast Guard building.

Thurston’s, however, was a hoot. You study the menu, and have to memorize your order before you even go in the door. You order your lobster by the size, hard or soft shell, and then order your accompaniments, either individually, or as a package. We ordered a clam dinner (steamed clams, corn on the cob, roll, and blueberry cake), and a regular dinner (corn, roll, blueberry cake), and our lobsters. You place your order right in front of the lobster tank, and your lobster is weighted and rung up accordingly. The order taker had to weigh several lobsters to get the correct sizes for the two for us, so there were lobsters flying through the air, into the scale, then back into the tanks several times.

The Clams arrived first. Damn, I will say I miss East Coast clams. These were the finest clams I’ve ever eaten, just delicious. Plump, juicy, briney, the very essence of the sea. Wonderful.

Lobsters next, steaming hot, curled up next to the corn in the paper tray. I launched in, happily popping the body joints and flipping out the lower claw to get the full piece of meat, plunging it into the butter bath. Mmmmmm…. Delicious. I will say, however, that as I usually do, I found the tail to be on the tough side. I know, it’s the main muscle for the critter, and it did have a good flavor, but it was a bit like chewing stringy erasers. All in all, while the claws and little legs were quite tasty, I will say that I do prefer Dungeness crabs. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the Thurston’s experience, and loved the process of eating the lobstah while hearing those true Maine accents all around me.

Jordan Pond House

Since it was pouring rain, we did not earn our popovers with a hike, but we enjoyed them nonetheless. It was lunchtime, so I had the lobster bisque, which was delicious, and Dad had the seafood stew, a broth based concoction chock full of fish, scallops, etc. The popovers were lovely, and were served with that fantastic strawberry jam, which is made with either wild strawberries or fraises du bois - it had that incredible essence of berry that you can only get with one of those two berries. Others have said that the lunch is expensive and not worth it, but I found it delightful. While it was a bit spendy, I felt that for the view, food, and service it was well worth it.

Camden -

We only spent a few hours in Camden, as it was raining, and we had reservations at Primo that night. I did manage to squeeze in a latte and hermit at Boynton McKay, both of which were quite tasty.

Primo

We drove up to this lovely Victorian house, to find the parking lot astonishingly full for 6:15 on a September Sunday night. We were shown to our seat in the second main floor dining room, which was already full. The menu presented so many fantastic choices, it was very difficult to decide. Our waiter (Bill) approached in a very dramatic fashion to recite the specials, his voice taking over the small room. I ordered a glass of the Cava while we thought about the menu. Bill seemed at first to be a little too dramatic, reciting the specials in an almost actorly way, but he quickly warmed up as I started to ask him pointed questions about the dishes, and wine parings. From what I observed throughout the evening, many people just eat there to have that notch on their belts (so to speak), and I made sure that he know that I was there for the food and the experience. He quickly warmed up to me, to the point of bringing several tastes of wine for each course, and letting me actually have a bite of the dish as I tasted the wines, to better judge the match. He was an integral part of the experience, and even proclaimed that I must be fun to go out to dinner with, since I was so interested in what I was eating. Back atcha, Bill!

Dad had the Grilled York Hill farm goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves with herbes de provence, marinated olives and grilled levain. The cheese was just warmed enough to bring out the tang, and smeared on the smoky grilled bread, was just divine.

I had the Warm Duck Confit with a salad of late summer fruits and fall chicories with a gooseberry vinaigrette and toasted pecans. Yum. Just….Yum. Warm, meltingly tender duck with crispy skin, paired with a fantastic salad which contained greens, pecans, gooseberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, rose plums, pink apples (cameo?), and pomegranate seeds. With this I had a glass of a Cab/Tempranillo blend, which was smooth, a little spicy, and had just enough oak to compliment the duck.

For the Entrée, Dad had the Handrolled Cavatelli with pecorino-lamb sausage, brocolli rapini and tomato, fnished with fresh oregano and ricotta salata. These were handmade, tight pasta curls, perfectly cooked, with rich, properly gamey lamb sausage, and a scattering of firm, creamy ricotta.

I had one of the specials - Wood fire roasted fennel stuffed Dorade (Dorato, a Mediterranean fish - I have no idea where they got their hands on this) with a saffron sauce, Yukon gold potatoes and greens, with mussels. The fish was Perfect - crispy skin, firm white flesh, with a hint of the fennel and wood smoke in each bite. Didn’t get a whole lot of saffron hit from the sauce, and the mussels were simply irrelevant, but damn, that fish was fantastic. I regret to say I have no idea what wine I had with this, but it was a crisp, flinty white with a hint of floral aroma, perfectly playing off the fish and fennel.

While they had a plethora of baked dessert options, I had the raspberry and ‘tropical’ (passion fruit and mango) sorbets with cookies (almond biscotti, chocolate biscotti, tuile, and madoline with dried cranberries) and a glass of Beaumes de Venise. These sorbets paired with that wine is one of my favorite desserts, and I was indeed, a happy little eater at the end of the evening.

The restaurant was at near full capacity for the whole time we were there, and we were there for 2 ½ hours. Impressive for a Sunday night in September.

Castine -

Dennets Wharf Pub, on the water, of course, in an old Sail loft. Fantastic older waitresses who call you ‘hon’ and mean it. We had huge mussels in wine sauce, and I had the ribs, which were a little sweet, but not bad. Dad had a scallop pasta with bacon and cream. Not a bad find for the end of the road.

Port Clyde:

I’m so glad that the Dip Net was there, or I would have been a liar as Dad kept asking 'Are you sure there's food down here?" as we kept driving down the peninsula. Port Clyde is quite fun, a real fishing village, where we not only saw them bringing in lobster, but huge amounts of sea urchins as well. The Dip Net provided excellent fish and chips, the fish being haddock in an incredibly light batter.

Maine was lovely, the people were delightful, and as you can see, we didn't want for good food!

[rlibkind]

Loved your report, Lala. It made me sad that I didn't get to Mount Desert this year, but glad you enjoyed it so! Next year for me!

The big surprise was your report on XYZ. I had heared that the owner had sold it and that it was unlikely to open again. Even if Janet sold it, it sure sounds like they've kept the menu and cooking intact. That ancho rubbed pork has been on the menu pretty much since they opened and is a winner.

I stopped by Primo about three or four years ago and enjoyed it, though I did a meal of appetizers, starting out with some local oysters which were astonishingly good.

[lala]

From what I understand, XYZ sold their location, not the business. I had read some warnings to look for their new location, and to not go to the old one, as there was a bad imitation in that place. In any case, it was terrific. Good Mexican in Maine - whoda thunk it?

[johnnyd]

What a write-up! Thanks lala!

We both had the pork, the name of which I’ve unforgivably forgotten. It was pork butt(?)

Carnitas? Seems it was in the right company for 'em.

[rlibkind]

From what I understand, XYZ sold their location, not the business. I had read some warnings to look for their new location, and to not go to the old one, as there was a bad imitation in that place. In any case, it was terrific. Good Mexican in Maine - whoda thunk it?

←

I'm confused (a not unnatural state for me ). Where is the XYZ you ate in located? Across from the Manset town pier, which is the old location? Or elsewhere, in which case, do you know what's in the old location now?

[Varmint]

Thanks for the report, lala. I also prefer Thurston's to Beals and have loved my experience at the Jordan Pond House. It's raining here, and I can only just imagine eating some popovers, drinking some tea, all in front of a large fire. I miss Maine already.

[lala]

johnnyd:, yes, we were in Port Clyde last Monday, 9/20. It was the first day of the 10 day sea urchin season. The guy had 6 tubs completely full of the l'il guys. Said he got them in 10 feet of water, but didn't specify where that water was

And it wasn't quite Carnitas, but something very like that, only longer... quite tasty..mmmmm

rlibkind, XYZ is now located on the right side of the road, away from the water as you drive towards Manset from SW harbor. There's a handmade sign that just says XYZ on it and an arrow. Then there's the trek up the dirt road, and no sineage on the actual place. Quite a little hidey-hole!

Edited to add, sorry, I don't know what's in XYZ's old place - I have only been to the new place, but I understand from other posters that there's a weak imitiation in their old building.

Edited September 28, 2004 by lala (log)

[ghostrider]

THanks for that wonderful writeup. Very evocative.

Straying a bit off topic from food - what were your impressions of Castine itself?

I have read that it's one of the few towns in America that REALLY looks like it did 100 years ago, because Dutch Elm disease was never able to jump onto that particular peninsula.

The town's on my list of "someday" destinations as a place to plunk down for a few days.

[lala]

In planning the trip, I tried to get a variety of towns, Bar Harbor (touristy, pretty gawk at the big cruise ships), SW Harbor (good place for home base, restaurants, quiet), Camden (very pretty, yet touristy), Castine (it's all about the history) and Port Clyde (a true fishing village).

I really enjoyed Castine, as it is indeed completely from the 18th century, and every building is historic, with dates on each one, starting in about 1750. I almost enjoyed it more than Camden, but then I'm into that historic stuff. Many of the buildings are Federal style, but we also saw some Tudor as well. There's a cupola on one of the churches that's just fantastic. And there were indeed Elms, which (since I grew up in a town decimated by the blight), were quite lovely to see.

However, I would say that an overnight, with a good walk around the town and drive out to the lighthouse is sufficient, unless you're looking for a place to curl up with a book for a day. There are three hotels/B&B's, and only a handful of restaurants, half of which are in the hotels (all over priced, pretentious looking food). We stayed at the Castine Harbor Lodge, and had a bit of a run in with the cook who checked us in (he refused to turn the heat on, on a 50*, rainy day). Turns out he is the owner's husband, and not supposed to be let out of the kitchen as he's not people-trained.

The Lodge was definately eclectic and funky, much more along the lines of a true English B&B, with odd decorations, and strange room configurations. However, the fire was roaring in the evening, Dad enjoyed the tv lounge, and in the morning, when the sun finally came out, it was lovely to sit on the deck with a coffee and survey the view.

[johnnyd]

"(he refused to turn the heat on, on a 50*, rainy day). "

That's downright balmy in these pahts!

[TPO]

Thanks for the report. I live in this great state, but sadly, I have not eaten in every restautant... yet. I'm adding some of your stops to my "to eat at" list.

[ghostrider]

Thanks for the add'l details on Castine.

To me, it still sounds like the kind of place that'd make a nice base for several days of day trips. But then I tend to gravitate towards the out-of-the-way places. Sometimes they make for a splendid experience, sometimes not.

Of course, once you're in that area, why not go all the way to Bar Harbor? Tough call, depending on time of year.

[scordelia]

Well, if you go back, check out the Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor on Cottage. I promise that you will have the best fried clams ever!

Another fun spot is the Seal Harbor Restaurant on the Seal Harbor town pier. It is really just a shack, but it is run by Stevie Smith, king of the bad fisherman, and it is a good place to get a cheap meal of steamers and lobster that is really fresh.

In Otter Creek is the Burning Tree which features very good food that is all local and organic.

A good excursion for the day is to go to Northeast Harbor and take the mail boat to Little Cranberry. There is an excellent place on the Cranberry Island dock called Puddles by the locals but that is not the real name (the best lobster rolls and layer cakes). Also, you can shop at the Pottery Co-op which features local potters and beautiful bowls and platters and things. And finally, Little Cranberry is just really pretty and a nice place to take a walk.

I lived on MDI for several years, and boy do I miss it!

Sophie