Category: Reviews

The Press Herald has published a review of the Portside Picnic food truck.

Portside Picnic seems to have a lot of lobster for a truck, so I tried the lobster taco. It came in a warm and very fresh flour tortilla. The lobster meat was sauteed and topped with fresh, thinly sliced red cabbage, tomatoes and a great homemade salsa.

The taco was great, with just a little kick of spice. (There is a shelf of hot sauces and condiments to choose from if you want more heat.) For just $1, I also got a small order of organic french fries, which were hand-cut, fresh out of the fryer and full of potato flavor.

You can find Portside Picnic in the Back Cove parking lot where they’ve leased a permanent location from the city.

Love Cupcakes (#14) and Bite into Maine (#4) made it on to the GoLocalProv list of the 25 Best Food Trucks in New England.

The Blueberry Files has written up her experience on the Barbecue Friendly Reds tour by Wine Wise. For this event, she and the other participants visited Bonobo, Hot Suppa, Local 188 and Outliers.

The July issue of US Airways Magazine includes a profile of Portland. The articles highlights Bite into Maine, Eventide, Fore Street, Micucci’s, The Holy Donut, Novare Res, Standard Baking, Boda, and LFK.

Peter Peter Portland Eater has published a review of Fore Street.

There was no doubt the meal made us happy. I was thrilled with the portion size. It wasn’t a cheap night at $140 after tip for two people but the meal did include two apps, two entrees, two sides, and a drink. For a special night it was worth it. I’d recommend Fore Street for those times when you’re looking to impress. They’ll provide an excellent meal, but it would probably be too pricey for the average person to visit on a regular basis. Give it a shot and add it to your special occasion list. And make your reservations early because they get booked really quickly.

The Golden Dish has published a review of Emilitsa,

For a main course I chose duck.  Here the breast was pan-roasted to medium rare, settled in a sauce made from a reduction of Attiki honey, Metaxa, balsamic and wild fennel pollen.  It was accompanied by fingerlings roasted in duck fat and grilled asparagus. Every component of the dish jived to deliver  great nuance of flavor and texture.

and Eat Maine has published a review of Blue Rooster.

Sansonetti and his crew have created an approachable, but different sandwich shop. As someone who works in the restaurant business, I know that the biggest compliment is to have industry people visit regularly and speak highly of an establishment. The Blue Rooster tests my limits of self-control, both in terms of how much I order while I’m there and how often I allow myself to visit. And that’s a good thing.

Map & Menu has published a review of brunch at Pai Men Miyake.

Meredith loved her fried rice with bok choy, chinese chives, ginger, and a Miyake farm poached egg, and after we added a cup of always-amazing Tandem coffee, brunch at Miyake had easily been cemented in our minds as a new Portland brunch must.

The Press Herald has published a review of Small Axe.

Check out Small Axe for an on-the-go experience that’s fast, local and delicious.

A group of the old O-Rama food blogging team reconvened this summer to explore Portland’s emerging food trucks scene. Founding members Edible Obsessions and The Blueberry Files joined by Map & Menu to trywhat these mobile kitchens are cooking up.

Edible Obsessions visited Small Axe Truck and Bite into Maine.

On first bite, it was easy to see why it was [owner] Sarah [Sutton]’s favorite, and their choice for entry into The Rumble.  The coleslaw is lightly dressed, leaving a lot of crunch in the red and green cabbage. Add that to a perfect crisp on the bun and you have the perfect balance to the buttery lobster. The roll itself weighed a pound–if not a bit more–and was near impossible to eat with simple bites without plucking out some of the lobster with the fork they provided (this is by no means a criticism of the roll).

Map & Menu visited El Corazon, Bite into Maine, Mainely Burgers, Small Axe and Love Cupcakes.

In the past couple of weeks, Meredith and I have been undertaking the extremely enjoyable challenge of trying as many of Portland’s food trucks as possible. While we missed a few (that we’ll be sure to add as time goes on), the ones we visited spelled out a bright future for the Portland food truck scene. The general gist from all of them was that a tasty breakfast, lunch, late night, or dessert doesn’t necessarily need to come from a brick and mortar establishment – if you concentrate on doing a few things very well, your next great Portland meal might come from the curb.

The Blueberry Files visited Bite into Maine and El Corazon.

Topped off with a pineapple aqua fresca, we had a filling, inexpensive lunch that was a great sampling of Mexican food. I recommend you seek out El Corazon. They post their schedule on their website, and also use Instagram, Twitter, and facebook to announce their daily location. 

I haven’t made it through the full line-up yet myself. Among the ones I’ve tried so far my favorites are Bite into Maine (where I go for the Picnic-style lobster roll), Mainely Burgers (classic burger and an order of fries), Small Axe (General Tso’s pork belly sandwich) and El Corazon (Baja fish burrito). I encourage you to read what the bloggers have to say, check-out the food truck directory below, and then go out there and give them all a try.

Food truck Directory

Bite into Maine – lobster rolls in Fort Williams Park
website | facebook | twitter

El Corazon – Mexican food
website | facebook | twitter

Love Cupcakes – cupcakes in Falmouth and Portland with their new truck
website | facebook | twitter

Mainely Burgers – burgers and fries on Congress Street
facebook | twitter

Portside Picnic – can regularly be found in the Back Cove parking lot
facebook | twitter | website

Small Axe Truck – breakfast on Anderson St, lunch on Congress Street
website | facebook | twitter

The Squeeze – located in the Home Depot parking lot on Riverside
facebook

Wicked Good Street Kitchen – two trucks, one on Peaks Island near the ferry and one in a variety of locations in Portland
website | facebook | twitter

There are also a number of trucks currently under construction:

Ana’s Mobile Gourmet was mentioned in a food truck article that appeared in the Portland Phoenix.

Mainely Burgers is working on a dessert truck called Mainely Treats that’s expect to launch in early July.

Maine Fodder is working on a truck that will both operate as a traditional food truck and be a mobile farm stand.

Urban Sugar Mobile Cafe will be serving made-to-order gourmet mini-donuts they hope to open mid-July.

The Golden Dish has published a review of Local 188.

Fortunately the rest of our meal was very satisfying, and  for an entree I had the evening  special,  halibut scented with basil and served over wheat berries, a healthy and soulful dish that I quite enjoyed.  And my friend chose the house gnocchi, albeit an unusual preparation that placed sautéed gnocchi in a beer and sausage gravy, with red bell peppers, manchego and topped with an egg sunny side up.