Category: Reviews

GoLocalProv has produced a list of the New England’s 25 Best Food Towns, Portland weighs in at #4.

Talk about a food town. There is no city of its size that contains so much independent cooking and notable dining than this beautiful city just two hours from Boston. Walking the streets of Portland’s Old Port district is like walking any street in New York City’s West Village or Soho, and without the attitude and high prices. Portland is a food-lover’s pure pleasure, and its Top 5 standing in New England is proof…You’ll need more than a week.

Edible Obsessions has published a review of Saigon.

But, the surprise of the meal, though was an appetizer special of steamed rice pancake, ground pork, pork skin, onions, pickled daikon and carrot, basil, lettuce, cucumber and fish sauce. It looked like a deconstructed Banh Mi, minus the baguette and mayonnaise…

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of J’s Oyster Bar.

Remember that J’s is a joint. Entrees are ample and tasty, and diners won’t leave hungry, but it’s not fine dining. It’s a sleeves rolled up, slurp some oysters with basic horseradish and shoot the (expletive deleted) over a few beers locale. Placemats are paper, and house rules are clearly stated on cards at each table.

And that’s part of J’s charm.

The Golden Dish has published a review of Caiola’s.

Commandeering the kitchen is co-proprietor and Chef Abby Harmon who makes this all happen.  Her kitchen is like a laboratory of invention—the whole kit and caboodle of culinary cause and effect that isn’t so easily classified. But attempting to I’d have to resort to words like Mediterranean-influenced with a dash of Downeast home cooking and a serious dose of comfort food savoir faire.

Two Maine donut shops have been included by Saveur in their list of the 50 Finest Donut Shops in America: Frosty’s, founded in Brunswick with a shop in South Portland, and Congdon’s in Wells.

The list was part of a extensive series of donut articles. The historical timeline of donuts (1600s to 2011) includes mention of Maine’s Captain Hanson Gregory and his invention of the donut.

Articles from the new issue of the magazine aren’t yet available online.

Vrai-lean-uh has written up her recent visit to Eventide,

Eventide is a medium-fancy oyster bar from the owners of Hugo’s. I say medium-fancy because even though the atmosphere is casual, it’s also kind of slick and hip inside, and the food about five notches up from the oyster-bar-on-the-waterfront type deal…

and The Golden Dish has posted tasting notes from his Valentine’s Day dinner at Five Fifty-Five.

 

The Press Herald has published a review of Whip’s Right Time Cafe,

The sandwich had sauteed onions and peppers, cheese and very tender steak. I like steak and cheese, but am usually prepared for it to be a little chewy in spots. This one was not — the beef was positively melt-in-your-mouth tender.

and The Golden Dish has published a review of the Armory Lounge.

What surprised me most about my recent dinner at the Armory Lounge, located off the lower lobby of the Portland Regency Hotel, is that the food is far better than the usual pub grub.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Buck’s Naked BBQ.

If you crave meat, Buck’s Naked BBQ Steakhouse offers it in all forms. With a clear understanding of Portland’s foodie sensibilities, Buck’s expands the barbecue experience to include international influences, and the menu offers a few interesting options for the vegetarian and fish-loving crowd. The atmosphere is fun, kid-friendly (in a non-obnoxious way), and the staff is hilarious.