Serious Eats has published recommendations on where to eat Pizza across the state of Maine. Otto, Micucci, Bonobo and Angelone are their highlights from Portland.
Italian grocer and restaurant supplier Micucci’s has a hidden bakery that serves some of the state’s most revered slices. Finding ‘The Sicilian Slab’ requires a little perseverance—it’s tucked in the back of the store, and often requires at least a short wait.
The Portland Phoenix has published a review of the 4 vendors on the second floor of the Public Market House: Kamasouptra, Peanut Butter & Jelly Time, Pie in the Sky, and Market House Coffee,
Their six to eight choices tend to veer toward the vegetarian and vegan. Some bacon did sneak into the white bean soup, infusing the broth with a smoky flavor, along with notes of celery and thyme. Kamasouptra’s blends many soups, like broccoli cheddar or roasted red pepper, but lets them maintain some bumpy texture. The bowl of red pepper had the perfect bit of spicy bite to it, followed on the palate by the pepper’s sweetness. A buttery, creamy clam chowder tasted more of vegetables than seafood.
the Press Herald has published a review of the Clock Tower Cafe which is located in City Hall,
I unfolded the wax paper and enjoyed my sandwich from the front seat of my car. Served on an English muffin, it included one egg cooked to medium with still just a touch of runny yellow yolk; a spicy, juicy sausage patty; and a just-so slice of melted white American cheese.
It was exactly what I craved. My only regret was not having enough change to buy two.
and the Examiner has published a review of Anthony’s.
The tomato sauce used in the Chicken Parm dinner was thick and slightly (but not too) sweet, and it generously covers the cutlets and the ziti with plenty left over for extracting every last drop from the plate with your garlic bread. Most likely you will have enough leftover for another meal; as with the sauce, the portions are very generous, and are more than reasonably priced.
Last year a group of Portland food bloggers and I collaborated on Thai-o-rama, an effort to eat at and review every single Thai restaurant in the city, from Siam Orchid in the One City Center food court through to the ever popular Boda in Longfellow Square. We had so much fun in 2010 that we’re continuing the project into 2011.
We’re starting off the new year with that emblem of American fast food, the hamburger, and for round 1 the group focused in on the burgers to be found at diners and sandwich shops in and around Portland. (We’ll go for the gourmet burgers, pub burgers, beef alternative burgers, etc in later months.)
You can learn as much from where our band of bloggers went (or tried to) for the burgers as from the reviews themselves. The former gives a clear indication of what eateries they thought would have a good burger and the later letting you know the accuracy of their aim.
Appetite Portland initially tried to go to Marcy’s (closed for Winter break) and ended up at the Miss Portland Diner. Soooo . . You Really Like Cats was shut out at Marcy’s and Hot Suppa but landed at Becky’s. The Blueberry Files took a direct path to Becky’s. Where is Jenner’s Mind couldn’t make it to Kathy & Dave’s or Steve & Renee’s and opted for Hot Suppa. The Miss Portland Diner was From Away’s first choice and Edible Obsessions left town entirely to visit Harmon’s Lunch in Falmouth.
Clearly from the reviews below some choices ended up being (a lot) better than others.
Appetite Portland – Miss Portland Diner
Go to Miss Portland – get that haddock reuben, the chicken pie, a hot turkey dinner – or whatever is on special. If you need a hunk of beef, I can highly recommend the meatloaf. Just don’t bother with the burgers… read the full review
Edible Obsessions – Harmon’s Lunch
I’ve only ordered a burger one way from them: Loaded. Diced, perfectly caramelized onions, mystery red relish, mustard, meat and plain hamburger bun. Simple enough and insanely inexpensive to boot. But, let’s dote a little more on the burger, shall we? All of the components make this easily one of the best balanced burgers I’ve had because Sweet+Savory+Acidic=Satisfying. You would think that the burger, a quite respectable patty–cooked medium–all on it’s own, would be lost somewhere under all of the toppings, but it’s not…read the full review
From Away – Miss Portland Diner
The Miss Portland Diner deserves a visit. The antique dining car has been wonderfully preserved, the service is fast and friendly, and there are menu options that I thought existed on Maine menus only in my memory (Ham salad on rye? Liver and onions? Pot roast dinner?). Jillian’s patty melt was delicious, and a perfect place for anyone who hasn’t stepped outside of their normal hamburger configuration to get on the train to patty melt town. You’ll have a hard time finding a better version of this classic diner sandwich. The burger, unfortunately, with its sad, parched appearance and dusty, grainy grind, doesn’t show a lot of thoughtfulness or appreciation of the genre, and isn’t going to make anyone a fan of the place…read the full review
Soooo . . You Really Like Cats, Don’t You – Becky’s
But even through the seemingly endless rambling about how the soft bun couldn’t handle the 3 inches of ingredients in between, I was still happy with this burger. Certainly not wowed by any stretch of the imagination, but it still quite satisfied. A traditional, American-cheesed, 1/3-pounder hamburger with all the fixings you’d see at any barbecue. It’ll be interesting to see what I think of it 11 burgers down the line (assuming that I make it that far!). The $6.75 (plus tax and tip) sticker price makes me wince a little bit because it was so much on the traditional side, but by the time I left the diner, I was feeling fat and sassy. That’ll do for now…read the full review
The Blueberry Files – Becky’s
While I have ranted against the hype surrounding Becky’s brunch, I was impressed by their lunch effort. This place didn’t make my go-to burger spot, but with the good prices and the great club sandwich, I’d recommend it for a cheap, classic lunch…read the full review
Where is Jenner’s Mind – Hot Suppa!
simply put, the burger tasted great. this is not a fancy or gourmet burger, in fact its made with american cheese. but if you are looking for a really tasty burger, you are not gonna go wrong with this burger. all you got to do is find someone to split the burger and the cubano with you and you got yourself a fantastic date…read the full review
Is there a diner or sandwich shop in Portland who’s burger you think is especially stellar? If so, post a comment and tell us where to find it and what you like about it.
Figa received 4½ stars from today’s Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
The chef at Figa had me in the palms of her capable hands within two bites of the eggplant Napoleon ($6), one night’s appetizer special. Humble eggplant had been transformed into discs of creamy tenderness and lacy, crisp edges as slightly browned goat cheese chimed in with sour and tangy richness.
From Away has published another in their series of sandwich reviews, this time around they visited Brea Lu Cafe for a grilled cheese,
This was, overall, a solid diner-style grilled cheese sandwich, with a few flavorful extras, and somewhat higher-quality ingredients than you would expect from a typical diner. While I can’t see going out of my way to return for takeout, it seems like a perfectly pleasant place to kill an hour for a quick lunch out…particularly if we have other errands that take us to Forrest Avenue.
While they’re on the site, fans of Pai Men’s might want to check out From Away’s post on reverse engineering the famous Pai Men pork buns.
Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes! has published a review of Tulips Cupcakery.
The best mini-cupcake was definitely the Pumpkin with Maple Cream Cheese. The cake was moist and the frosting was a perfect compliment to the cake. The flavor and the amount of frosting didn’t overwhelm the cake.
Sabieng received 3 stars from the Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
Thai classics are Sabieng’s stock in trade, from sweet-sour pad Thai to brilliantly flavored Tom Kha Ga. If the duck wasn’t all it could have been, the stir-fried shrimp with cashews made a very good dinner indeed.
Sleeping Hedgehog has published a review of Rabelais.
If you’re a fan of Charles de Lint and his fiction as many of us here are, you might well recall Mr. Truepenny’s Book Emporium and Gallery, a magical bookstore if ever there was one. Truly magical bookstores in the more mundane world are rare but I found one a few years back — Rabelais Books.
Today’s Press Herald includes a review of the South Portland branch of DiPietro’s,
For $8.65 — the price of one lunch at many sandwich shops and restaurants — I got a dinner-sized portion of spaghetti and meatballs with grated cheese, plus a loaded ham Italian sandwich.
And both were great.
and an article about food safety issues at Portland Shellfish,
Jeffrey Holden, president and founder of Portland Shellfish, said Wednesday that the 35-year-old company has made sanitation improvements at its crab processing facility on Dartmouth Street in South Portland and its lobster and shrimp facility on Waldron Way in Portland.
This week’s Portland Phoenix includes a commentary on socio-economic class and the grocery cart,
I often like peeking in people’s carts at grocery stores — my maiden voyage into Trader Joe’s a couple months ago was no exception. I found myself thinking that most of the patrons (myself included) had quite a lot of processed food items in their carts. These are people who by and large would never be caught in Wal-Mart buying some off-brand frozen burritos yet in the right and proper setting, buying such things is a sign of how hip you are.
and a selection of 11 eats to try in 2011,
While new restaurants intrigue food critics and patrons alike, it’s the tried-and-true, the places that have established themselves as mainstays in Portland, that shouldn’t be forgotten in all the hype. Here’s a list of places not to be missed this year. It won’t make you thinner, fitter, or wealthier, just a lot more satisfied…