Category: Reviews

The Portland Phoenix “convened a panel to sample a variety of the store’s cheap red wines, along with some of their representative frozen appetizers.”

None of this wine was much worse than what you might get from Hannaford for twice the price. The snacks were good for getting a bit of grease in the stomach between sips. Potato pancakes had street-vendor-latke simplicity with no discernable herbs. Lemongrass rolls had distinct and pleasant gingery flavor, and pastries topped with ham and a creamy bland cheese were not bad when piping hot. Mini chicken tacos were stiff and unacceptably tasteless.

The Portland Phoenix “convened a panel to sample a variety of the store’s cheap red wines, along with some of their representative frozen appetizers.”

None of this wine was much worse than what you might get from Hannaford for twice the price. The snacks were good for getting a bit of grease in the stomach between sips. Potato pancakes had street-vendor-latke simplicity with no discernable herbs. Lemongrass rolls had distinct and pleasant gingery flavor, and pastries topped with ham and a creamy bland cheese were not bad when piping hot. Mini chicken tacos were stiff and unacceptably tasteless.

Portland Magazine has published a review of Little Seoul.

Exciting, perfectly located Little Seoul doesn’t just offer one kind of kimchi. To my way of thinking, that would be not-so-deep kimchi. Instead, they offer no fewer than six variations on the 3,000-year-old traditional Korean side dish–each an entirely different explosion to the senses. One of them, the fermented cucumber, is so sneaky, vinegary, and strangely cooling it’s the culinary equivalent of having your office chair spun around halfway by someone surprising you.

Portland Bar Guide has published a review of Katahdin.

So, you’ve had drink, relaxed and now the aroma of the open kitchen is beckoning you. Try the chilled oysters ($14) from the raw bar or go warm and enjoy the steamed mussels ($12.) How good does a salad with grilled asparagus, baked goat cheese and balsamic sound right now? For dinner, treat yourself to a grilled marinated hanger steak with a tomato corn salad ($22) or the roasted flounder ($20.)

Edible Obsessions, The Blueberry Files and Appetite Portland have co-produced a broad survey of cupcake bakers in the Portland area comparing cupcakes from Katie Made, Tulip’s Cupcakery, 158 Pickett Street Cafe, Scratch Baking, Two Fat Cats, Rosemont Market and Cakeface. OF the competition in the fruit cupcake category TBF wrote,

Tulip Cupcakery’s Pumpkin cupcake came in second, with a big pumpkin flavor in a dense, moist cake. The 158 Picket Street Cafe Apple Spice Brown Sugar with Cream Cheese frosting had a mild flavor and was more like a quick bread than a cupcake. It was not my favorite, but Scratch Bakery’s cupcake was a hard act to follow.

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Mike’s.

Two of the best sandwiches were the simplest. The big pile of tender corned beef on the “Fat Mike” tasted of pepper and other spices rather than just salt. The pastrami on the “I Barbarian” is wine-red, tender but not fatty, and more peppery still. Each sandwich came on a marble rye with a smear of fancy mustard.

Thai-o-rama came to a close last week with a group dinner at and several reviews of Sengchai Thai on Forest Ave, the culmination of 10 months of eating and writing about the baker’s dozen of restaurants in Portland that serve Thai food. Hopefully you enjoyed reading as much as we did in putting it together.
There was a lot of activity in the Thai segment of Portland restaurants industry this past year. Boda opened (taking over the Bangkok Thai space), Thai Chef Buffet closed (to be replaced by Soju which is itself going to be replaced by Shanghai-Tokyo), Chaing Mai moved from Union Street (to make room for Havana South), and Nakornping Thai changed owners and names to become Sabieng.
So no doubt you’re wondering now with 13 meals and 54 reviews by 9 different food writers behind us where should you go to eat. Read what some of the project’s most active participants have to say on that score including their list of Best of’s:
Appetite Portland – read the full article

Best Pad Thai: Chiang Mai Two delivered the goods with nicely cooked noodles, succulent shrimp, snappy bean sprouts, a balanced peanut/tamarind sauce, and a juicy lime wedge. Runner-up: Veranda Thai Cuisine’s version was fragrant and peanutty with shiny, slurp-worthy noodles. Disclaimer: You must order Veranda’s Pad Thai at heat level 2 or higher or risk receiving a blanched pile of bland.

Edible Obsessions – read the full article

I wanted to follow the outline of a ‘Best of,’ but when I kept answering the questions there was only one restaurant that I felt was the best in any category you could designate…Boda

The Blueberry Files – read the full article

Best curry… Pom’s Thai Taste
Overall, I think Pom’s is the most consistent traditional Thai restaurant. There were some flops, and it is one of the more expensive Thai restaurants we visited, but it’s good.

Where is Jenner’s Mind – read the full article

Best “I never expected to like it” dish: i have mixed feelings about crab rangoon and i usually just allow seth to order it. so i guess my ‘never expected to like it dish’ was the crab rangoon at chiang-mai two.

As for my part, I think Boda is ahead of the rest of the pack both in terms of the food (Miang Kum Som-oh!) and overall dining experience. That said, comparing Boda with the rest is an apples to oranges comparison, not because of qualitative difference but because while Boda is primarily a Thai small plate restaurant the other 12 are more in the standard Thai mode (pad thai-check, picture of the royal family-check, thai iced tea-check, etc). If what you’re looking for is a go to place for the standard Thai experience, then I think Veranda Thai, Chaing Mai and Saeng Thai House are your best options.
Still left unanswered is the question of why Portland has a Thai restaurant for approximately ever 5,000 men women and children who live here when other types of restaurants are missing or under-represented but that will have to wait for another day.
Many many thanks to Appetite Portland, Edible Obsessions, From Away, the Portland Daily Sun, Portland Eats, Portland Food Coma, Portland Food Heads, The Blueberry Files, Where is Jenner’s Mind for participating in the projects.

Sala Thai received 3 stars from the Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

A neighborhood standby, Sala Thai has been introducing Mainers to Thai dishes since 1989, and much of the menu seems as familiar as any other American comfort food.

Portland food continues to generate tourism dollars for the area and column inches for food writers from away. Here are three I learned about this week:
Epicurious published a 5 restaurant set of dining highlights: Hugo’s, Five Fifty-Five, Fore Street, Duckfat, Portland Lobster Company.

There are many reasons to visit Portland, Maine, such as picture-postcard ocean vistas and graceful 18th-century homes—but the main reason (pun intended) is the food. Called the “Foodiest Small Town in America” in 2009 by Bon Appétit—and, according to its Chamber of Commerce, second only to San Francisco in restaurants per capita—Portland has grown into one of the Northeast’s top dining spots. These five restaurants prove that big-city dining can be right at home miles away from a major metropolis.

National Geographic Traveler was here for Harvest on thee Harbor and put together a guide to eating well in Portland: Hugo’s, Miyake, Fore Street, Flatbread, Maine Beer Company, Merry Table, Bresca, Miccuci, Rabelais, Duckfat.

Lured from New York and other pricey cities by the relative cheap rents of the Old Port (the city’s revitalized waterfront), a small army of top-notch chefs have set up shop here. Combined with an already intense locavore scene–if it grows here, there’s a Mainer raising it–and a thriving food artisan community, from whoopie pie bakers to mead brewers, and you have all the makings of a gastronome utopia.

Maryland food blogger Microcosm K made Portland part of a road trip and wrote about visits to: Standard Baking, Silly’s, Lobster Shack, The Great Lost Bear, Miyake and Five Fifty-Five.

I want to start this post with a quote from Homer Simpson’s high school year book: “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” Yes, that was the primary theme for Day 7 of our road-trip–our first full day in Portland.

From Away has published a review of Caiola’s.

Based on the recommendation of our server, Malcolm ordered scallops and I the chicken Marsala. Chicken Marsala, like veal Piccata or Communism, is just not something I ever would consider. It seems cold war-era boring, and better in theory. I was so very mistaken. Chicken Marsala is wonderful. It’s sweet and light and lovely.