The Portsmouth Herald has reviewed The Grill Room.
The Grill Room is comfort writ large. Great steaks and specialty dishes, inventive sauces, sides like grandma used to make but you know, your hip grandma, and all in a warm, inviting space that soothes.
Down East has reviewed Walter’s.
Walter’s seafood-heavy menu hopscotches across cuisines, sometimes within one dish. The grilled fish tacos, for example, consist of haddock over shredded greens, with cheddar and pico de gallo — as well as a sriracha mango tartar sauce and a Fuji apple and jicama slaw. That’s a lot of flavor for one dish.
Jan Mee received 3 stars from this week’s Eat & Run column in today’s Press Herald.
If done right, a buffet lunch should be both quick and filling. The buffet lunch at Jan Mee Chinese Restaurant in Portland fits that bill. And at $6.75, it’s relatively inexpensive.
The Portland Bar Guide has reviewed Ri-Ra.
Unless you’ve visited the Ri Ra website you probably didn’t know the bar is a chain with others in Arlington VA, Charlotte NC, Atlantic City, NJ, Evansville, IN, Bethesda, MD, Burlington, VT, Providence, RI and Louisville, KY. Usually, I’m turned off by chain establishments, but Ri Ra has got a killer Happy Hour and I’ve had nothing less than a memorable time when I’ve visited.
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Happy Teriyaki.
Like Korea itself, Happy Teriyaki has challenges to overcome. The name is misleading. They are burdened by the thin carpet and hulking beverage cooler that plague so many Asian restaurants here in Portland. The Chinese section of the menu, if the Mongolian shrimp is an indication, is not particularly strong. But its other strengths make it worth visiting.
Chef et al received 4 stars in a review from Chris2fer.
I don’t even have the words to describe my sandwich. You know if you are cooking something with cheese in it, and the cheese touches the pan, and gets all crispy and tangy and splendid? Yeah – that was what they did to my sandwich, but it was all throughout. The bread was crusty and crispy and light brown, grilled with just enough butter to be delicious, but not too much to be oily. The turkey was filled with briny flavor and the bacon was thick and crunchy. There was an apple and cranberry chutney that married seamlessly with a maple aioli. It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Peerless.
Where is Jenner’s Mind has a review of 158 Pickett Street Cafe.
in my mind it was perfection. the bagel was light yet chewy with a good flavor all its own. the toppings were dispersed over the top of the bagel perfectly as to allow one to get a little of everything in each bite. but not overwhelming like when some places cut the onions too thick and all you taste is onion. it would have all been complete with just the salt and pepper but the olive oil really pushed it over the top.
Casa Novello received 3½ stars from this week’s Taste & Tell column in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.
This utterly solid resource for inexpensive Italian-American dinners, so welcome in the winter, has the added attraction of exceptional service.
Borealis Breads received 3 stars from this week’s Eat & Run column in the Press Herald.
Whoever made this chowder did everything right. The flavors were well-balanced, and the consistency just right. The herb wasn’t overwhelming, and the potatoes were neither over- nor undercooked. And did I mention there was lots of shrimp? At $6.50 for a 12-ounce bowl, it was worth every penny.
I was less impressed with my sandwich. The roast turkey with onion jam and cream cheese (sounds good, doesn’t it?) came without the onion jam because they were out of it that day. Some kind of caramelized onions was substituted.
Later, I also discovered there was no cream cheese.
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed the prix fixe option at Blue Spoon.
Our salad offered an even more generous helping of mushrooms — in this case an interesting variety from the mushroom-masters at Oyster Creek, where they combine foraging and cultivation. The best was the earthy-sweet hedgehog mushroom, shaped like an ugly fist. The subtle bitter of baby arugula would have worked better with the earthy fungi if the vinaigrette dressing had been a bit less sweet.