Opinionated About Dining released their 2018 lists for North America yesterday. A number of Portland restaurants made it on to one of the four lists:
Fine Dining – Hugo’s clocked in at #18
Heritage – Eventide #1, Pai Men #185
Gourmet Casual – Central Provision #68, The Honey Paw #199
Cheap Eats – Duckfat #127, Standard Baking #155, The Holy Donut #189
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed The Front Room,
Comfort food is still the name of the game at The Front Room, the first of Harding Lee Smith’s “Room” restaurants. Open since late 2005, The Front Room continues to serve approachable, hearty dishes like chicken pot pie layered with a criminally flaky duck-fat pastry and house-cured salmon pastrami served on steamed brown bread. Not every dish works well, however.
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Little Giant,
A mushroom tartine, for example, is actually a toasted slice of good dark bread, schmeared with tart ricotta and piled high with meaty, dark, wild shiitake and a fried egg flopped on top. Around it all is a moat of thick honey spiced with red pepper, a bit of which brightens the rich flavor of the whole dish.
The Press Herald has reviewed Belleville, and
Belleville does three things, mostly, and it does them extraordinarily well: outrageously buttery, crackly laminated pastries; superb baguettes ($3) with heft and chew; and fat squares of inventively flavored and flavorful pizza (fig, rosemary and onion, for one; salami, for another). They offered a delicious-looking banh mi ($9) on a baguette one day and a meatball sub ($10) another.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed The Sinful Kitchen.
We thought it to be a great breakfast and with all the interesting items on the menu, I look forward to going back a bunch more and trying some of their other great options. It doesn’t matter whether you like sweet, savory, or spicy, The Sinful Kitchen has something that will certainly please you. I’m so glad I finally got to experience it for myself.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Drifters Wife (4½ stars), and
Some of Jackson’s best dishes do make use of his new equipment, like a saffron-yellow, heritage-bred chicken, served with roasted parsnips and green garlic ($34). Cooked “al mattone” (under a brick), first in a smoking hot cast-iron pan on the stovetop, then crisped in the oven, the buttery half-chicken is golden-skinned, juicy and so terrifically addictive, it should come with a PSA.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Highroller Lobster Co., and
But the taste was flat, a mere simulacrum to the sweetness of fresh lobster.
The Blueberry Files has published a first look at Eaux.
I loved my chicken and waffles ($14), with spicy pickled peppers, apple slices, and fried sage leaves. The most striking part was how much flavor the fried chicken had—the breading was pleasantly salty and the chicken was very tender.
People magazine has included Portland in their list of the Top 10 New Foodie Cities. I have to wonder about that “new” part of the title.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Benkay,
Open for the better part of 20 years in a tiny, nondescript storefront on lower India Street, the restaurant relocated in January to posh new digs on Middle Street. For chef/owner Seiji Ando, the move is an exciting one that offers him a chance to seat more diners and to prepare a weekly special-importation menu, thanks to a mystery shipment of fish that arrives every Thursday from Japan. The sushi he prepares from it are wonderful, especially delicate medai and gently tangy shima-aji (horse mackerel).
the Portland Phoenix has reviewed Drifters Wife, and
Flavors are often subtle, yet stand-out. A starter of pickled shrimp with celery root, remoulade and rye brings together contrasting notes of brine and earth for something so well-balanced it deserves to be a main course. So too does a plate of gold ball turnips, bacon and ramps, which tastes like what the “farm-to-table” movement has gone for but missed in so many area dining establishments over the years. Even a salad of mixed local greens is somehow tantalizing, set off by a dusting of breadcrumbs and a tangy shallot vinaigrette.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Back Bay Grill.
Back Bay Grill has maintained exactly what they are known for – high level service, quality food, and a great experience. They always use exceptional ingredients, but their dishes really hit the mark with each bite, focusing on exactly what they should, taking a main ingredient and making sure that all the other parts of the item add to it, while still maintaining the primary intent. You can taste each piece, and you’ll never forget what you ordered.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed the BlueFin, and
BlueFin, the seafood-themed restaurant in the Portland Harbor Hotel, is a head-scratcher, with prices that rival the area’s most expensive restaurants, yet little of the allure to justify them. It starts with spotty service, thanks to a front-of-house team who, apart from the lone server during dinner hours, all seem to be employed elsewhere in the hotel. Bartenders and piano players double as valets, front-desk staff double as hosts and bussers, lending the whole enterprise an ad-hoc feel. The menu is just as off-kilter, with a few genuinely enjoyable dishes – dressed lobster served in a custardy homemade popover, and creamy, egg-yolk-enriched lobster mashed potatoes – alongside a few dire ones, like a wet, underseasoned paella; a hazelnut panna cotta so firm you could drive across it served with a hot, salty waffle; and an acrid affogato made with cold espresso.
the Press Herald has reviewed Scratch Toast Bar.
The spreads I picked were a three-berry jam, Yummus (hummus with pureed carrots and other veggies) and an artichoke heart and spinach bake. The jam was like berry pie filling, so good you could eat it with a spoon. But it was also great on the cinnamon raisin nut bread. The Yummus was tangy and flavorful, and oddly, didn’t taste that much like carrots. The spinach and artichoke bake was creamy and rich. It was especially good on the airy miche, which was my favorite of the breads.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed the Island Creek Oyster Shop,
you will find a host of briny treats, like Eider Coves and sweet bay scallops from Stonington, along with rare and memorably strange Maine Belon oysters from Harpswell. For those averse to raw shellfish, The Shop also provides a half-dozen tinned seafood options, like Galician octopus in a tomato-and-paprika sauce, or squid in olive oil and its own ink. Visit on a Sunday, and you’ll even find caviar served three ways (on a non-reactive spoon, an oyster and a blini) for $18.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Elda,
Elda has a truly inviting, comfortable atmosphere. The food and drink is crafted in a way that makes it more exciting than even most of what I’ve seen a few exits north on I-95 recently. And there’s certainly a touch – maybe more – of genius in the way its presented too. From the little wooden utensils and metal straw, to their incredible bread, they make an impression with every detail. Elda gave us a stunning meal that will bring me back, even if it’s out of the way. And I’ll be sending people to Biddeford now when they need a “good place to go eat”.
The Bollard has reviewed BRGR Bar,
Our meal had some redeeming elements: we thoroughly enjoyed the cool, retro-industrial decor and ’80s tunes. But while I’d consider dropping in for a milkshake sometime, I probably wouldn’t go back for brunch unless I had a serious hangover to cure.
the Press Herald has reviewed One Six Green, and
I haven’t tried all the falafel in Portland, but I have to admit that this was a step above what I’ve had at many other lunch spots in the city. It was more strongly seasoned (lots more cumin), and chunks of chickpeas gave the falafel balls added texture and visual appeal, but were still cooked and soft enough to eat without feeling like you were biting into an undercooked chickpea.
the Portsmouth Herald has reviewed Bolster Snow.
He brings a refreshing playfulness to his dishes, including snacks like a Jenga-like stack of crisp carrot fries made from baked carrot sticks dusted with cornstarch and flash-fried. They come out sweet, tender and hot inside and very crisp outside for dipping into a curry mayo.
Beer Advocate has named Battery Steele to their list of the 50 Best New Breweries of the past year.
On Portland, Maine’s Industrial Way, the avenue that birthed titans like Maine Beer Co. and Bissell Brothers, 2017 saw the beginnings of Battery Steele Brewing. The industrial setting, with shining tanks directly in front of consumers, harkens back to the craft breweries in years past. Co-founder Jacob Condon says Battery Steele is a product of exploration and “pushing the limits of ourselves and the beers we produce.” The well-received Flume is an 8 percent Double IPA brewed with English malts and Citra and Mosaic hops. Battery Steele also brews an IPA as part of its OnSight Experimental Series. In 2018, Condon says, the brewery will expand its physical space and “add some variety” to the hop-heavy lineup, which already includes Knox Bière de Garde and Telos Stout.
Portland Magazine has reviewed Benkay, and
Benkay’s 21-year run is proof that gloriously fresh seafood and excellent service will never go out of style.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Sichuan Kitchen.
We also had Zhong dumplings, which are one of the best dishes coming out of this kitchen. Served in a rich Sichuan-style blend of soy, sugar and garlic, you’re meant to stir the dumplings in the sauce at the bottom of the bowl to get the full flavor effect: spicy and flowery.