Category: Reviews

The Press Herald has reviewed Tomaso’s Canteen,

Sangillo’s closing was a loss for the community, and Tomaso’s definitely doesn’t replace it. But in some ways that’s great. You’ll still find the affordable drinks and “beer and shot” menu, but now the space is verging on gastropub territory, with its amazing food, specialty drinks and relaxed vibe. The location is hole-in-the-wall enough to feel like a secret, but it’s right off Middle Street.

and Pat’s Meat Market & Groceria Cafe.

I also tried the chicken vegetable soup ($4.95), with shredded chunks of chicken and a rich, bright yellow stock that I found later was made at the market. It had mushrooms, carrots and pieces of turnip. It was very hot, making it a good traveling soup. So next time I want a soup to go, I’ll get some at Pat’s and I’ll be confident it will stay warm. Some of the other soups on the rotating list include beef and bean chili, cream of asparagus, curry chicken and rice, and clam and haddock chowder.

Run for Breakfast has reviewed Bayou Kitchen.

The regular menu has many delicious options for both breakfast and lunch (Bayou serves breakfast and lunch only) and every one I have had has been fantastic.  From prior visits I recommend trying the Veggie Homie Plate (home fries smothered with veggies and cheese), the Breakfast Sandwich (traditional style, but for a real treat, order is with the Andouille sausage), or El Rancho Verde omelet (a medley of Cajun and southwest flavor).  If you are in the mood, Bayou Kitchen’s French Toast and pancakes are large and perfectly cooked. 

The Golden Dish has posted a brunch review of Roustabout.

What you will get is a carefully thought out menu.  Don’t look, then, for other typical dishes like sausage gravy over biscuits or cracklings of bacon rashers with eggs over easy. This is, after all, brunch, the combination of morning and noontime leisurely dining where a little bit of this and that suffice.

Star Chefs has highlighted Tempo Dulu bartender Trevin Hutchins’s drink the Jakarta as one of their Top 5 Cocktails of 2015.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed El Rayo.

Standard menu items are more reliable than the specials here, so stick with familiar favorites like fried plantains served with a piquant chipotle mayonnaise. (That mayo is so good, it’s reason enough to order the appetizer.) Then dig into a bowl of guacamole with one of El Rayo’s thin, lightly salted tortilla chips: The guac is fresh, brightened with key lime juice, and pleasantly peppery, and you’ll plow through the crispy chips in no time. You can move on to empanadas and burritos served with rice and beans, or a quesadilla crisped on the griddle, but the tacos at El Rayo (it is a “taqueria” after all) stand out. Don’t miss the barbecued pulled pork taco served with cole slaw, crumbly cotija cheese and a red onion escabeche: It’s a meaty, sticky, messy winner.

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed the Portland Patisserie,

These desserts are lovely for a bit of shared decadence at the patisserie’s traditional small white tables. Or you can fill the table up with larger plates for crepes, soups, salads and sandwiches. The crepes are expertly done in the traditional style, with their handsome brown wedge topped by a jagged crown of crisp and chewy cheese. A crepe made with duck, gruyere, onion and stonefruit was built like the tricolor. At the point of the wedge the cheese mingled with the tart and sweet of the fruit. Where it widened the richer flavors of a chewy duck confit and tender caramelized onion dominated. The top was all terrific salty cheese.

and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Tomaso’s Canteen.

We ate and ate, stopping only to take short breaths and stare lovingly at our food. Eventually, it was nearly gone and we were filled to the brim. I reminisced about the past hour and realized that while I was well fed, the meter where I parked wasn’t. I asked for the bill and hoped that there wasn’t another one on my car. Our total came to a mere 31 bucks before tip. We didn’t have any drinks, but we had lots of food. It was all very good, and that app…that app was simply gorgeous. We were both smiling and raved about Tomaso’s Canteen as a great place to go and not spend all our cash while still getting top notch pub grub.

The Honey Paw was included in the Gear Patrol list of the 25 Best New Restaurants in America.

What to Order: Fry bread with uni butter; fried wings with coconut, lemongrass, tamarind and Thai bird chili; Vietnamese pork meatball soup with glass noodle, smoked pork broth, mortadella, roast pork and Thai bird sambal; fish head curry made with local cod, sweet potato, pickled okra, cashew, fresh turmeric, tomatillo sambal and jasmine rice.

La Liste, a new international guide to the 1,000 most “exceptional restaurants from around the world” was released on Thursday. 101 US restaurants made the cut. Per Se came in #2 overall and Fore Street, the sole entry from Maine, was ranked #935.

La Liste is based on the collective rankings from 200 guidebooks and online review sites. Each of the source’s weight in the overall score was based on their level of reliability as reported from a survey of 150,000 restaurant owners.

This graphic (click to expand) shows the national origins of the restaurants on the list:

You can learn more about the team leading the project, their sources and methodology on the La Liste website.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Fore Street.

Fore Street has not lost its luster one bit.  Yet its gloriousness is so subtle.  It doesn’t blaze with culinary fripperies. Instead its gastronomic Zeitgeist favors a less-is-more approach, maintaining a patina of refinement with everything that comes out of its kitchen.  From the food that’s grilled, spit-roasted or pan seared and roasted in great cast-iron pans to the utter fineness of its ingredients—nearly all locally sourced— it’s the simplicity  of its cooking that speaks with such exuberance.

The Press Herald has published a bar review of The Great Lost Bear,

The Great Lost Bear has an extensive beer list and maintains a hometown-bar vibe. Good for a burger and a beer, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays when it’s “talls for smalls” pricing.

and a lunch review of the Portland Food Co-op.

There are two kinds of organic soups ready to ladle into to-go cups (soups change daily) and the price was right ($3.50 for a small). I chose the mushroom barley, which was vegan (I felt instantly virtuous). Since that was so cheap, I also grabbed a couple of lunch-portioned salads from the cooler right near the soup: a half pound of “Awesome Chicken Salad” for $6.86 and an “Autumn Salad” with chickpeas, kale and pepitas, aka little pumpkin seeds, for $2.64.