Category: Reviews

The Press Herald has reviewed Punky’s.

My breakfast sandwich ($3.50) consisted of bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel. There was nothing remarkable about it, other than it was exactly what I wanted. I am used to a breakfast sandwich with one, maybe two strips of bacon. I didn’t count the number of strips, but it must have been four. Toasted on the grill — I know this, because I watched the cook — the bagel was chewy, the egg well cooked and not runny, and the cheese melted but not gooey. I ate it at my desk and appreciated that it wasn’t at all messy.

Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Terlingua,

All in all, Terlingua puts out a solid meal. The smoked chicken was excellent and that spicy sauce was too. My corn could have used some more bacon flavor, but it was still good and that drink was shockingly pleasing. I’m glad that Portland has another BBQ joint, but I’m even more glad that it’s not a straight up BBQ place, but a hybrid with Latin American flavor. Their unique combination is something I think people will go to for good eats and good drinks for some time to come.

and The Golden Dish has written up the brunch at Tiqa.

Most everything is paired with eggs, but the underpinnings are definitely from the Middle East.  Turkish cuisine played a big part in the dishes on the menu.  Typical breakfast/brunch items are often fruit, yogurt with honey, baked eggs with sausage and Tiqa’s menu reflects that to some degree.

Two Maine brewers are taking home medals from this year’s Great American Beer Festival competition:

• Allagash won a gold medal in the Belgian Style-Witbier category for Allagash While
• Allagash also won a silver in the Belgian Tripel category for their Tripel
• Baxter Brewing won a silver in the Field Beer category their Window Seat Coconut Almond Porter

You can see the full list of award winners on the GABF website.

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Isa.

The benefits of Isa’s simplicity were most clearly on display in the fantastic burrata crostini. It was made transcendent by the ample slices of perfectly ripe yellow tomatoes, which lay between a rustic bread smeared with pesto and the creamy cheese. A grilled peach appetizer benefited from the fruit’s not-quite-ripeness. A sweeter peach might have overwhelmed the bitter of arugula and the tang of goat cheese. In another likeable salad, the tartness and acid of grapefruit, along with thin slices of apple and a splash of cider, mellowed the aroma and bite shaved fennel.

The Press Herald has published a bar review of Evo,

Evo Kitchen & Bar should be on the top of anyone’s list for the next place to go for wine, cocktails, and small plates. Michael Gatlin has created a beautiful drink list that complements Chef Matt Ginn’s beautiful, seasonal Mediterranean fare. The all-glass space and design is breathtaking, and nowhere else on Fore Street will you feel like you’re at a swanky bar somewhere in Manhattan.

and has reviewed Ocho.

I ordered The Classic. This meant my burrito was a symphony of Spanish rice, cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, crema, plus the two added bonuses of chicken and guacamole. It was ready in about three blinks of an eye, and I was out the door walking back to the newsroom. Once the noshing began, it was a formidable task to eat this hefty burrito…Anyway, my OCHO burrito wasted no time in announcing its deliciousness as my taste buds were awakened by a nine-piece band of flavors. Everything seemed incredibly fresh and, yes, I finished the whole thing.

BuzzFeed has posted a list of the “39 Amazing Things That Will Make You Fall In Love With Portland, Maine“. The staff at BF must love to eat out because most of the list highlights restaurants and bars including: Tandem, Eventide, Central Provisions, J’s Oyster Bar, Bard, Lolita, Boda, Silly’s, Schulte & Herr, Blue Spoon,  Hunt & Alpine and many more.

Eatcentric Me has posted a report on Inside, Outside, Above, Below.

I attended Lauren Fensterstock and Aaron Stephan with Chef Masa Miyake’s (chef and owner of Miyake, Pai Men Miyake, and Miyake Farm) staged dinner event INSIDE, OUTSIDE, ABOVE, BELOW recently, and it was a coalescence of all things I most readily identify with and love: great food paired with drinks, meeting interesting people and sharing the experience with them, and a creative, choreographed art installation centered around dining.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Sunday brunch at Piccolo.

The play of seasonings was exciting: Calabrian chili, pepper, plenty of sea salt and a trace of fennel accented the chicken and potato hash; and the semolina bread, toasted until soft-but-crunchy held the sweet raisins.  I was tempted to ask for a fruit preserve to spread on the toast but as soon as I broke open the egg, the yolk bathed everything else in its path and I coaxed  the bread to sop up all those components in the dish.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Empire.

It’s been two years since Empire opened, and in that time they’ve succeeded in setting the standard for some of the best Chinese food north of Boston. It didn’t try to be a fusion powerhouse like Mission Chinese in New York or Meyers and Chang in Boston. But the chefs, under the direction of co-owner Theresa Chan, take on nontraditional dishes as well. Consider their brioche char siu bao (baked pork buns) or spicy cucumber with jelly fish salad as examples–two must-have dishes.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has given Union, the restaurant in The Press Hotel, 4½ stars.

Good news. Union, the restaurant that opened four months ago off the lobby of Portland’s new Press Hotel, is the real thing – a contemporary American farm-to-table restaurant that grabs you with its good looks, then sweeps you off your feet with dishes as delicious as they are ravishing. Dinner here is no fast-to-fade one-night stand. It’s a relaxing opportunity to savor and enjoy executive chef Josh Berry’s assured and consistent cooking. And you’ll wake up the next morning with a very broad smile on your face.

Gather magazine has published their guide to Portland.

At every turn down Portland’s cobblestones, another study in self-determination seemed to greet us. It was not the absence of an appreciation for the beautiful or delightful. To the contrary, Angela Adams’ nature-inspired homegoods, Portland Dry Goods’ curated corners, The Press Hotel’s typewritten nooks and Eventide Oyster Co.’s restorative flavors are just a few examples of a sweeping reverence for the good life. It felt like a collective belief in a sort of manifest destiny, the ability to drive a new way forward in a place that feeds and accepts and encourages and is proud of its creative class…

Eateries and bars mentioned in the article include: Allagash, Bard, Central Provisions, Dobra, Eventide, Fore Street, Grace, Harbor Fish, Honey Paw, Hunt & Alpine, LFK, Miyake, Piccolo, Shipyard, Slab, Standard, Street & Co, Tandem and Two Fat Cats.