Category: Reviews

Chubby Werewolf has continued his excellent coverage of the Blue Rooster guest chef series with a review of this week’s dog created by Erik Desjarlais.

I’m loving so many things about the Choucroute Dog. It is such a clever adaptation of regional French cuisine to what is arguably the most American of foods. And while nothing feels forced or out-of-place, the inclusion of the duck confit and the sausage imbue the hot dog with a sense of rustic decadence.

Desjarlais is the former chef/owner of Bandol, Ladle and Evangeline, he currently runs of Weft & Warp Seamester.

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed The Porthole.

The chef has done with the menu what the owner did with the place—elevating things without changing them fundamentally. So despite the server’s predilections, it’s worth veering from the burgers and fried fish into the more interesting dishes. The fish tacos, for example, break from common practice by opting for a crunchy blue-corn shell rather than soft tortillas. There are lots of tender, blackened pieces of some whitefish or another. On top sits a pile of crunchy slaw and juicy-sour pico de gallo. The pinkish aioli has a kick of sriracha (a company whose factory was nearly shut down by a zero tolerance policy on noxious odors in Irwindale, California). On their purple plate, the blue goopy tacos look both messy and appealing—sort of in the spirit of the Porthole itself. 

The new issue  of Maxim includes an article about visiting Portland. It recommends Eventide, Fore Street, Hunt & Alpine, In’finiti and The Great Lost Bear.

Maxim also checked in with Joe Ricchio who suggested a day of noshing that starts with Saigon followed by stops at Miyake, Central Provisions, Hunt & Alpine and the Snug.

The article isn’t yet available online.

Chubby Werewolf has continued his excellent coverage of the Blue Rooster guest chef series with a review of the Vinland hot dog.

The surprisingly substantive corn tortilla—the first departure from a standard hot dog bun in the Summer Chef Series—gets points not only for being locally sourced, but also for originality. Bun substitutes can sometimes turn out to be gimmicky failures, but not here. As a vessel for transporting meat and toppings, it was more than up to the task, staying intact right up until the last bite. And while I love my hot dog buns, I’d argue that the tortilla functions better than the regular bun in that it lets the meat itself play a larger role in the sandwich, which is great when you’re using a premium-quality hot dog.

Saveur has posted a eating  tour of some of the author’s favorite Portland destinations.

You could (and should) plan a week-long itinerary around the city’s great restaurants, as many do. But the simple pleasure of selecting ingredients and enjoying them at their freshest shouldn’t be overlooked by visitors; whenever I have friends coming into town, I send them on my favorite Saturday morning grocery itinerary, to make like a local and gather the fixings for a perfect afternoon picnic. Because, after all, the same resources that attracted ambitious chefs to Portland—abundant seafood and an equal abundance of local produce—are available to you and me.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Slab.

Portions are huge. We shared a panzanella salad, more than enough for two.  It was a delicious mix of crusty caraway bread, which was actually too hard to cut using those wooden utensils.  Ultimately we picked it up by hand and dunkedf the bread in the sauce. The salad contained feta cheese, cucumber, an orange-dill sauce, olives and onions.  But it didn’t have the traditional cubes of tomatoes; instead it was slathered in a tomato vinaigrette.  It was very good, though too bready.

Meredith Goad has reviewed Thurston’s for the Press Herald.

There’s a lot to like about Thurston’s, and I’ll probably go back. A decent burger and scoop of custard from a Maine-based restaurant beats fast-food burgers from national chains any day.

Portland is among Wine Enthusiast’s list of America’s 5 New Foodie Cities. The brief listing includes mention of Eventide, Opus Ten and Vinland.

Portland (Maine) is the new Portland (Oregon). Here, a spate of new restaurants join burgeoning coffee and distillation scenes.

Diningsense has reviewed Fore Street,

As a veteran Fore Street customer, I thought I knew what to expect but this meal blew us away. The ingredients were well-sourced as always, but this meal displayed a level of precision that I’ve never seen and so this was my favorite meal of the year to this point. Past favorites were perfectly executed, while new plates confirmed that the kitchen’s creative faculties remain intact.

and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Fishermen’s Grill.

I finished my wife’s meal and after spending close to 80 bucks on lunch, we were pretty full. I was happy. The lobster roll wasn’t what I was looking for, but fortunately, that was the outlier of the meal. I really wonder what the issue was as their other food was so good. I loved the diveyness of the place and almost everything about the place was really enjoyable. I would definitely go back, but unless I found out there were some changes to it, I’d avoid the lobster and probably choose something fried.