Burgers: Miss Portland, Becky’s, Hot Suppa, Harmon’s

| Posted in Reviews

Last year a group of Portland food bloggers and I collaborated on Thai-o-rama, an effort to eat at and review every single Thai restaurant in the city, from Siam Orchid in the One City Center food court through to the ever popular Boda in Longfellow Square. We had so much fun in 2010 that we’re continuing the project into 2011.

We’re starting off the new year with that emblem of American fast food, the hamburger, and for round 1 the group focused in on the burgers to be found at diners and sandwich shops in and around Portland. (We’ll go for the gourmet burgers, pub burgers, beef alternative burgers, etc in later months.)

You can learn as much from where our band of bloggers went (or tried to) for the burgers as from the reviews themselves. The former gives a clear indication of what eateries they thought would have a good burger and the later letting you know the accuracy of their aim.

Appetite Portland initially tried to go to Marcy’s (closed for Winter break) and ended up at the Miss Portland Diner. Soooo . . You Really Like Cats was shut out at Marcy’s and Hot Suppa but landed at Becky’s. The Blueberry Files took a direct path to Becky’s. Where is Jenner’s Mind couldn’t make it to Kathy & Dave’s or Steve & Renee’s and opted for Hot Suppa.  The Miss Portland Diner was From Away’s first choice and Edible Obsessions left town entirely to visit Harmon’s Lunch in Falmouth.

Clearly from the reviews below some choices ended up being (a lot) better than others.

Appetite Portland – Miss Portland Diner

Go to Miss Portland – get that haddock reuben, the chicken pie, a hot turkey dinner – or whatever is on special. If you need a hunk of beef, I can highly recommend the meatloaf. Just don’t bother with the burgers… read the full review

Edible Obsessions – Harmon’s Lunch

I’ve only ordered a burger one way from them: Loaded. Diced, perfectly caramelized onions, mystery red relish, mustard, meat and plain hamburger bun. Simple enough and insanely inexpensive to boot. But, let’s dote a little more on the burger, shall we? All of the components make this easily one of the best balanced burgers I’ve had because Sweet+Savory+Acidic=Satisfying. You would think that the burger, a quite respectable patty–cooked medium–all on it’s own, would be lost somewhere under all of the toppings, but it’s not…read the full review

From Away – Miss Portland Diner

The Miss Portland Diner deserves a visit. The antique dining car has been wonderfully preserved, the service is fast and friendly, and there are menu options that I thought existed on Maine menus only in my memory (Ham salad on rye? Liver and onions? Pot roast dinner?). Jillian’s patty melt was delicious, and a perfect place for anyone who hasn’t stepped outside of their normal hamburger configuration to get on the train to patty melt town. You’ll have a hard time finding a better version of this classic diner sandwich. The burger, unfortunately, with its sad, parched appearance and dusty, grainy grind, doesn’t show a lot of thoughtfulness or appreciation of the genre, and isn’t going to make anyone a fan of the place…read the full review

Soooo . . You Really Like Cats, Don’t You – Becky’s

But even through the seemingly endless rambling about how the soft bun couldn’t handle the 3 inches of ingredients in between, I was still happy with this burger. Certainly not wowed by any stretch of the imagination, but it still quite satisfied. A traditional, American-cheesed, 1/3-pounder hamburger with all the fixings you’d see at any barbecue. It’ll be interesting to see what I think of it 11 burgers down the line (assuming that I make it that far!). The $6.75 (plus tax and tip) sticker price makes me wince a little bit because it was so much on the traditional side, but by the time I left the diner, I was feeling fat and sassy. That’ll do for now…read the full review

The Blueberry Files – Becky’s

While I have ranted against the hype surrounding Becky’s brunch, I was impressed by their lunch effort. This place didn’t make my go-to burger spot, but with the good prices and the great club sandwich, I’d recommend it for a cheap, classic lunch…read the full review

Where is Jenner’s Mind – Hot Suppa!

simply put, the burger tasted great. this is not a fancy or gourmet burger, in fact its made with american cheese. but if you are looking for a really tasty burger, you are not gonna go wrong with this burger. all you got to do is find someone to split the burger and the cubano with you and you got yourself a fantastic date…read the full review

Is there a diner or sandwich shop in Portland who’s burger you think is especially stellar? If so, post a comment and tell us where to find it and what you like about it.

This Week’s Events: Beer & Cheese, Wine & Pie, Bob Smith

| Posted in Uncategorized

Wednesday — there will be a wine tasting at Old Portland Wine Merchants, Havana South is holding their monthly 10 wines for $10 wine event, the January Full Moon Cask Beer Night is being held at Sebago Brewing and Allagash is pouring Hugh Malone and raising money for MOFGA at Local Sprouts.

Thursday — The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing Long Trail Brewing.

Saturday — Jasper Hill, Allagash, Maine Beer Co. and Urban Farm Fermentory will be at the 5th Annual Vignola Beer and Cheese Tasting, Rosemont is holding a wine and pie tasting, the Winter Farmers Market is taking place, and Scarborough Wine Outlet is holding a wine tasting.

Bob Smith Memorial — friend and colleagues of Chef Bob Smith will be gathering on January 30th at The Coastal House in Wells to commemorate his life and passing. Bob died unexpectedly from a heart condition in December.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Chef Bob Smith Memorial Fund

| Posted in General News

The family, friends and colleagues of Chef Bob Smith have set-up the Chef Bob Smith Fund for Education in Farming and the Culinary Arts to “honor the memory of his skill as a cook, his generosity of spirit, and his contribution to Portland’s food community.”

Organizers have announced that the money will be used to provide grants to individuals who want to further their knowledge of food and farming, and the grants will be “awarded at the discretion of Cultivating Community’s Board of Directors.”

Here are the details on making a donation:

Send a check made out to ‘Cultivating Community’ to the address below, and be sure to indicate “Chef Bob Fund” in the memo line. You can also donate directly via the Cultivating Community website, www.cultivatingcommunity.org, and click “Donate Now”, and write “Chef Bob Fund” in the in honor of section.

For more information, please contact Craig Lapine at 207-761-GROW.

Cultivating Community
P.O. Box 3792
Portland, Maine 04104-3792

Review of Figa—4½ stars

| Posted in Reviews

Figa received 4½ stars from today’s Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

The chef at Figa had me in the palms of her capable hands within two bites of the eggplant Napoleon ($6), one night’s appetizer special. Humble eggplant had been transformed into discs of creamy tenderness and lacy, crisp edges as slightly browned goat cheese chimed in with sour and tangy richness.

Green Scratch Meal

| Posted in Cooking

Edible Obsessions has written about a recent meal prepared with local ingredients sourced from  Green Sparks Farms through  Cape/ SoPo Winter Share, Cranky Rooster Farm and Scratch Baking.

Like most local eggs, these blow away anything you can buy at the local grocery stores. The yolks are plump, orange and LARGE. If I ever come back as a chicken, I want to live on this farm and eat what they’re eating–which is probably better than many people I know.

2011 Meal Deals

| Posted in General News

The discount pricing of Maine Restaurant Week is still a couple months away but there are some pricing specials out there now for anyone who blew their restaurant budget over the holidays:

  • Bar Lola – a 5-course prix-fixe menu, Wednesday-Saturday, $39.
  • Boda – late night menus items are half off on Sundays from 9:30 – 1 am
  • Browne Trading has declared January Cheese Month and is offering a 10% discount off all cheese in their store.
  • El Rayo – $1 oysters, Monday nights.
  • Five Fifty-Five – $1.55 oysters & drink specials, Thursdays nights at the bar.
  • Grace – happy hour from 5-6:30 Tuesday through Saturday, featuring bar food and drink specials including $15 bottles of wine
  • Hugo’s – the 6-course blind tasting menu, normally $85 per person, is $42.50 on Tuesday through Thursday from now until March 31.
  • Pom’s Thai Taste – $1 sushi, Monday & Tuesday.
  • Ri-Ra – half priced burgers on Wednesday nights.
  • The Great Lost Bear – Monday and Tuesday nights are Short Beer Nights when you can get a 23 ounce draft for $4.25. You can find a full list of happy hour specials on Portland Taps.
  • The Salt Exchange – 3-course prix fixe for $30.
  • There have been a number of discount offers for Portland area restaurants in the past few weeks on Dealitious and Groupon (but not this morning). Living Social has an offer today for Local 188 a $50 certificate half off for $25. Another local coupon site, The Maine Deal now is offering $10 gift certificates to Gorgeous Gelato for $5.

What’s missing from the list? Post a comment and share what you know.

Farmland and Organic Acres

| Posted in Farming

MPBN has reported on two announcements made at this year’s Maine Agricultural Trades Convention. MOFGA set a goal to double the number of organic farms in Maine over the next 5 years and bring the percentage of organic acreage up to 10%,

MOFGA commissioned a study based on statistics from the 2007 Census of Agriculture, and among other things, it found that Maine has one of the largest collections of organic farms in the nation. Still, admits Libby, they’re a small part of the agricultural landscape in Maine. Organic farms account for roughly seven percent, respectively, of the state’s overall farming acreage, assets and gross revenue.

and the Maine Farmland Trust has…

launched a campaign to preserve 100,000 acres of farmland throughout the state by 2014. The initiative, announced this morning at the annual state farm show in Augusta, was prompted by concerns that much of Maine’s farmland will be in transition in the next 10 to 15 years as aging farmers sell off their farms or die.

For additional reporting on these announcements read this Press Herald article.