Sun: Soakology & Shima

| Posted in General News, Profiles

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a report on Shima’s new lounge area,

Feel like sweet-roasted red pepper? How about Maine shrimp fritter, sauteed prawns or calamari “a la plancha”? The list goes on, including additional entrees and appetizers, ranging from antipasto to cheese plates, from Japanese roast pork to salmon and haddock.

and a profile of the “foot sanctuary and teahouse” that is Soakology,

I’m brought a black almond tea, steamed with milk and honey and “Four Feet” of chocolate. Footprint-shaped wafers of chocolate from Coastline Confections in Cumberland are melted on slices of baguette and sprinkled with seasalt, the perfect internal reinforcement for the detoxifying that the Belgian cocoa is supposedly doing to my blissed out tootsies.

Sun: Soakology & Shima

| Posted in General News, Profiles

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a report on Shima’s new lounge area,

Feel like sweet-roasted red pepper? How about Maine shrimp fritter, sauteed prawns or calamari “a la plancha”? The list goes on, including additional entrees and appetizers, ranging from antipasto to cheese plates, from Japanese roast pork to salmon and haddock.

and a profile of the “foot sanctuary and teahouse” that is Soakology,

I’m brought a black almond tea, steamed with milk and honey and “Four Feet” of chocolate. Footprint-shaped wafers of chocolate from Coastline Confections in Cumberland are melted on slices of baguette and sprinkled with seasalt, the perfect internal reinforcement for the detoxifying that the Belgian cocoa is supposedly doing to my blissed out tootsies.

Thai-o-rama: Saeng Thai House

| Posted in Reviews

For the 9th round of this comprehensive survey/review of Thai restaurants in Portland we visited Saeng Thai House which has two locations located just a few blocks from each other. The original location at 921 Congress remained dormant for many years but was refurbished and relaunched a couple of years ago, and the “new” location at 271 Saint John Street.
The Blueberry Files – read the full review

The people at Saeng Thai are very nice- both times I’ve eaten in and gotten take out, I’ve had excellent customer service. But this time my food didn’t live up to my previous experience.

Where is Jenner’s Mind – read the full review

in relation to all the standard thai in this town, i think its up towards top of the list. but as my friend mark said, we may just be hitting it on the right night. its also quite a deal with the pad thai costing like $6 or $7. so at this price point and the two good meals we have had so far, i would visit saneg thai house again.

When I first moved to Portland people would regularly recommend Saeng Thai as a good option for Thai food, but despite living just a few blocks away this was my first visit in 12 years. I visited the restaurant on Saint John Street and was  pleased with my meal, the food was fresh and well executed and the service very friendly. I would definitely eat there again and hope to try out the small original spot on Congress Street the next time I go.
There were also two earlier reviews published in Portland magazine (2003) and the Portland Press Herald (2004). The 4 star review from the Press Herald wrote that, “Saeng Thai House now has fancier digs and a larger, more creative menu than it had on Congress Street. The food is still excellent, and a pretty good bargain at that.”
There are  just 4 Thai restaurants left visit: Chiang Mai, Vientiane, Sengchai Thai, Siam Orchid. Do you have any thoughts on where we should go next?

This Week's Events

| Posted in Events

Monday — the Monday Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square.
Tuesday — Cinque Terre is hosting a special tasting dinner sponsored by The Rogers Collection which will feature Tunisian products from Moulins Mahjoub.
Wednesday — the midweek Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square and there will be a Wine Wise class at The Wine Bar.
Thursday — Don and Samantha Lindgren from Rabelais will be appearing on Martha Stewart Radio, Victoria Mansion is hosting a tasting of Allagash Victoria Ale, and the second biweekly Cultivating Community Twilight Dinner will take place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth.
Saturday — the weekend Farmers Market is taking place in Deering Oaks Park and SmuttFest 2010, 25 Smuttynose Brewing beers along with a chance to meet the “owners, brewers and general lackys”, is being held at Novare Res.
A Taste of Next Week — Evangeline, Devenish Wine and Share Our Strength are teaming up to organize the Discover the Tastes of France open house and dinner on July 14 at Evangeline. The event will raise funds to help fight childhood hunger in Maine. For more details see this post on ILovePortlandMaine.com.
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.

This Week’s Events

| Posted in Events

Monday — the Monday Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square.

Tuesday — Cinque Terre is hosting a special tasting dinner sponsored by The Rogers Collection which will feature Tunisian products from Moulins Mahjoub.

Wednesday — the midweek Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square and there will be a Wine Wise class at The Wine Bar.

Thursday — Don and Samantha Lindgren from Rabelais will be appearing on Martha Stewart Radio, Victoria Mansion is hosting a tasting of Allagash Victoria Ale, and the second biweekly Cultivating Community Twilight Dinner will take place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth.

Saturday — the weekend Farmers Market is taking place in Deering Oaks Park and SmuttFest 2010, 25 Smuttynose Brewing beers along with a chance to meet the “owners, brewers and general lackys”, is being held at Novare Res.

A Taste of Next Week — Evangeline, Devenish Wine and Share Our Strength are teaming up to organize the Discover the Tastes of France open house and dinner on July 14 at Evangeline. The event will raise funds to help fight childhood hunger in Maine. For more details see this post on ILovePortlandMaine.com.

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.

Whoopie Pie Awards

| Posted in Events

According to a report in the Portland Daily Sun, a pair of Portland businesses won awards at last week’s Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Anania’s won in the Best Traditional Whoopie Pie and Cranberry Island Kitchen won in the Most Original category. (The Sun article isn’t available online yet).
PortlandTown has published a beautiful set of photos of the bakers at Cranberry Island at  work and some additional details on the bakery and the competition.
Photo Credit: Michael Barriault

Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox

| Posted in People

Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.

Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox

| Posted in People

Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.