Everything I Ate in Portland, Maine
This week’s newsletter is dedicated to my mom who took us on the most fabulous vacation to Portland. Thanks Mum!
As I’m writing, I’m sick in bed with a cold contemplating whether I can bring myself to get up for a piece of leftover cheese pizza (the only food we have in the house after a week away), so I figure there’s no better time to reminisce about all the amazing seafood and cocktails I consumed over the past week.
We went to Maine to visit my sister who recently bought a home on the east end of Portland with their partner and very good boy, Smokey the dog. It was foggy and misty when we arrived, but by the time we were leaving, it was warm and sunny over the sparkling Atlantic. I’m happy to be home, but I tend to leave a piece of my heart in places I travel to with great food and people I love. I could see myself back there in late summer picnicking on the beach with a bottle of pét-nat and a romance novel (and I don’t even read romance novels).
I’m going to share a play by play of everywhere we ate on the trip with some other random notes. I hope this inspires you to plan your own trip to Maine or, if not, to at least shuck an oyster sometime soon.
If you want to skip straight to my list of favorites, scroll to the bottom of the page. And thank you as always for reading!
Wednesday:
The trip got off to a bit of a blasé start with the saddest bagel sandwich I’ve ever had on the plane. The rest of the travel day consisted of snacking on pretzels and drinking ginger ale so needless to say, I was very much ready to eat something substantial and hopefully delicious upon arriving.
We drove straight from the airport to Crispy Gai, a vibrant Thai inspired spot downtown. It DID NOT disappoint.
We ordered chicken wings with garlic buttermilk ranch and spicy chili sauce. My mom says ranch is an abomination but I’d happily choose it over most other dip-able sauces 9/10 times and that is a hill I will die on. We also got the crispy waterfall salad which consisted of fried mushrooms, nam jim jaew and LOTS of fresh herbs, almost too much mint for one person to stuff in their mouth but I respect it. I washed it all down with a sour beer from one of Portland’s many local breweries.
Our bellies were full and we were satisfied by the time we made it to our airbnb on the east end, which was definitely haunted, flickering lights and all (I didn’t sleep particularly well on the trip).
Thursday:
Homemade bagels that my sister and sister-in-law made with the help of my newly five-year-old nephew, topped with cream cheese, pickled red onion and smoked salmon, almost made me forget all about the unfortunate airplane bagel.
For lunch, we headed to Oxbow Blending & Bottling, one of the aforementioned local breweries. I know it’s a sort of a white hipster cliché, but I love breweries—something about the yeasty smell and wide open floor plans. I actually tried to get a job at a brewery last year, but was rejected on account of not knowing the difference between an ale and a lager. I guess they didn’t appreciate that I interviewed for the *vibes*.
ANYWAYS the vibe was right, the beer was crisp and we got chicken wings from the Duckfat window outside the bar. As you can already see, fried food is a common theme in the Portland restaurant scene.
That night, Max and I walked through the fog past the cemetery for a drink at a bar called The End of Portland Maine that smelled strongly of Nag champa and was playing old punk bangers. We messed around with their selection of tiny retro video games and I sipped on a spagett (highlife topped with a shot of aperol) which might be my new dive bar go-to.
Friday:
Strap in. Friday was a big one.
For breakfast, we had an assortment of pastries from Norimoto Bakery which I was very impressed by, especially the savory sausage roll, a caramelized cardamom bun and a red bean pastry with some kind of crackelin situation on top.
For lunch we got sandwiches from Ramona’s, a small old-school sandwich shop with properly stuffed hoagies. I got their veggie option, called the Paulie, which included broccoli rabe, white bean spread, sharp provolone, arugula, giardiniera and saba, providing a healthy does of much needed fiber after so much fried chicken, beer and pastries. A damn good sandwich and one I will definitely attempt to recreate at home.
For dinner, we headed to Bar Futo, a Japanese restaurant in the Old Port where they were serving happy hour whiskey highballs for five bucks a pop. We decided to order every small plate on the menu to split between the six of us, including a beef tartar with a nice kick of horseradish and strips of nori to wrap it in, ribs with a honey miso bbq sauce and a noodle-like kolrahbi salad; also a chicken liver mousse dish that reminded me that I hate chicken liver mousse. No shade to the restaurant, just not my fave in general (I once threw up all night after eating some at a restaurant I worked at in 2018). But I forgot all about it by the time we were sharing huge pillowy bowls of lemon meringue shaved iced. All in all, a really great meal! If I were to go back, I’d def want to try the skewers. It’d be a great spot to go with just one other person for happy hour or a date night.
After that, down to four of us, we made our way to a bar around the corner (recommended by an old bartender friend) called Room for Improvement. 10/10 divey basement with a happening buzz and excellent drinks. The only hitch was that I ordered their glass of natural red wine expecting something light, juicy and chilled (which is what you’ll get at pretty much any LA natty wine spot) but it was warm and I could tell it was not going to sit right with me (sometimes wine doesn’t), so I swapped it for a pineapple infused, coconut washed negroni. I was not convinced that I wanted my negroni tropically tampered with but when it arrived, I was oh-so-pleasantly surprised. It was a 10/10 and I had to order a second.
By the time we left the bar, it was just me and Max. Realizing that we hadn’t had a proper seafood moment yet on the trip, we headed to Eventide Oyster Co for a dozen oysters and dirty martinis, which we deemed a brine-y girls dream. A little disappointing that they only had chips (no fries), but it satisfied the seafood itch nonetheless. We wrapped the night up at The End (fittingly) where I got another Spagett and Max streamed the Laker game on his phone before we headed “home”.
Saturday:
There’s really no reason I should not have been horrifically hungover this morning, but alas, the gods spared me. I think it was the Ramona’s hoagie that saved me tbh.
We went for a classic diner brunch at a kitschy place with chaotic decor that I think might be a chain called The Friendly Toast where I ate some very buttery toast with over easy eggs, bacon and a cup of coffee (just what the doctor ordered) and entertained my nephew by flipping a penny over and over. My dad (his papa) taught him about “heads or tails” and he thought it was a hoot (lol).
We spent the day which turned quickly from sunny to stormy and back again, playing board games (settlers of catan) which I miraculously won despite the lack of a good night of sleep.
Then, after a restful afternoon, we met for an early dinner at a restaurant that had come most highly recommended in all the guides, a long standing institution in Portland, Fore Street. As I had anticipated, it had a Chez Panisse air about it, a hyper seasonal and sustainably sourced menu in a warmly lit brick building with an open kitchen showing off the beautiful wood fired oven and fancy walk-in vegetable cooler. Max commented that the waiter was almost annoyingly relaxed and our food seemed to arrive within minutes of ordering, a half roast chicken with sourdough stuffing, a succulent piece of pork, handmade pasta, cornbread served in a tiny cast iron, mashed potatoes properly buttered and browned and a spring-y asparagus salad. If I’m being 100% honest, I was underwhelmed by the salad which I had high expectations for (it just seems like the kind of place that would know what to do with a piece of butter lettuce), but the chicken was perfect.
I washed it down with a cold beer and had a few more bites of sourdough dipped in a pool of buttery sauciness left over on the plate. The whole meal must’ve taken less than hour but I could’ve spent all night sitting on the short cushioned seats by the bar sipping on amaro or maybe even an espresso with a couple cubes of sugar. (Instead we went back to our place and binge watched the entire Baby Reindeer series on Netflix and I might never recover).
Sunday:
Slow start Sunday, Max and I walked downtown for a cup of coffee at Bard. While I was waiting for my cappuccino, I saw two beautiful girls greet each other with an electric kiss which instilled in me the feeling that Portland is a great place to be young and in love. I guess Bard Coffee is a big deal in Portland. Aesthetically the place wasn’t much to write home about but the clientele seemed cool and my cappuccino was perfect.
We decided to skip breakfast altogether and move straight to lunch at The Highroller Lobster Co., a red and white checkered lobster roll joint with a gift shop attached to the side that easily could have seemed like it was trying too hard but was actually perfectly old meets new school without being annoying. It didn’t hurt that the staff was incredibly friendly and the food was *chef’s kiss*. My brother in-law said he wasn’t particularly impressed with his fish and chips but I have to say my lobster roll exceeded all expectations. I got mine with lime mayo, a side of fries, half a dozen oysters and stole a few sips of my mom’s cider. Utterly satisfying. Max even got a tie-dye shirt of a surfing skeleton from their gift shop.
Afterwards, we shopped at Moody Lords, a vintage clothing and record shop where I found the perfect handmade cable knit sweater. Then everyone headed home to rest while Max and I continued on our walk, back to the east end to grab beers, first at Austin Street Brewery and then at a funky outdoor bar we stumbled upon called the Portland Zoo where they were spinning reggae and cooking up Nigerian chicken kebabs. We ordered a couple beers inside where Wild Thornberry’s played on the tv and then picked a picnic bench to enjoy the music and the many dogs on the patio. THIS is exactly where you you want to be on a Sunday.
Tempted to keep brewery hopping, we opted to head back to our airbnb to freshen up for the most highly anticipated dinner of the trip. Every online publication insists that Twelve is THE place to dine in Portland.
The waterfront setting with the ocean on one side and an abandoned brick building on the other was charming, but the decor was giving overpriced coastal boutique. Our server was very genuine and helpful. Pretty much everywhere we went had great service (especially compared to LA). The meal was four courses, an amuse-bouche followed by a starter, main and dessert of your choice (there were about four options per section). The first bite was sweet potato in a mushroom-y broth (if I’m remembering correctly). Whatever it was, it tasted divine, the perfect balance of sweet and umami. My cocoa nib negroni-esque cocktail also hit all the correct notes, but from there, it fell a little flat. The roasted carrots and scallops were too rich for my taste and the plating came off as almost satirical. Haven’t we moved on from foams by now? To be clear, the food was good. It just wasn’t special (though it was trying quite hard to be). I honestly hate to talk shit because I picked the restaurant and made the res and my mom was so generous to treat us to yet another fine dining experience. But truth be told, the place is overrated.
I left feeling FULL (I’ll give it a couple points for portion size) but almost sickly so. Max and I walked it off on our way to Arcadia, a bar with an impressive collection of old school arcade game, cocktails and food. I got a soda water with bitters and thoroughly enjoyed playing pinball and skee-ball. Definitely a fun spot. Next time, I’ll go on an empty stomach.
Monday:
The next day I woke up feeling SORE but eventually the need for coffee set in so Max and I wandered over to Double Great Coffee and down the hill to LB Kitchen for a breakfast sandwich. LB Kitchen is the healthy kind of restaurant you see a lot of in LA, the kind that kind of makes you roll your eyes, but the food is actually good.
For lunch, we took a drive to Clam Bar where I got a basket of fried clams and French fries and an iced tea to enjoy on a picnic bench in the sunshine looking out into the bay. The fried clams were a bit gooey and strange. I think I would’ve preferred them fresh but I enjoyed the change of scenery nonetheless.
For dinner we ordered Vietnamese food from Cong Tu Bot. The cabbage salad was perfectly crunchy and punchy (lol). The fried rice and noodles were flavorful with a kick of heat. I chowed down but every bite was very much savored. Definitely a place to revisit.
Tuesday:
This morning (the last morning), my sore muscles turned into full blown body aches accompanied by a headache and a scratchy throat. I stayed in bed while Max got a egg bagel sandwich from the Suprette, a liquor store down the street with some greasy food options and a surprisingly good selection of wine, beer and booze.
Besides walking back to LB kitchen for a “paleo bowl” which I hoped would revive me with it’s kale, salmon, avocado and pesto, I spent the whole day in bed watching Sex and the City, chugging water and popping Advil.
By the time our dinner reservation rolled around at 7pm, I felt up to getting out of bed for a final supper at a place that my sister’s neighbor raved about and also appears on many guides, a sister restaurant to Fore Street, an upscale seafood restaurant named Scales.
Situated on a pier with large glass windows, the restaurant is exactly how you’d want to commemorate your time in the seaport town. An impressive display of fresh fish and octopus and tanks of live lobsters were impossible not to gawk at on the way to our table. The staff was friendly. The house made bread with a drizzle of molasses and a tiny quenelle of butter was an unexpected delight. I decided to go big and get the pan roasted lobster which came with a lightly spicy buttery sauce that I dipped my sourdough into. The lobster seemed a little skimpy in terms of meat but I left feeling pleasantly full off crabby potato leak soup anyways.
And with that, we said our goodbyes, packed our bags and set our alarms for 4AM to make the trek back home to California.
Below is a list of all the establishments in Portland I definitely want to revisit (including some places from my last trip there in 2021):
Breakfast/Cafes: Tandem Coffee Roasters (pastries and coffee) Hot Suppa (southern diner) Lunch/Dinner: Ramona's (hoagie shop) The Highroller Lobster Co. (lobster rolls) The Shop by Island Creek Oyster (raw bar) Crispy Gai (Thai inspired) Cong Tu Bot (Vietnamese) Bar Futo (Japanese) Fore St (upscale rustic) Scales (upscale seafood) Drinks: Room for Improvement (natty wine & cocktail bar) Portland Zoo (patio bar) Vintage: Moody Lords
Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me! This was a fun one to write. Let me know if you want more food reviews like this in the future. I’d love to hear what you think in the comments and as always, you can also reach me on instagram.
Portland is such a top tier eating and drinking city!! Loved discovering everywhere through your eyes. Last time I was there we did a major cocktail crawl and had a superb dinner at Regards! Lmk if you want the 🔗 !
Hey Jenny, thanks for bringing me along with you on this trip! Sounds like my kinda vacation...lots of food and lots of drinks ha! Your passion for food is impressive...and I think you should try your hand at more "restaurant review" pieces. I think it suits you. Cheers!