Tag Archives: restaurant reviews

Nomming thru Maine: Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor- Part 2

14 Jul

After planning so well for our restaurant stops in Portland, I really didn’t have many foodie plans for Bar Harbor.  We mostly stumbled upon places through the week.

One night we were looking for an early bite, however, most places didn’t open up until after 5:30.  One place we did find that was open was Rupununi. 

We started with the “empanadas” which were unlike any we had ever had before.  It was described as “Traditional Argentinian style, hand made empanadas stuffed with lobster, roast corn & cheese.”  It was like an empanada went to France and mated with a croissant.  But it was delish.

Mike ordered the Fisherman’s Fried Sampler with scallops, haddock, and Maine shrimp.  I think Mike maxed out on the fried food, however, the scallops were heavenly.  The rest was ehhhh. 

I went with the Lobster Scampi which came with fresh Maine lobster, artichokes, capers, cherry tomatoes, and spinach over linguini.  This was AMAZING!  You don’t see chunks of lobster like this outside of Maine.

Later that evening we were strolling through town and ducked into an ice cream store to buy some fudge.  I was so blown away by the following sign that I just had to try some of this ice cream flavor. (It was actually not half bad, though nothing I’d ever want as more than a taste)

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

___________________________________________

Unfortunately, our stay was very rainy, however, we made it over the Jordan Pond House one rainy afternoon for tea.  The location was a beautiful, old building right on the lake.

Here was the menu:


I went with the tea and popovers.


These were OUTRAGEOUSLY good popovers.

Mike went with the lobstah chowdah.

It looked kinda oily, so I was concerned, however, there were solid chunks of lobster meat that were as big as the bowl’s circumference.  And the taste was just sensational.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10 (for the afternoon tea anyway)

___________________________________________

On one of our last evenings in Bar Harbor, Mike and I went to Reel Pizza Cinerama, which is a movie theater that serves pizza (that smelled AMAZING) and had couches and little tables in front of seats to eat from.  We just had the beer.  It was a fun experience!

For dinner, we took a TripAdvisor recommendation and tried out Cafe This Way.  

I appreciated the design aesthetic on the ceiling.

The bread came out and smelled delicious. (It was fair)

We ordered the smoked duck wrapped scallops for an appetizer.  They were pretty good, but it wasn’t quite as ducky or scallopy as I would have hoped for.

We ordered a Pinot Noir while we were there that we enjoyed so much that I took a picture.  Look out for Angeline!

I guess I was on a duck kick and I ordered the roasted duck with spiced pears and blueberry jus.  This dish was dissapointing.  First, there were only 2 little slivers of spiced pear on the plate (with that heaping portion of duck!) and the blueberry jus wasn’t very interesting and the duck just wasn’t as flavorful as I’m used to (perhaps it was the type of duck this restaurant uses?)

Mike chose the grilled lamb sirloin that was served on a goat cheese, cheddar, onion, and jalapeno quesadilla with cilantro mint chimichurri.  I’m pretty sure he declared this just average.  Nothing like the lamb from Fore Street a few nights before.  

Overall, we were pretty disappointed by this place.  Nothing was bad, just underwhelming.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nomming Thru Maine: Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor- Part 1

12 Jul

One of my absolute favoritist parts of my favoritist place is Acadia National Park.  It’s on Mount Desert Island and it contains some of the most beautiful, serene vistas you can imagine.  On the island is a little town called Bar Harbor.  It is as quaint as New England towns come and is right on the beautiful harbor.  At low tide, there is a sand bar that connects it to an island, and at high tide that sand bar completely disappears.  

(The picture below is a view from Cadillac Mountain of the town of Bar Harbor)

When we first arrived in town, we strolled the streets of Bar Harbor (prounounced BAH HAH-BAH btw) and set up our tickets for a sunset cruise on the Margaret Todd for the following evening.  We asked a local where she usually eats personally, and she told us most locals go to Geddy’s, which was down the street.  And away we went…

It has a rustic pub feel with license plates used as their main decoration.  The bar seemed to have mostly local regulars while the diners appeared to be mostly tourists.

It started off well enough when we found Thunder Hole ale made by the Bar Harbor Brewing Company (which actually merged with The Atlantic Brewing Company).  (Thunder Hole is an awesome spot in Acadia where the water has dug such a deep hole in the rock that it sounds like thunder as the waves rise into it)

And I found some of my FAVORITE Blueberry Beer (also made by Bar Harbor Brewing Company).  This place even floated wild Maine blueberries in it!  (Notice the half colored in table matt below it… yes… we’re big kids at heart… always)

Mike started off with the lobster chowder.  It was good and creamy.

He then graduated to a lobster roll.  It had good chunks of meat in it but I think we both agreed that we prefer the unadulterated plain ol’ steamed lobster.  (I think this place may use frozen lobster though… it just didn’t have as much flavor and I thought it should have).

I chose the scallops.  Now I was VERY, VERY careful to inform the waitress that I was VERY allergic to peppers.  She verified with the chef that this was one meal I could eat.  The sweet potato mash was delicious, but the scallops, again, were just a bit bland.  (Frozen perhaps?)

Best of all… see that little biscuit next to the mash?  I took one bite and my mouth went on fire.  I then asked the waitress for milk (which she took her sweet ass time getting) and asked her if there were in fact peppers in the biscuit.  To which she answered “Are jalapeno peppers a pepper?”

Yes… dip shit.  Now please get me my milk.

Grrrrrrr.

Total Nom Points: FAIL

______________________________________________________

After enjoying our beer tour so much in Portland and enjoying our Bar Harbor Brewing Co. beers so much the night before (best part of the meal!), we decided to visit the downtown “brewery” on the following (rainy) day.  Turns out the main brewery is actually on the northern part of the island and this was a store front with a tasting room.  But hey… who doesn’t like a tasting room?

We got to try a few of their beers and some sodas, however, the stand-outs we enjoyed were the Manly Men Beer Club set.  We were especially fond of the Barleywine variety.  We actually did wind up doing the full brewery tour later that same day (after a stop at a winery! We’re such lushes).  We sampled about a dozen beers and fell in absolute love with the special Honey Bragget beer.

______________________________________________________

Asking locals about their favorite places to eat is always a favorite past time of mine when traveling.  We were at a Bed and Breakfast (full details on that to come) and a couple who were also staying there told me about this lobster house on the other side of the island that was sensational.  Beal’s Lobster Pier is in Southwest Harbor.  

They have the quintessential lobster tank where you point to (or if you’re daring… grab) your dinner.

The man behind the tank was nice enough to show off a three pounder.  Sorry big guy… I know the real good lobster is never the big ones.  1-1.5 pounds is perfect for me.

It was EXTREMELY cold in their little outdoor tented area, but luckily they had a heater that I stood directly under until our food came out.

Finally, I got the steamers I was so missing at J’s in Portland.  And they were good!

The lobster couldn’t have been simpler.  Just a big red delicious bastard in all his glory.  

Overall, Beal’s is worth the drive (probably no more than an hour from even the most tucked away parts of Acadia, and only about 30 minutes from our B&B).  It’s so Maine. It’s so quaint. It’s so beautiful. And it’s SO delicious!

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nomming thru Maine: Portland Day 2

9 Jul

Our day 2 in Portland was planned to be our foodie day.  We booked at 2 restaurants that were well acclaimed across the food world.  Our first stop was for lunch at Five Fifty Five.

They obviously know their audience…


The first thing on the menu that struck my eye was their cinnamon bun.  I think there are few things so indulgent as a stick, cinnamony, fluffy cinnamon bun.  And since my Weight Watchers points were out the window… this was just perfect.

And it was SO. GOOD.

They also served delicious table breads that I believe were current biscuits and little muffins.  They were served with homemade butter. Nom Nom Nom.

Mike ordered the pork sandwich.  This was good but nothing to write home about.

My truffle eggs with a chive popover, however, were out of this world.  I never knew eggs could taste that good.  Usually truffle is just a mild essence, that is sometimes too earthy for even my tastes.  This one, however, was absolutely delightful.

And I do love me some steaming popovers!

I was pretty impressed with this place overall, though I’m not sure if it was a MUST STOP since Mike’s meal was just so-so.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

________________________________

We had a bit of time to kill between lunch and dinner, so we booked ourselves a craft beer tour through the city courtesy of Maine Foodie Tours.  We started our tour at the Gritty McDuff’s Brewery.

They quickly took us behind the scenes to learn how beer is made.  I found the whole thing pretty awesome (though not quite as awesome as our tour of Mondavi where we learned SO much about how wine is made). It all starts with grain, and the toasting length determines the color and flavor (and the additives, like hops, really determine the flavor profile further).

We got to peer into the giant steel brewing vat to see what beer looks like during fermentation (maybe?)

Our next stop was at Sebago’s beer bar where we got to sample any 4 beers off the menu.  They had a nice display of grains toasted to different colors.

And I enjoyed my camera settings on this one.

Our final stop along the way was at a beer garden called Novare Res.  

The inside was quite cool and there were picnic tables for socializing outside.

They had quite the extensive draught list. I really liked how they put a flavor profile summary next to each one.

We got to sample two beers there.  One was Allagash White, which was good but one we’ve had in multiple places.  The second one was new and it blew my mind.  Marshall Wharf Deep Purple was described as “lager beer with peated malts. ‘smoke on the water.’” It tasted so smoky… almost like bacon… but in a VERY, VERY good way.

The beer tour was excellent and a lot of fun.  It really opened our eyes to how great craft beer is in Maine… we used this knowledge throughout the trip!

________________________________

Our last foodie destination scheduled for Portland was the one I was looking forward to the most.  Fore Street was the #1 restaurant that came up whenever I searched for or asked about where to eat in Portland, ME.  

Their kitchen area and ovens are pretty much in the middle of the space and fully exposed (which I love).  

They are big on the farm to table idea and their menu changes to reflect what is freshest at the time.

We were told that the wood oven roasted mussels were heavenly.  They certainly were!  The shells were so brittle that they just cracked away and they were easily the second best mussels I have ever had (after our epic mussel feast at Landmarc in NYC). 

The roast cauliflower was perfect cooked as a side.

Mike chose the two cuts of Maine Island Lamb (smoked shoulder and turnspit roasted leg) with roasted yukon potatoes.  Mmmm Mmmm this was GREAT!

I chose the pork chop with spice cherry and rhubarb sauce and pickled rhubarb.  I seriously nearly licked this plate clean.

We were epically stuffed, but not too stuffed for dessert!  I believe Mike went with the chocolate peanut butter torte.

And I chose the chocolate cake.  I couldn’t believe how good it was.

The best dessert I have ever had that I just couldn’t finish no matter how hard I tried!

I was actually so stuffed from this meal that I was nearly sick. My body just wasn’t used to eating like that after these last few weeks of dieting and 15 pounds less to stuff the food into!

The meal was sensational, however.

Total Nom points: 8.5 out of 10


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →