Tag Archives: hamburger

Nomming Thru Maine: Mid-Coast (Lincolnville, Camden, and Rockland)

21 Jul

After Acadia, we drove back down the coast a bit to the “Midcoast” region (we were in Lincolnville, Camden, and Rockland).  This is the area I was most familiar with from family vacations growing up.

There is one main street through Camden right next to the beautiful harbor (where we later took a great kayak tour).   A must-stop in Camden is Cappy’s Chowder House.

“Good food served here” is right!

Mike got a side order of cole slaw.  It grew on me.

We started with a salad that I remember enjoying but don’t remember ordering.

Mike chose… you guessed it! A burger. He enjoyed.

I was having a tough time deciding, but when the waitress said the lobster mac and cheese was her favorite, I was sold.  And it was SO. GOOD.  Wooooey.

Overall, Cappy’s is dependably good and a very New Englandy restaurant.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Continuing our drinking fest, we stopped at Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville.

Turns out they are not yet planted for long enough to produce their own wine.

So they just mix their own.  And whomever is choosing this mix has a great palate. They also did a very nice job decorating their tasting room (they are building a big facility across the street).

We were especially intrigued by their chairs made from tractor seats and axe handles.  Quite comfy actually!

We enjoyed almost every single bottle we tried (and it was a healthy sampling with many to choose from).  We actually wound up buying a bottle.

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In Rockland there is a great sandwich shop called The Brown Bag that I grew up going to.

Their specials menu included a grilled trip cheese sandwich with avocado, tomato, onions, sprouts, and pesto mayo.

It was delicious!  The perfect balance of toastiness and cheesiness.

Mike chose the Brown Bag Ham Sandwich (with Grilled Ham, Havarti, Capers, Artichoke Hearts & Special Sauce)

For the road, we got a whoopie pie (which The Brown Bag is famous for).  Delicious.

Overall, The Brown Bag is just a perfect sandwich place.  Everything is delicious, fresh, and in a great atmosphere.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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We stumbled upon a specialty shop called Fiore that sells artisan olive oils and balsamic vinegar.  I LOVED going around and sampling every single thing in the store.  Wound up taking home an 18 year aged balsamic, a blackberry ginger balsamic, and an olive oil that tasted SOOOOO good but I can’t remember which one it was (WHOOPS!)

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Our final special restaurant stop of the trip was Primoin Rockland (it’s actually right before the border of Owl’s Head).  You will have to forgive this review for lacking in detail in some cases… we MAY have had a lot to drink by this time.  MAYBE 🙂

Primo is all about sourcing their food from what is fresh and local.

We sat upstairs and it was beautifully decorated.

We started with a chef tasting of asparagus cold soup shooters and a tartare that was good, but I can’t remember what it was.  D’oh!

We ordered the wild boar carpaccio.  It was delicious.

Mike had a roast chicken with bacon.  It was so tender and yummilicious.

I had the Sautéed scaloppini of Pork “Saltimbocca” served on a bed of roast garlic mashed potato layered with wilted garden spinach, prosciutto and a sage, mushroom~Madiera jus.  HOLY COW! (Or… Pig…) Nom Nom Nom

For dessert, Mike chose the artful parfait.

I went with the Warm Belgium Chocolate “Budino” ckae with mint stracicella gelato and fresh berries.  I don’t know what Budino nor stracicella is… but I’m curious why it’s Warm Belgium and not Belgian… but who cares about grammar when you’re eating delicious chocolate?

The final bite from the chef was a chocolate… thing… Man this is when the night is really fuzzy.  I remember enjoying it, but NOT the candied ginger orange peel to the left on the plate.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with Primo.  Everything was quite delicious and it was a great place to have a romantic meal.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

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Brews, Meat, and Gelato

6 Aug

A beautiful Saturday night led to a decision for an impromptu night out.  Unfortunately not many people could join on such late notice, however, my friend Travis (purveyer of dried fruits and nuts… see next entry) did manage to make his way from NJ to the far west side.  We decided to check out The Frying Pan which is an old Lightship that is current docked and converted into a bar on the Hudson River at the west end of West 26th Street.  It was an awesome space, but WAY too crowded and they had a wedding going on and were getting ready for a private party, thereby limiting the space even more.  Mike and I grabbed a drink while waiting for Travis and then decided that we’d be better off coming back to The Frying Pan on a weekday or weekend afternoon when it wasn’t so crazy. 

So we walked just a few blocks down to Chelsea Piers to go check out Chelsea Brewing Company.  I had been there late at night for drinnks and when all they had for food was brick oven pizza (which is pretty good if I remember).  It’s a great looking restaurant with two levels, arching bars, and the brewing tanks behind the bar.

As it was a beautiful night, we wanted to sit outside, and while inside was instant seating, outside would take about 30 minutes.  Fine!  There’s a bar and, my fave, beer flights!

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even 10 minutes later that we were told our table was ready outside and a very impressive waitress balanced our flights and brought them outside to us.  The view of the marina was beautiful.  Who says Jersey and the Hudson are ugly?

We were pretty hungry by this time, so we ordered an app of fresh hot pretzels (sides of honey mustard and melted cheese that tasted like cracked out velveeta… in a good way).  We managed to devour the plate before I realized my camera was sitting next to me, so all you get is the empty plate. SORRY!

I went with the steak sandwich with provolone and a side of mashed sweet potatoes. The whole thing was great, and I managed to eat ALL those sweet potatoes since they were sooooo good.

Travis got the same thing but with blue cheese instead of provolone (smart) and mashed regular potatoes.

Mike went with (can you guess?) the BURGER!  This one sounded especially tasty with shrooms, bacon, and swiss.  It was a damn good burner with damn good fries.

Overall, you cannot beat the view and the beauty of the restaurant (even if it’s not exactly convenient) and the food is quite delicious.  I was pleasantly surprised since I thought that it would be “just okay” seeing as though there is really nothing else in the area to compete with.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

We decided to walk down The Highline (I LOVE THE HIGHLINE!) since Travis had never been.  I like the fact that there are VERY few vendors on The Highline and no stores.  One of the vendors this night was gelatto, and I couldn’t resist.  It was from L’Arte Del Gelato (a known great place) and it didn’t dissapoint. I went with the chocolate chip mixed with banana.  Mike chose Biscotti and Travis went with milk chocolate and banana mix.  I think we were all quite happy with our selections.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

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New Jersey Comfort

27 Jul

I grew up in New Jersey and, even through all the teasing, I am still quite proud to have grown up in a place where I was neither sheltered nor thrown into the streets, surrounded by mountains, and 45 minutes from NYC, Philly, and the Beach.  NJ gets a bum rap, but I’m happy it’s where I’m from.

Every time I go back to visit my parents, food becomes a big deal (whether home cooked or a night out).  The destination of choice near my father’s is a great, reliable, friendly place called The Stirling Hotel.  It has been around for over 100 years and has that “lived in,” comfortable feeling.  I think the main picture on their homepage defines it well:

The place itself has a tented outdoor space (heated in winter) and a cute outdoor bar served from within a small barn-like area.  Inside it’s a bit cramped, with an entry hallway where everyone has to turn sideways to allow people to pass from the outdoors/kitchen/hostesses/waitresses/etc but it works out.  They have a lot of old furniture inside with antique stoves and solid wood chairs in a tavern-like atmosphere.  The inside bar could also use a bit more room, but the selection is always one of my favorite parts.  They have unique beers on tap and I can trace many great discoveries to their bartenders recommendation.  I know I had my first Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale there, opening up my eyes to the glory of pumpkin beer (though nothing beats Smuttynose on draft).

I have probably been to The Stirling Hotel at least two dozen times over the years.  It used to be the place we stopped for dinner when I lived in NJ after volunteering at The Raptor Trust (a wild bird rehab center where I volunteered with my dad, who is still there, for about 8 years).  Now it’s the place we go to pretty much every time we go home, especially if my younger sister is with me.  It’s become our family’s go to place.

My dad is such a regular there that he knows the owner, Tom, personally.  We usually have different servers, however, they’re always nice and have a good friendly feel.  Our waiter this time around was Anthony, and he had such a fun personality that I’ll give him a special shout out here.  He spoke in about 4 languages (terribly yet hysterically) and managed to dance his way through the service.  I don’t think a few locals quite knew what to do with him, but he kept us laughing.  He even mugged for a picture with a rooster.

Now onto the food!  Well.. first the beer.  I ordered an Ayinger Weissbier.  It was so good that I wrote it down.  I love my white beers, but this one was extra special.  Lots of honey and overall deliciousness.

Now the Specials menu at The Stirling Hotel was something I always went for, and they used to have an almost daily special of these artichokes that were to. die. for.  I could eat them for my meal ever day of the week.  Unfortunately, they have been missing from the menu each time I’ve been there recently.

So, alas, with no artichokes, we ordered mozzarella sticks for the app.  They were fine, but nothing special.  Not too greasy though, so that made me happy. (I’m not a huge fan, so maybe I’m not a good judge?) 

After spending the day moving my boyfriend, Mike, from his place in Brooklyn into my apartment, and storing stuff at my father’s place in NJ, I was craving some classic home-style Noms for my entree.  I went with the classic half mac and cheese (comes with garlic bread, perfect for sopping up the cheese) and an order of sweet potato fries (always VERY good there).  I usually like a mac and cheese with a little less liquid, the cheesy garlic bread made it up to me.


Dad went with a half rack of ribs (that’s a half!) and I was delighted to find out that they were tasty without being spicy.  The portion seemed good for him and we all commented that it was a tasty sauce.

Mike went with (shocker) the burger.  It is a good burger, and I don’t think this one disappointed.  Interesting that lettuce and tomato is served a-la-carte, but it worked well.  (Besides, three of us ate for the price of two in typical NYC prices, including beverages).

I actually don’t think I’ve had dessert there before, but this tiring day called for some sweets.  Mike and I split an enormous brownie sundae.  The brownie was warm (Nom Nom Nom) and it had just the right balance of brownie to whipped cream to ice cream. 

Dad ordered the peanut butter bliss pie and it was deliciously peanut buttery, and if I’m going to eat chocolate ice cream, this is the kind I want it to be.

As a dessert lover, however, my one recommendation would be to up the ante on the chocolate syrup.  A little Ghiradelli goes a LONG way.

Overall, the food here is reliably good in a great atmosphere with great beer. Beyond that, it’s comfortable.  I look forward to going here every time I’m home.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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