Eating out in Portland, Maine? Pretty much the Best Thing Ever.

For my final American roadtrip, Pascoli and I went to Portland, Maine. The only thing I knew about Maine was that it has good seafood, so I vowed from the outset to try and eat the ocean's bounty at every single meal. I love a good self imposed challege and very nearly succeeded. Here's a very quick review of the highlights:

Oven-baked garlic mussels at Fore Street. These plump little parcels of deliciousness caused me to make noises that I would not normally share with a public audience. The sourdough served to mop up the juices just about had me on my knees in worship too. Nicely chewy, proper crust, plenty of wonderful sourdough bubbles. Fore Street is pretty famous in Maine (and beyond), and they recommend booking about five years in advance and putting your hypothetical firstborn down as collateral. But you should totally do what we did: rock up with no reservation and eat appetizers in the lounge. This is food cooked with care and intelligence.

Lobster Roll at Becky's Diner. Imagine your usual lobster roll: finely shredded bits of lobster meat, heavy on the mayo, generic bun. My lobster roll from Becky's blew that shit out of the water. It had two claws full of meat, left intact so you know it hasn't come mass produced from five different crustaceans. Lightly toasted yeasty bun, crunchy iceberg. Becky's Diner is right on the waterfront, and is open at 4am to cater to their fishermen clientele. Totally unpretentious and pretty awesome all round.

Clam Chowder at Gilberts. Another waterfront joint, Gilberts is famous for its award winning chowder. I loved my chowder, but disappointed with my side of oysters, which tasted bland and were a bit heavy on the batter. Still, great chowder is great chowder. Worth a visit.

Sushi at Benkay. We missed out on Rock n Roll Sushi night at Benkay (at 10pm every Saturday they serve sushi along with rock n roll music and a laser light show - holy shit!) but we went for lunch the next day instead. The sushi was super fresh, imaginative, and beautifully presented. The bathroom had a large scale print of a Japanese mermaid getting fondled by a hapless admirer. The soysauce came in tiny teapots. The wakame salad was the best I've ever eaten; lemony, great texture, well balanced, right temperature. Win all round.


I won't give a run down of every crumb that passed my lips in Portland, but suffice to say, if you like seafood (fresh, tasty, and treated with respect) you'll love Portland.

Love, Doris Plum

PS: I'm leaving the States tomorrow! I'll be sure to fill you in on my culinary adventures in Halifax next week though...