My first tasting menu was at Elda’s in Biddeford. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any notes although I took lots of pictures, so hopefully I don’t get details of the food wrong. I got the tasting menu ($160) + non-alcoholic tasting menu ($45, I think). At this price point, I was surprised that they were in Biddeford rather than Portland, but with rising rents in Portland, this may have been the only option to have this kind of menu without having heavy table turnover. I think there was only one seating - I came in on a weeknight at 545, there were some people who came in at 530, but I saw more people arriving during the evening without using already-used tables.
I walked upstairs, was seated at the bar, given wet cloth to start, and then I believe four or five single bite dishes before being moved over into the dining area for the remainder of my dishes.
The food was magnificent, Asian influenced and heavy on seafood, which worked great for me. One of the tuna dishes was tuna collar in that sushi wrapper, and so many of the dishes had many, many more ingredients than included in the attached menu.
The squid and pork dish had some kind of chile sauce around it, and served on the plant as its eating utensil. Utensils were replaced after every dish, but some of them did not need a new utensil, or utilized something unique to act in the place of a fork, spoon or knife.
The scallops dish was one of many which was prepared to combine all the senses, as in the dish around the scallop were bay leaves, with some deliberately burned to create a smell sensation around the taste buds. The sugar snap peas was prepared in an edible tart, with roe on top.
A blackened beet dish was prepared as if it was a meat dish in terms of thickness and texture. This was paired with the barley non-alcoholic drink, and tasted unbelievably perfect together. I would never have individually ordered any of the drinks, but in this kitchen, with this meal, they were a beautiful match.
There was caviar on top of the clam dish, I believe, and the grilled hake dish had a pastry roll made with seaweed to soak up some of the sauce.
I’m a little hazy on details now, but believe the final dessert was chocolate rather than berry. At that point (after almost 3 hours), I was quite full, and the chef / owner Bowman delivered the final pastry dish, including two small bites and one piece to eat there, one to take away. Elda could easily go into one of the major cities - but then they would have to double the cost of the menu, or cut back some of the dishes. For someone looking for that amazingly special meal, Elda hits all the marks.
Attached: 2 menus, most dishes, all drinks.
