Spent this past weekend in Portland ME. We had a fantastic AirBnB in nearby Cumberland with a well-equipped kitchen but only ate in for breakfasts and 1 dinner.
Friday: Lunch (finally) at Bite into Maine at Portland Head Light. Spring onion loved the lighthouse and mom and dad onion loved their lobster rolls (CT-style for me, wasabi mayo for B) and Maine Root ginger beers on a perfect Maine day. Dinner was at the small but mighty Owl and Elm in Yarmouth. We feasted on watermelon feta salad, mac and cheese, white chicken chili, Buffalo cauliflower, and shrimp etoufee. Maine beer on tap and sparkling rose. We’d be here every week if it were in our 'hood.
Saturday: Lunch was a hasty decision - Flatbread Pizza, which we love, but we’ve had a million times and plus we have them in the Boston-area. Poor planning on our part…spring onion drove that decision as mom and dad lost track of time. Still, the pizza was a good as always. Dinner was pasta with tomatoes from the awesome Portland Farmers’ Market.
Sunday: Takeout lobster rolls from Day’s in Freeport for lunch. While they had more mayo than we generally prefer, the lobster was super-fresh and flat-out delicious. For $14 apiece, we were not complaining one bit. An early dinner was supposed to be at Honey Paw (we had a babysitter - yay!) but it was packed already at 5:30 pm so because we had Wilco tickets that night, we high-tailed it across the street to East Ender, which I knew had been taken over by the Small Axe folks. Had no problem getting 2 seats at the bar. B went with a burger and I had the housemade cavatelli with pesto and North Spore trumpet mushrooms (which I had regretted passing up at the farmers’ market). Outstanding. At Thompson’s Point (Bissell Brothers is nearby for you beer geeks) , there were several food trucks, the most interesting of which looked like Thai-Cambodian. It also had the longest line. We did not partake in any food. (The venue is fantastic for shows, by the way.)
Monday: Checked out of our beautiful house and had lunch at Allagash Brewery where the Tacos del Seoul truck was parked. Pretty awesome set-up at Allagash (this was our first visit). Plenty of space for spring onion to stretch his legs before the car ride home. The food was pretty good, too. B had a Seoul burrito (I think it was a bit heavy on the rice) and I had the Seoul bowl, both with bulgogi. On the sweet side, but tasty nonetheless.
We have learned to lower our expectations, food-wise, when traveling with spring onion so of course, many places were passed up and we barely spent any time in Portland proper, but all-in-all, another successful visit to our great neighbors up north. Next up is Iceland at the end of this month, which will present all sorts of challenges food-wise for all of us as neither B or I have any experience with Icelandic/Nordic food.