New England Road Trip Day 2-3: Portland, ME

Boston Asian Food Court

On our way up to Maine, we passed through Boston to do our favorite thing– eat. The combination of college town plus a respectably sized Asian population make for some good cheap eats, and that’s what we found at Super 88 Market Food Court. This collection of Asian eateries bordering a Chinese supermarket boasted a surprisingly wide geographic variety of Asian eats. We decided on a food stall run by an adorable granny-grampy duo, serving up tender-as-can-be lamb meatballs bobbing in a peppery wintermelon soup with a milkiness that can only be achieved by long hours of endless simmering. We also had a bowl of bun bo hue from Pho Viet, which was tasty but a little heavy on the MSG and soy-sauce. I still have not found any restaurant that makes bun bo hue like the ones we had in Hue…hopefully someday!

Portland Beer and Rum

Bellies satisfied, we set off again and arrived at our first spot in Maine: Portland! We parked the car at Park and Ride, which was conveniently very near a handful of places serving up my other favorite thing to consume- beer! We whipped our folding bikes out from the trunk and pedaled about 2 minutes to the brewery district. The first brewery had a bit of a wait (due to COVID-era limited seating), so we started off instead at the Three of Strong Rum Distillery where we ordered a flight of…all 6 of their rums. We were starting off a bit strong. The rum was finished off just in time for our tasting at the next stop: Rising Tide Brewery.

Late Night Pupusas

I was still accustomed to the city that never sleeps, and the accompanying ease of finding grub at any hour into the evening, but this was not the case in Maine. Only a few places were still open by the time we finished sipping, and we managed to put an order in at Tu Casa– a little Salvadorian hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Washington Ave. Although it was an unplanned meal, eaten in the company of some shifty strangers in a poorly lit public park, the $2.50 tamales and pupusas were obviously scratch-made and truly scrumptious. I will definitely return the next time I’m in Portland!

Old Port At Night

Tummies full, we set off again on our little bikes to explore a bit more of the city. Portland, with it’s small blocks and friendly drivers, felt very bikeable. Most streets we took did not have dedicated bike lanes but did have signage posted to remind drivers to share their lane with bikers. The Park and Ride was also very easy to access by bike from downtown Portland as well as Old Port.

Our first view of Old Port was after dusk fell and I actually loved how the old brick and cobblestone streets looked so cozy, softly glinting in the lamplight. All of the Old Port shops had closed up for the night (it was both a Sunday evening and COVID-era reduced hours even further) but it just added to the hushed intimate aura as we wandered down the street.

High Roller Lobster

Then it was time again for another landmark of our New England Road Trip- lobster! Our first lobbie of the trip was a lobster grilled cheese at High Roller Lobster. It was well-done, on crunchy buttery bread flanking succulent (honestly small chunks of lobster, although I didn’t yet know any better at this point) lobster nestled inside. Outdoor seating was the only option due to COVID, but the inside décor was unique– the entire restaurant was washed in red light, disco ball spinning overhead, thumpy music in the background. All in all not a bad first lobbie experience if I do say so myself.

Holy Donut

The next day we woke up with another food-oriented goal: it was time for Holy Donut. This donut eatery’s claim to fame is the addition of Maine potatoes in their dough. It made for a texture more bready like a cake donut, but without the crumbles– they were different but not mind-blowingly so. These donuts did feel more saturated with oil, as the outer shell absorbed more frying oil than donuts typically do. The flavor variety and taste were more memorable than the texture was. We tried the blueberry lemon and sweet potato ginger- both not overly sweet, with a bite of tang for the lemon and pleasant spice for the ginger. Holy Donut is a “thing to do” on all of the Portland lists, and is objectively tasty so I wouldn’t skip it, but do come early to avoid the long lines and especially since their popular flavors tend to run out later in the day.

Casco Bay Lines Ferry Terminal

We brought our donuts down to the nearby waterfront and meandered over to the Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal, where we gazed out at the harbor, sailboats, and the Casco Bay ferry. This working mail ferry is used for regular commutes for residents of Portland and the neighboring islands- it was fun watching a mix of passenger cars, a USPS mail truck, and landscaping trucks drive onboard.

Duckfat

Our next culinary destination was Duckfat, an eatery known for their fries and poutine cooked in duck fat. It seemed a bit hyped online so we were skeptical, but they were actually very tasty! I’m a sucker for the textures of well-made food, and these fries had the best consistency of all the fries I’ve ever had. They were crunchy, crispy, amber colored, with flakes (not jarring crystals) of salt, and the inside was somehow a smooth buttery mashed potato consistency with no grits in sight.

Portland Brews

Portland, we learned, is a city full of brews, fizzies, and other buzzy beverages. In addition to the brewery and rum distillery from the day before, we proceeded to visit Oxbow Brewery (where we got a lobster beer brewed with live lobster…), Austin Street Brewery, Maine Meade Works for lavender and chai meads, Urban Farm Fermentory for seaweed cider and grape kombucha, and Hardshore Gin Distillery for a blueberry gin “mojito” slushie. A note on that seaweed cider from Urban Farm Fermentory- it’s definitely different and worth trying! The tangy salinity hits first, then umami seaweed flavor washes over the posterior tongue, then notes of fatty salmon (…yes fatty salmon) linger on the soft palate. Both the umami seaweed and the sweeter cider flavors are distinct, not quite meshing together. Unique. Would drink again. Like a fishy pickle, or a pickle fish, but somehow in a good way. I still couldn’t figure it out by the end of 16oz so I would call that a weird kind of success.

Lobster And Lighthouse

We ended our second day in Portland at the scenic spot everyone visits here (and righteously so!)- the Portland Head Lighthouse. This is where to go for that postcard-picturesque shot of the classic Maine lighthouse towering over the rocky shore. It’s also the OG location of the Bite Into Maine lobster roll food truck. We got the 4.5oz roll for $19 and ate it at a perfectly positioned picnic table atop a grassy hill with a view of the lighthouse. It was literally and figuratively picture-perfect. Even the breeze was blowing the right direction. I’m sure the view contributed to our review of this meal, but this lobster roll was delicious. Chilled but not cold, the right amount of mayo to complement the buttery lobster chunks (and I don’t even like mayonnaise!), and just-right toasted roll that maintained a crunch to the last bite– it was surprisingly good. And after you devour your meal, you can venture out to the rocky shore to climb around on the boulders next to the sea spray!

Travel Tips for Portland, Maine

-Holy Donut: get there early so they don’t run out, also order online during COVID to avoid the long lines. If you order online, you do need to call them when you arrive so they know to bring you your mobile order. There is also a location in Scarborough, ME which may have shorter wait times.

-Bite Into Maine is good. Yes it’s a food truck but don’t let that scare you! There are three locations around Portland but I’d recommend the Cape Elizabeth location as it’s the original one and overlooks Portland Head Lighthouse.

– We stayed at Tru by Hilton in the Portland Airport area. It was only a 10-15 minute drive away from downtown and Old Port and I would recommend looking into it if you have a car on your trip. They offered free breakfast, a small gym, and the facilities were new, modern, and clean.

-Park at Park and Ride, the rest of the city is quite walkable or bikeable. Bonus points for the location right next to the brewery district!

-Speaking of beer— when in Portland, drink the beer! And the other drinks! Portland has such variety, can please your entire party

-Old Port has the cute atmosphere with boutique shops and Holy Donut, but also check out Washington Ave. It’s a slightly less touristy but still busy street, quite worthy of some wandering time. A day or more can easily be spent here poking around the pottery café (Portland Pottery), cheese shop (The Cheese Shop of Portland), and a cute collection of shops housed in recycled shipping containers. Fill up on Japanese tapas (Izakaya Minato), Vietnamese fare (Cong Tu Bot), and ramen (Ishi Ishi). Plus, Washington Ave is home to a gin distillery (Hardshore), meadery (Maine Mead Works), cidery, AND multiple breweries. Now, that’s my kind of street.

-For oysters, check out The Shop (also on Washington Ave). They are a wholesale oyster buying station and can thus offer great prices: $1.50 oysters, with a 7 varieties to choose from, local beer to wash them down.