Food always plays an important part in our travels and on this cruise it’s even more important. While never having been to Portland, we’ve been to some pretty amazing places in Coastal Maine and one look at the tours that were offered made finding the best lobster roll in the city a priority. Somehow a day at the outlets or the L.L. Bean Factory store didn’t seem that interesting.
Fortunately Portland has been gaining in reputation as a foodie destination. Many of the top destinations are open only for dinner, but we wanted an authentic lobster roll experience and we got it at the Portland Lobster Company.
Located outside on the docks, we sat at the bar and ordered fried clams, two lobster rolls and a crab sandwich. The place was bustling, but the staff couldn’t have been friendlier. After a short wait, what you see is what arrived.
It could not have been fresher or better. You can have lobster flown in live pretty much anywhere, but sitting on the docks, smelling the sea, listening to music, and eating sweet lobster that was caught that morning, barely dressed, and overflowing on a buttered roll, is pure heaven and pretty much all you need to do in Portland. By the way, the clams and the crab cake were excellent as well.
We hated to leave our perches at the bar, but were too full to have the fresh Maine blueberry pie and we did want to see the harbor area and had booked a city tour on a fire engine from an interesting character on the docks, so we reluctantly left.
The harbor area is pretty non-descript with the usual sprinkling of shops and restaurants, but not nearly as overtly commercial as Newport. The tour was laid back and fun. Not visually stimulating, but certainly Portland has a lot of history although except for the food scene and outlets, I am not sure what else it offers. Perhaps it’s the exceptional views from ocean front homes and most likely a very nice lifestyle, at least in the summer.
We headed out of Portland toward the Bay of Fundy and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Our first stop in the Maritime Provinces. Here we were to see the magical reversing rapids caused by fifty-foot tides and had booked a boat tour to see the spectacle. Well, we hit the rapids at slack tide when nothing happens. The river was as smooth as glass. As they say, timing is everything and by the way, their tides are only twenty-six feet. The fifty foot ones are one hundred miles up river.
Something magical did happen in St. John, we had our first poutine. Now French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds doesn’t sound too appetizing, but at Billy’s Seafood they made their poutine with lobster and a light gravy similar to a béchamel sauce. It was fantastic. Filling, but fantastic. What an introduction to a dish first made by the peasants in Quebec sans the lobster. One has to wonder why the good folks in Wisconsin didn’t invent this particular dish, given all the cheese curds they produce.
Now I must explain the green stuff on top of the poutine. The folks in New Brunswick have a strong affinity for Dulse, which is air-dried seaweed. They eat it all the time and put it on just about everything. They claim this particular seaweed is only found in the waters off New Brunswick and that they are famous for it. Let’s just say it is an acquired taste. Ours was pretty much left intact after a taste, much to the astonishment of our incredibly cheerful waitress.
That cheerfulness is another trait one quickly picks up on. Everyone we met was so nice. Maybe it’s all of the Dulse, but people here seem incredibly nice and friendly, even passersby on the streets.
It certainly is a clean and tidy city with a great Oceanographic Museum, the oldest farmer’s market in Canada, fantastic public art, nice parks and the reversing rapids, but the Downtown area seems a little too quiet for our tastes, but we will always remember it for our first poutine.
Our next stop was Halifax, Nova Scotia where we rented a car and took off for the coast and Peggy’s Cove. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery, fall colors, a magnificent coast, and more great food, this time lobster rolls, in a quaint little restaurant overlooking the Atlantic, but I have so many great shots to choose from, I've decided to do a separate post.
Fortunately Portland has been gaining in reputation as a foodie destination. Many of the top destinations are open only for dinner, but we wanted an authentic lobster roll experience and we got it at the Portland Lobster Company.
Located outside on the docks, we sat at the bar and ordered fried clams, two lobster rolls and a crab sandwich. The place was bustling, but the staff couldn’t have been friendlier. After a short wait, what you see is what arrived.
We hated to leave our perches at the bar, but were too full to have the fresh Maine blueberry pie and we did want to see the harbor area and had booked a city tour on a fire engine from an interesting character on the docks, so we reluctantly left.
The harbor area is pretty non-descript with the usual sprinkling of shops and restaurants, but not nearly as overtly commercial as Newport. The tour was laid back and fun. Not visually stimulating, but certainly Portland has a lot of history although except for the food scene and outlets, I am not sure what else it offers. Perhaps it’s the exceptional views from ocean front homes and most likely a very nice lifestyle, at least in the summer.
We headed out of Portland toward the Bay of Fundy and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Our first stop in the Maritime Provinces. Here we were to see the magical reversing rapids caused by fifty-foot tides and had booked a boat tour to see the spectacle. Well, we hit the rapids at slack tide when nothing happens. The river was as smooth as glass. As they say, timing is everything and by the way, their tides are only twenty-six feet. The fifty foot ones are one hundred miles up river.
Something magical did happen in St. John, we had our first poutine. Now French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds doesn’t sound too appetizing, but at Billy’s Seafood they made their poutine with lobster and a light gravy similar to a béchamel sauce. It was fantastic. Filling, but fantastic. What an introduction to a dish first made by the peasants in Quebec sans the lobster. One has to wonder why the good folks in Wisconsin didn’t invent this particular dish, given all the cheese curds they produce.
Now I must explain the green stuff on top of the poutine. The folks in New Brunswick have a strong affinity for Dulse, which is air-dried seaweed. They eat it all the time and put it on just about everything. They claim this particular seaweed is only found in the waters off New Brunswick and that they are famous for it. Let’s just say it is an acquired taste. Ours was pretty much left intact after a taste, much to the astonishment of our incredibly cheerful waitress.
That cheerfulness is another trait one quickly picks up on. Everyone we met was so nice. Maybe it’s all of the Dulse, but people here seem incredibly nice and friendly, even passersby on the streets.
It certainly is a clean and tidy city with a great Oceanographic Museum, the oldest farmer’s market in Canada, fantastic public art, nice parks and the reversing rapids, but the Downtown area seems a little too quiet for our tastes, but we will always remember it for our first poutine.
Our next stop was Halifax, Nova Scotia where we rented a car and took off for the coast and Peggy’s Cove. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery, fall colors, a magnificent coast, and more great food, this time lobster rolls, in a quaint little restaurant overlooking the Atlantic, but I have so many great shots to choose from, I've decided to do a separate post.
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