Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • Around the World Trip Report
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

24-hour Trip to Portland Maine – LUNCH!

October 14, 2017 by Jennifer Che 1 Comment


Greetings from Hong Kong!

I am finally getting settled after being here for a couple weeks. We spent a week entertaining friends who flew out to celebrate Bryan’s birthday (check out my Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter feed to see more photos of the celebration #bryanbdayweek).

I hope to catch up on posts from trips I’ve taken recently (New England, Japan, Taiwan, even Switzerland!) as well as share about restaurants I visited in Boston before leaving for Hong Kong.

Today, I’ll touch upon our trip to Portland Maine in May 2017. We visited Portland during Bryan’s last week in Boston right before he moved out to Hong Kong. It was only a 24-hour trip, but we definitely hit many of the top places (there are so many good ones!).

Central-Provision-4-of-7.jpg Portland Maine Central-Provision-1-of-7.jpg

Stop 1: Eventide
Eventide Oyster Company is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland and I always try to stop by if I can. They do a great, creative take on fresh seafood that’s just a bit Asian-inspired. I love it.

During this visit, I tried for the first time their Clam Chowder, which was fantastic. The broth is much lighter (less heavy cream) and packs a deeper, more intense clam flavor. It also has seaweed, which is unusual but works surprisingly well. It has quickly become one of the my favorite bowls of clam chowder in New England. We also tried the Peekytoe Crab Roll, which was great.
DSC03173
You can’t come to Eventide without trying some raw oysters. I usually try to go for the ones that are more local to Maine, since I can’t get those as easily in Boston.
DSC03166
Scotch Egg was awesome, and I loved how the pickled onions nicely balanced out the rich and decadent smoked bluefish encrusted exterior. Yum!
DSC03172
Octopus Terrine was gorgeous (and undoubtedly took a lot of work to make) but flavor-wise was less interesting than all the other dishes.
Portland Maine Central-Provision-3-of-7.jpg
The Brown Butter Lobster Roll is their signature dish and we always get it. Better yet, it will also be available at Eventide’s newest second location . . . . in BOSTON!

Yes! Eventide just opened a second location in Boston right near Fenway Park!

The Boston location is different in that it’s more of a counter-style restaurant. Guests order right when they arrive and then wait for a message telling them their food is ready. Many of the Portland restaurant’s most popular dishes are on the menu (e.g., the eponymous lobster roll, though a bit bigger in size compared to the Portland version), as well as seasonal creations and a selection of Maine/Massachusetts oysters.

Exciting news!

Anyway, back to Portland Maine. Since we only had 24 hours in Portland, we decided to make the best use of our time by having TWO lunches (!) that day.

Stop 2: Central Provision

Portland Maine Central-Provision-4-of-4.jpg

Tuna crudo with apple, scallions, and fried shallots

Central Provision is one of the most popular restaurants in Portland and typically if you go on a weekend without a reservation (and they don’t give out that many), you have to wait HOURS to get in. The last time I went, we waited about three hours before getting a table. This time, since we were there on a Monday, we were able to show up before 12PM and not wait at all.

I always love sampling a bunch of different small plates while I’m at Central Provision, and this time was no different.
Portland Maine Central-Provision-1-of-4.jpg
Spicy Beef Salad was one of my favorites, consisting of beef tartare tossed in a flavorful vibrant dressing of sriracha,cilantro, chopped peanuts and crunchy fried shallots.
Portland Maine Central-Provision-3-of-4.jpg
The Soft Shelled Crab Sliders were good too. They were nicely fried and came with a flavorful tomato jam. The sandwich was tasty though tricky to share amongst four people. The Tuna Crudo (pictured at the very top), was also refreshing and delicious.
Portland Maine Central-Provision-2-of-4.jpg
Beet Salad with avocado cream came with a variety of beets, including golden, red, and chiogga. It was a light, refreshing way to close out part II of our progressive lunch.

All in all, everybody loved the food at Central Provision and we were thrilled we had a chance to try it without waiting in any lines. Moral of the story: try to visit Portland Maine during non-peak times if possible!

Up next, Stop 3: Fore Street. The whole reasons we planned this trip was because one of our friends expressed utter shock when we told him we had never been to Fore Street. He said that we had to fix that right away, and thus this 24-hour trip was born. Fore Street is yet another must-try Portland institution and we were so glad that we finally got to experience it before we left Boston.

It’s worth it! Details in a future post!

Filed Under: Maine, New England Trip Report, Portland, Trip Report, US Travel

« I Am Moving to Hong Kong !!!!
24h Trip to Portland – Fore Street Portland Maine »

Recent Posts

  • Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong April 29, 2022
  • Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai March 22, 2022
  • Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong March 17, 2022
  • Petrus Hong Kong March 8, 2022
  • Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong March 6, 2022
  • James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong March 2, 2022
  • Birthday at Roganic Hong Kong February 23, 2022
  • Caprice Hong Kong – Four Seasons February 19, 2022

Latest Chinese recipes!

Trackbacks

  1. 24h Trip to Portland - Fore Street Portland Maine - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 18, 2017 at 10:54 am

    […] top priority to make this trip happen. It turned out to be a great 24-hour trip where we enjoyed  TWO amazing lunches as well as an epic dinner at Fore […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

Summer Palace Hong Kong Iconic Wine Lunch

Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong

Lucciola The Hari Wan Chai

Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai

beef quesadilla

Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Ichiran Hong Kong Ramen

Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong

Roganic Hong Kong

Birthday at Roganic Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong – Four Seasons

Majordomo Los Angeles – David Chang’s Foray into the West Coast

Playa Amor Los Angeles

France!

Restaurant Le George Paris
Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

logo
Food Advertisements by

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
logo
Food Advertisements by

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

logo
Food Advertisements by
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress