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Eventide Oyster Company (Portland, Maine)

August 25, 2014 by Jennifer Che 9 Comments

Eventide Oyster Company

Eventide Oyster Company

This is the third post about our weekend trip to Portland. Other posts in this series include A Summer Weekend in Portland Maine and Duck Fat.

I liked Eventide Oyster Company the moment I walked in the door. It was everything about it: the variety of fresh oysters sitting in ice right at the counter; the colorful chalkboard full of the day’s mouthwatering specials; the bright and cheerful space; and the friendly people working there.

We were definitely not alone. _DSC7874.jpg
This is one of the most popular places in Portland, and the waits can be excruciatingly long. Thankfully, they have become pros at estimating time, and they do a good job of trying to move things along. Our wait time was 45 minutes. We killed time by stopping by a local bakery (Two Fat Cats) and eating a slice of delicious Maine blueberry pie (dessert before lunch? I don’t see why not!), and then coming back to enjoy a drink at the bar.
_DSC7863.jpg
I tried the Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA on tap and I loved it.  I now think it is one of my favorite beers all around. Bryan tried several local ones, including the Oxbow Loretta and Allagash Triple (both excellent).

It was close to 2:30PM by the time we got seated.

Our meal was fantastic, and totally worth the wait. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Eventide Oyster Company
The menus is simple and comes freshly printed on a sheet of paper to reflect the day’s offerings. They have a huge selection of local Maine oysters and also a very respectable selection of oysters from elsewhere. The chalkboard has additional oysters that may not show up on the menu.

You can get other shellfish, such as clams or even a lobster tail. The rest of the menu consists of various small plates. It’s fun to order several and try them “tapas style”, which is exactly what we did.
Eventide Oyster Company
You have to try the oysters. We stuck with Maine oysters (which we don’t see as much in Boston) and tried six different ones. These were fresh, delicious, and it was fun to sample different flavors. They come with fun accoutrements (you get to choose two), such as pineapple-jalapeno ice, “Kim Chee” ice, and Tabasco ice, among others. Though it was fun to try them, I typically enjoy my oysters raw and straight up with nothing on top.
Eventide Oyster Company
Our first small plate, Beet Cured Arctic Char, came with beet slivers, horseradish, and citrus salt. It was refreshing, a lovely explosion of flavors and textures. I think we were starving at this point too, so it probably tasted even better.Eventide Oyster Company
There are several buns on the menu. It was hard to choose just a few, but we eventually settled on two. Pictured above is the Fried Winter Point Oyster Bun ($7), which simply came with pickled vegetables and tartar sauce. All elements were executed perfectly and the overall bite was delicious. The tartness of the pickles definitely helped cut the richness of the crunchy and perfectly fried oyster.
Eventide Oyster Company
Soooooo tasty.
_DSC7860.jpg
One of their signature dishes is the Eventide Lobster Roll, which is actually more like a steamed bun sandwich filled with lobster cooked one of three ways: brown butter, mayo, or ginger scallion. We went with brown butter, which was fantastic.

Please note these lobster “rolls” (or buns?) are smaller than you might expect. We ordered them thinking they would be the size of a normal lobster roll made with a hot dog bun, but they are closer in size to a Chinese steamed bun.
Eventide Oyster Company
The last dish we tried was one of their specials: Shaved Whelk Salad ($9) tossed with honey and Tabasco. I had never heard of whelk before and had to ask what it was. It turns out it’s a sea snail that is locally harvested and in season during that time.

It was pretty good. It sort of reminded me of abalone or even sliced beef tendon (prepared Chinese style where it’s still a bit “crunchy”).
Eventide Oyster Company
All in all, we both loved our experience at Eventide. I especially liked how the menu items were all small, so you could eat as little or as much as you wanted. Since we had a big dinner planned later on that night, we ended up getting a little less food, which worked out perfectly.

Everything was executed really well, made using fresh, high quality ingredients. It’s hard to go wrong – we enjoyed everything we ordered. And of course, I love the seafood focus.
Eventide Oyster Company
Even though the lines are crazy long, I say it’s worth it. There’s a legitimate reason why people are willing to wait for this place. It’s not just a tourist gimmick or trap. Everything is seriously good here.

If I came back to Portland, this place would most certainly be on the top of my list of places to revisit. Both Bryan and I agreed wholeheartedly that Eventide Oyster Company was our favorite meal of the entire trip.

©2009-2014
Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Maine, Portland, Restaurant, Review

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Comments

  1. Daisy says

    August 25, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    I was in Portland last wednesday – friday. Eventide was first on my list. I completely agree with your post, everything about this place is special and worth the wait. we also went the route of focusing on maine oysters as opposed to what we’d normally see in MA. We went at dinnertime, my favorite thing we ate was the lobster stew. and we drank lots of really good cocktails!

    Reply
  2. Daisy says

    August 26, 2014 at 8:46 am

    Holy Dounut – they were delicious! (but kind of the same deal w the fries, so much hype,,,)

    Reply
  3. Anna Edwards says

    August 26, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    Looks amazing! I use the book “365 Guide New York City” http://365guidenyc.com/ to find the best restaurant deals in the city.

    Reply
  4. Alisa says

    September 1, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    I’ve been going to Duckfat since they opened (it was my post-call craving when I was in residency at Maine Med) and still love it, though I miss it as it was when it first opened, when it was more casual, there wasn’t table service, and there was rarely a wait. And it was a lot cheaper then! I do love the fries with aioli, but love the panini even more.

    Reply
  5. Abram Aklem says

    September 26, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    While traveling to different place you do experience things like this, when we see bus tickets from charlotte to new york you get have experience abuut it which is a way when its about traveling all over and surely it is having an impact.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Happy New Year! A Look Back at 2015 - Part I - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    January 5, 2016 at 10:45 am

    […] Portland Maine for a quick weekend girls-only, sans husbands trip. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Eventide and then brought take-out Duck Fat fries to the beach, where we chatted while soaking up the […]

    Reply
  2. 24-hour Trip to Portland Maine - LUNCH! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 14, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    […] but we definitely hit many of the top places (there are so many good ones!). 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 […]

    Reply
  3. Jen's Top Restaurants to visit in Boston - 2017 update - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    December 20, 2017 at 7:27 am

    […] check out Eventide in Fenway. Originally from Portland, Maine, this trendy and casual seafood joint offers some of the greatest hits from the Portland […]

    Reply
  4. Kyoku Hong Kong - Teppanyaki and Sushi in Causeway Bay - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 28, 2018 at 10:11 pm

    […] whelk on the menu. I think the last time I had whelk was likely either in Boston or Portland (at Eventide!). The whelk was fresh and simply cooked on the flat teppan grill and seasoned with some salt and […]

    Reply

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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!
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