A Room With A View…Of Food

When people ask me what my favorite kind of food is, I tend to struggle to answer that question.  I like having options, and my palate has a wide range, starting with American food and ending with Mexican food.  Therefore, when a coworker told me about a series of restaurants owned by the same person, I jumped at the chance to try a wide variety of food.

My first stop was the Grill Room and Bar.  The Grill Room is a highly popular please, so I recommend making a reservation.  There are seats at the bar and tables available for patrons. The seats at the bar are first come, first serve.  Happy hour runs from 4pm to 6pm every day and is only available at the bar. The Grill Room is open Tuesday to Sunday, and they are only open for dinner. However, the dinner menu isn’t available until 5pm.  I went to The Grill Room twice and had a different meal with each visit.  For my first trip, I had a couple of oysters with the house burger.  My second trip included a Caesar salad and a filet mignon.  Both meals were absolutely delicious, and I recommend both entrees.

My second stop was The Corner Room. Specializing in Italian food, The Corner Room is only a block away from The Grill Room. There are seats at the bar, booths and tables available for guests.  Happy hour, again, runs from 4pm to 6pm, and dinner doesn’t start until 5pm. Happy hour is only available at the bar, and has such snacks as meatballs and mixed greens.  The Corner Room is open from Tuesday to Saturday, and reservations are highly recommended. Bar seating, like The Grill Room, is first come, first serve.  For my first trip, I had an order of garlic bread and a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.  For my second trip, I had a Caesar salad and a pepperoni pizza.  The food was delicious, and I recommend everything.

My final stop was The Front Room, which serves brunch and dinner.  There are seats at the bar, tables and booths available for patrons.  The Front Room has the typical breakfast fare like eggs, omelets, and pancakes. Furthermore, sides like potato salad, bacon, ham and sausage populate the menu. Finally, there are sandwiches like the B.L.T. is available for purchase as well.  Coffee, Bloody Mary’s and mimosas, as well as non-alcoholic beverages are also available. The dinner menu is vastly different.  There is sparkling, red and white wine, as well as beer and cocktails available for purchase.  Appetizers range from oysters and Caesar salads, while the main dishes range from the double wagyu burger and crab pasta.  For brunch, I had the two-egg plate, which was eggs any style, with home fries, bacon and a choice of toast. For dinner, I had the double wagyu smash burger.

I highly recommend all three restaurants, and as I’ve mentioned before, I recommend reservations for The Grill Room and The Corner Room. If you want to learn more about The Grill Room, click here.  If The Corner Room is more your speed, click here.  Finally, if The Front Room caught your eye, click here.  As always, I have to ask, where should I go next?

A Meal at a Sicilian Table

I’ve written three blog posts about three restaurants owned by the same person.  These restaurants included Tuscan Table in South Portland. While researching those posts, I heard whispers of a fourth restaurant opening at some point in the future.  Recently, I was looking for a place to eat on the internet, and Sicilian Table, the fourth restaurant to be opened by the same owner, had begun serving customers.  I knew immediately that I had to try it, so I hurried over and ordered some lunch.

 

Sicilian Table offers a large drink menu. Cocktails, mocktails, wine, soda, and bourbon populate their drink menu.  Sicilian Table has a great food menu as well, offering a variety of food options.  There are appetizers like meatballs and mussels, as well as salads like caser salad and a Greek salad.  There is a section reserved for pizza, as well for their house made pasta.  Finally, Sicilian Table also offers sandwiches like a burger or the chicken parmesan. There are seats at the bar as well as bar seating.  There are booths and tables, along with outdoor seating. There is also two floors available for patrons to sit.  I had a Caesar salad, along with a bee sting pizza, and both were delicious.

 

I enjoy these four restaurants, and I’m glad that I was able to try the newest addition.  Maine has a great variety of places to eat, so I’ll keep looking for new places to try. If you want to check out Sicilian Table, you can click here.  Now that this post is done, where should I go next?

Exploring Some of What Portland Has to Offer

Portland offers a lot of different places to eat, though some of these restaurants are easy to miss.  Over the course of a couple of days, I decided to discover some of these hidden gems.  My first stop was Black Cow Burgers for some lunch.  Situated right on the cusp of the Old Port, Black Cow Burgers has big windows overlooking a tree-lined plaza.  Seats are available at the bar, along with tables and booths around the restaurants. Though the menu is small, Black Cow Burgers still offers quite a bit.  There is a sampling of cocktails, along with house crafted sodas available for purchase.  Furthermore, there are floats and shakes if one is feeling adventurous.

 

There is a selection of sandwiches for patrons to peruse, ranging from burgers and grilled cheese to fried fish sandwiches. There are a ton of sides to add to your entrée as well.  French fries can be added, but there is so much more as well.  Tomato soup, fried brussel sprouts, and buffalo chicken dip is just some of what Black Cow Burgers has to offer.  If you still have room for dessert, there is plenty to choose from. Customers can buy ice cream or sundaes. I had a cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate shake. I finished my meal with a vanilla shake and a tin roof sundae, and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

 

After I went to Black Cow Burger, I found myself craving oysters, so I decided to satisfy my hunger by sampling two different oyster bars. My first stop Eventide Oyster Company here in Portland.  While Eventide Oyster Company is small, there is a wide variety of seating available. Seats at the bar, tables overlooking the street, and wooden picnic tables are offered to diners. The picnic tables are big enough for multiple parties to be seated at. Their drink menu is extensive, offering cocktails, sake, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.

 

The oyster selection is massive, with plenty of oysters from Maine and from away. Furthermore, there is a sizable food menu available for those who might want something else. This includes soups like clam chowder, and sandwichs like burgers and lobster rolls.  There is even a dessert menu, that includes whoopie pie. I had a big meal while researching Eventide Oyster Company. I had a half-dozen oysters, an Eventide Brown Butter Lobster Roll, a burger, clam chowder, and a whoopie pie!  It was all delicious, and I recommend everything.

 

After I recovered from my feast at Eventide Oyster Company, I went to Maine Oyster Company.  This restaurant is smaller, with a more intimate setting.  There is beer on tap and in bottles and cans.  Wine is also available for purchase.  Oysters are definitely the star here at Maine Oyster Company. They offer oyster shucking classes, and you can visit their oyster farm here in Maine (I sense a future blog post!).  Their menu is definitely smaller, so I decided to focus on their oysters, which were delicious.  While during the off season, Maine Oyster Company has a small selection of oysters, the summer season sees six to eight different types of oysters available for purchase.

 

All that walking made my feet sore, so I decided to stop by Soakology, located right on Congress Street.  This massage parlor specializes in foot soaks, while offering twenty- or forty-minute messages.  The foot soaks come in a variety of scents, adding to the sense of peace that Soakology strides for.  Since my feet were bothering me, I decided to have a foot rub.  Soakology also offers a number of teas, along with hot chocolate. The soundproofing at the spa is incredible, and I found myself forgetting that I was in downtown Portland and was able to relax completely.

 

I thoroughly enjoy writing for you, dear reader, as it enables me to experience much of what Maine has to offer.  Portland itself has so much to do, so this little excursion took a couple of days to complete.  If you want to learn more about Black Cow Burgers, click here.  If you want to experience all that Eventide Oyster Company has to offer, click here.  If Maine Oyster Company is more your speed, click here.  Finally, if you want to research Soakology, you can click here.  As always, I have to ask, where should I go next?  As it happens, I know exactly where I’m going next.

A Major Steak in the Restaurant Business

 

I love steak, though I find myself not eating it as often as I would like.  Therefore, I decided to fix that.  I visited two steak restaurants, each vastly different from the other.  I went to The Steakhouse, in Wells, and Bonissoni, in Ogunquit.

 

The Steakhouse is a popular restaurant.  They’re only open for dinner, and they don’t accept reservations, so be prepared to wait a bit before you’re seated.  There is ample parking and two floors available for seating.  Despite The Steakhouse’s size, there is still a cozy and intimate feeling to the eatery. There is a massive drink menu available for patrons of all ages.  There are draft beers and beer in bottles and cans.  Furthermore, there are wines, cocktails, and frozen drinks.  The food menu is just as big as well.  There are soups, appetizers, salads, steak, and seafood that can be purchased.  

 

On my first visit to The Steakhouse, I decided to sample some appetizers.  I settled on having four different dishes. I ordered a cup of lobster stew, steakhouse cheese fries, boneless buffalo wings, and the mussels. For my second trip, I ordered the filet mignon with a side of French fries and Caesar salad.  My meals were delicious, and I would recommend everything.  The Steakhouse does close down for a month or so, so make sure to check their website before you make the trip.

 

Bonissoni was a different experience.  Bonissoni is a Brazilian Steakhouse, which means that the servers walk around the restaurant with skewers of meat.  They place the skewer onto the table and ask if you want a slice of meat.  If you say yes, then the server will cut a piece of meat off and place it onto your plate.  Bonissoni has a large menu as well. There are cocktails, desert drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, as well as a selection of wines. Furthermore, there are a number of sides that customers can order, ranging from French fries to Caesar salads.  Like The Steakhouse, Bonissoni is cozy and intimate, making for a great visit.

 

My experience eating at two superb restaurants meant that I had a great meal.  I’ve spoken before about the versatility of Maine’s restaurant scene, and I know I’m far from finished eating my way through all that Maine has to offer.  If you want to know more about The Steakhouse, click here, and if you want to research Bonissoni, you can click here.  As always, I have to ask, where should I go to next?  As it happens, I know exactly where I’m going.

A Royal River, A Royal Meal

As I mentioned in my previous post, I visited three restaurants who are owned by the same person. Therefore, my next trip brought me to Royal River Grill House. Located in Yarmouth, the Royal River Grill House sits right on the water, providing a wonderful view as you eat. Seating is plentiful here as well, with seats at the bar, tables, seating upstairs, and patio seating. Like Tuscan Table, the décor is beautiful and the interior is cozy.

The drink menus is extensive, offering beer, wine, cocktails, and soft drinks. The menu is extensive, offering appetizers, a raw bar, salads, entrees, and an a la carte menu. I decided to sample a wide variety of what the Royal River Grill House had to offer. I had two oysters, the clam chowder, a Caesar salad, and a burger. Everything was delicious, and I even took my burger home with me to have later.

While the Royal River Grill House is tucked away in Yarmouth, this eatery is well worth the trip. Whether you’re looking for a meal with a view, or you’re looking to experience something new, the Royal River Grill House has something for everyone. As usual, I would ask where I would go next, however my next post will conclude the series on restaurants owned by a singular person, so stay tuned.