ellieeggplant's Profile
Where to take French Guests
We are hosting friends from France and would like to take them to a restaurant where there is "good food, done well". We are aware of Fore Street and the usual suspects. Looking for someplace we may not have thought of in and around Portland and points south.
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Fore Street
288 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101
Diamond's Edge, Portland ME
Has anyone been to Diamond's Edge on Great Diamond Island lately? I was there a few years ago and it was a disaster. I have a friends coming in and thought it would be fun to take the ferry out for dinner. Thanks.
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Diamond's Edge Restaurant
Diamond Ave, Portland, ME 04109
Diamond's Edge, Portland ME
Any comments about Diamond's Edge on Great Diamond Island in Portland Maine? I was there a few years back and it was a disaster. Would love to hear how others have fared more recently.
Thanks.
john duck's, southampton
My folks used to take the family there for a special occasion back in the 1960's Thinking about taking my father for his 94th birthday. Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.
Father's Day Dinner
Hi- I am looking for a place to take my Pop for a nice Father's Day Dinner. Preferably on the water--Oyster Bay, Cold Spring, Huntington, Glen Cove? Thanks!
555 Redux
Several months ago I gave a scathing review of 555 in Portland ME. I had the opportunity to have dinner there on Saturday evening and I am glad I did. Service was very good as was the food. Our server very helpful with our wine selection and very knowledgeable about the en trees and specials. The ingredients celebrating the arrival of Spring were a special treat. A very pleasant evening.
Arrows, ME--recent experiences?
I have dined at Arrows a few times and frankly, I am not sure any meal is worth $400, esp. theirs. The food was good--but not way over the top, I think it was the serving of some sort of special groovy butter for $40 that finally did me in. Yes, the main dining room is lovely (if you go, make sure you sit in there). the service is good -- I wouldn't call it warm.
If you are going to spend that kind of money, I recommend the the White Barn Inn. Some may call it pretentious, but some how I think that's to be expected at a venerable inn. I think Arrows is just a bit too precious.
Local 188, Portland ME
A while back folks wrote in about service difficulties at Local 188. When we went on Saturday we were seated immediately (we had a reservation) service was fairly well paced and our server friendly and attentive. Food good too! All and all a very pleasurable experience.
Portland, ME: small italian restaurant?
and if Bresca's doesn't work for you, there is Ribolitta's on Middle St.
Lunch and Dinner Recs for Kennebunk area?
Looks like the Waldo Emerson is closer to "the 'port" than "the 'bunk" but if you venture to downtown Kennebunk check out the Kennebunk Inn. Their pub fare is great as are their dinner entre's. In Kennebunkport check out if Bandaloop is open. Good food, esp. the appetizers and fun atmosphere. Bandaloop hasn't changed their menu since they opened which is a drag for us locals, but for a visitor it can be very good! I second Joshua's. Hurricane's is Ok, not that great a value for the money. If you want to go way over the top, there's always The White Barn Inn......
Fore Street, 555, Street & Co. & Hugos Alternatives
Taking Fore Street, 555, Street & Co. & Hugo,s off the table. Where would you go in the Portland Maine area for a nice evening--good food, service and ambiance.
Portland - Fore Street Alternatives?
If you go to Street and Co. be sure to ask for a table in the "second" dining room. The "first" has the kitchen at one end of it and the tables are close together. Very noisey! Oh, and the last time I was there they served the food in a frying pan. I guess they thought it was charming. I thought it was tacky.
I would recommend Caiola's on Pine St. Good food, nice people.
20 minute wait too long?
Thank you for your comments esp.those about the auto grat and the wine, they were helpful. I would also like to add that it took the server 15 minutes from when we first sat down to take our drink order and then 25 minutes to get us all served. It all went down hill from there,. I won't bother to go into the details.We sat down at 6:50 and left at 9:40 There were 3 courses, only 2 of us got the first (soup) no one got dessert. Several tables were seated, served and left before we got our entre.
20 minute wait too long?
Is 20 minutes between courses top long to wait? Recently at 555 in Portland ME It was 2 ours from when we first sat down before we were served our entrees.We complained to our waiter who was apologetic, but not very helpful. He did explain that the kitchen was backed up as it was a busy night. This is fine and understandable. If he had checked in with us and shared this information before we complained, we would have been a lot more patient. Still no entrees. We asked to speak with the manager, twice. When she did show up she was barely apologetic. Her only explanation was that with large tables such as ours it was the restaurant’s policy to serve slowly. Ok, there are many reasons I can think of as to why this would be appropriate and necessary, but 20 minutes between courses!?. When asked to explain the logic of this, she couldn’t. I have worked in customer service. When someone complains, you sympathize, empathize and ask “what can I do to make this better?” The manager was nothing but defensive. My sense of her attitude was “our food is so good here, you are lucky to dine here, that should be enough”. I suggested that she might want to make an adjustment in the bill. I suggested she might want to comp one of the bottles of wine. She said she would need the owner’s permission to do that. I felt a little sorry for her, being put in such a responsible position with no real power or authority.
Finally, we were served our entrees. Entrees were very good, Nicely presented. One of my companions commented that her sword fish was not warm.
Settling up, adding insult to injury: The check included an 18% gratuity—standard policy for tables of 6 or more. No problem. Until we realized that the 18% was based on the total that included the bar bill, which included a rather expensive bottle of red wine. Once again a chat with the manager who adjusted the bill. When she returned I asked if she had comped one of the bottles of wine (assuming that if any, it would the $33 white). No, but she did have something for us. $100 gift certificate!!
