Boston/Kennebunkport/Portland Trip Report (long...)

[dmo305]

Wanted to let you guys know how it went down...

Arrived in BOS, got a rental, and headed straight to B&G Oysters, which my lil bro claims makes the greatest lobster roll ever. Sat down and ordered an Allagash White to go with my lobster roll, while my gf went with a dozen assorted oysters in advance of her fried clams plate. The lobster roll was delicious, however, quite small and pricey at $27. The bun was smaller than the typical roll, and was actually over-toasted, but I still liked it. The lobster salad was well dressed and had nice big chunks of lobster. My gf devoured the oysters and made it most of the way through her clams. They were perfectly fried, not greasy, and served with good cole slaw and well done fries. (same as the roll). One funny thing about this place, we were one of a few tables outside, and noticed little amuse bouche-looking plates going out to a few other tables. Mind you, we had already been working on our entrees at this point for at least 10-15 minutes. We asked our waiter about them, and he replied that it was a little something the manager likes to send out to some tables. After standing there for a bit, he offered that he could probably get us some if we liked, to which we agreed. Short while later, the manager comes out bringing the plates, and as she sets them down smartly says "Here, now you can try it too". Not gonna lie, i was pretty shocked at this rudeness, but more so that it was coming from a manager. We ended up chatting with her later and she seemed like a nice enough lady, but it is not nice to step into a restaurant and to be made to feel like a lower class of diner.

That afternoon we also got confirmed from the wait list for Hugo's! That was great news as we tried to eat here last summer but it didn't work out. The menus that were given us were composed of small plates broken into categories along the lines of soups&salads/sea/land/offal or something along those lines. They suggest that you order 3-4 plates per person to make your own meal. When we asked about a tasting menu, the waitress told us that they had a 6 course blind menu, which was pretty intriguing. It's some idea to put yourself at the complete and total mercy of the chef, having no idea what might be on the menu. The only clue given us was that none of the dishes were on the regular menu. This was actually a tough call because looking at the regular menu, I was already having a hard enough time narrowing down my choices among what appealed to me. In the end, I had to go with the tasting menu w/ pairing since this place requires the entire table to participate. The blind menu for the night:

Amuse- Glidden Point Oyster w/ cocktail orb
1- Yellowfin Tune Tartare & Dashi Cured Sashimi w/ puffed sushi rice, aged soy, herb emulsion
2- Prosciutto Consomme w/ truffled pea agnolotti, parmesan, lemon olive oil
3- Atlantic Fluke en Croute w/ bacon, shimaji mushroom, basil pistou, flageolets
4- Locally Raised Rabbit w/ ginger, stewed chard, cipollini, garbanzo crumble
5- Twig Farm Tomme w/ apply & raisin marmalade, red grape, medjool dates
6- "Crispy Cream" w/ tempura custard, local strawberries, long pepper sugar

I also ordered the BBQ Pork Belly w/ fried green tomatoes and I think grits... which was among the best things we had that night. My favorite dishes from the tasting were the consomme and the fluke. The consomme was delicate but flavorful, clearly tasting of the prosciutto, and the little agnolotti were filled with the mushed peas and were fantastic. Little cubes of parmesan put it over the top for me. The fluke really surprised me as I usually prefer land/air to sea. It was a served as a nice fat fillet, topped with a mousse of fluke, and a thin but well toasted crouton. Underneath were the shrooms, the pesto, and the beans which were delicious. Bacon "bits" were sprinkled around the side of the plate. The funny thing about this was that the bacon bits seemed to be 100% identical to the jarred bacon bits in the grocery store, which just wouldn't make sense here. This one boggled me. A few members of my party complained saying the rabbit was very gritty. I didn't find it particularly so, although I didn't love the dish either. For dessert, they also brought out an extra chocolate peanutbutter something-or-other, which was absolutely delicious, because they forgot to take off the bacon from my sisters fish (silly girl doesn't eat pork). I also liked the custard tempura, which paired with the freshly macerated berries was a perfect dessert. Overall, we really enjoyed this place, athough it fell a bit short of expectations. We walked away saying "that was really good" instead of the hoped for "that was amazing", although that is understandable as we probably hyped ourselves up too much beforehand. Overall I would still like to return in the future but probably not as quickly as I would to either Fore St or 555.

The next day for lunch we hit the Lobster Shack at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. Its worth it to go here for the scenery alone. The lobster rolls were pretty good but not great, served with an enormous dollop of mayonnaise that I have to imagine would be too much for anybody. The fried clams were perfect, the chowder was fine but lacked a little seasoning, and the crab roll got a poor review from my sister. The mini blueberry pies were tasty although a bit too sweet. Worth a stop for a roll and a stroll.

After Two Lights and a stop at Rabelais Book Store (must stop for all foodlovers/cooks/etc), I walked over to Duckfat for an order of fries. My fam was giving me a hard time since this was like an hour after lunch but, come on, those fries are ridiculous! I got a large order w/ truffle ketchup, thai chili mayo, and garlic aioli. The aioli was weak, but the thai chili mayo was great as was the ketchup. The fries were slightly oversalted but still delicious and addictive as ever. I also ordered some beignets which were good but a bit heavy. Not much room for these anyway.

For dinner and then brunch the next day we had delicious greek food at our friend's home. Then on our way outta Kennebunkport, we finally stopped at The Clam Shack, where we ordered two lobster rolls (one w/ mayo, other butter), steamers, and a whoopie pie to take home. Needless to say, the whoopie was a melted mess by the time we got back to Boston. The rolls were the best of the trip (no surprise there). Instead of the usual hot dog bun, these were served on lightly toasted round buns. The lobster meat was so delicious, not chopped up like many rolls, it was large hunks of meat lightly dressed in mayo(or melted butter) and was just perfect. My favorite lobster roll...

Can't wait til next year...

[gyppielou]

When lobsters are going for 5.99 Ms Lynch has a lot of nerve charging $27

Thanks for the report!

[gyppielou]

So I happened to make myself back to DuckFat today. The confit panini is now very overpriced. The frites were good, but really not as memorably great as the first time, and the duck gravy to dip the frites in had a bit of grease to taste. Although it was still pretty good, it wasn't the wow that called me back. I could skip it in the future.