Fore Street Review – Portland, Maine

It was so difficult for us to decide where to eat in Portland Maine because there was a surprisingly large selection of restaurants with renowned chefs that have won prestigious awards. We ultimately decided on Fore Street because of the Chef receiving a James Beard award, the reviews of the restaurant, as well as the purported amount of food given per dish.

We started our meal with the Sweet Corn and Summer Squash Salad with Garden Lettuce, Pole Beans, Pancetta, and a Buttermilk Dressing. The concept of the dish was great, but whoever prepared our salad must have accidentally been salt shaker-happy and unfortunately oversalted the dish. Each bite was like licking a salt lollipop with a hint of salad. Ruined the dish but I can imagine enjoying the dish if it weren’t for the salt. When asked about how the salad was, I commented how it was a bit salty. Being a top-notch restaurant, the server was super apologetic (which made me feel awful for telling her) and was more than willing to ask the kitchen to remake the salad but I politely refused since I didn't want the food to go to waste. Instead, they provided a box of their truffles at the end of the meal, which was super nice of the restaurant...Maybe next time, I should be quiet about how I truly feel about a dish since it made me feel bad that they made such a big deal about it. oh well...

For my main course, I ordered the Mulard Duck Breast with Purple Pole Beans, Whole Grain Mustard, and Oregano. They redeemed themselves with this dish. The duck was this transcendent taste of perfection. It was this wonderfully smoky grilled, rich, perfectly salted, tender, juicy slices of duck covered in this crispy flavorful duck skin (with very little fat). Ahhhh --Such wonderful memories.  Even my hubster, who doesn’t even like duck, thought it was delicious. This duck trumped Bouley’s duck by a long mile. It was served with these lovely crispy pole beans (although they weren’t purple) and sliced shallots generously tossed in a potent whole grain mustard. I LOVED MY DISH!!! My husband ordered the Hanger Steak with Marinated Grilled Sweet Onion and Fresh Herbs which was also well-flavored, tender and juicy. I have to say though, if I had to choose between the steak or the duck, I would go for the duck. 

All in all, a wonderful experience. This restaurant is supposedly really well known for their desserts. I was soo full from dinner so I didn't try anything. Next time....

Rating: 5 stars, despite salad mishap since they were so great at rectifying it (for expensive category)

Service: 5 stars

Would I go back? Absolutely! Highly recommended