Mount Desert Island Ice Cream Store Review - Bar Harbor, Maine

After dinner one of the nights we were in Maine, we decided to look for an ice cream place. I found on Yelp, the Mount Desert Island Ice Cream store with rave reviews. What caught my attention was the reviewers comments on all the unique flavors the store offered (lobster ice cream--can we say eww?, salted caramel, bay of figs, squash, mango passionfruit sorbet with chili oil, neato doritos, stout?). Wowser!! I'm game for crazy flavors! So we trekked from our inn all the way down to Bar Harbor to try some some of these C-R-A-Z-Y ice cream flavors. 

The night we were there, some of the crazy flavors they offered were salt caramel, blueberry basil sorbet, grapefruit tarragon sorbet, chocolate wasabi, ginger, thai chili, blackstrap banana, strawberry champagne sorbet, cosmopolitan sorbet... They offer up to 3 samples...So i tried a sample of the chocolate wasabi. Actually quite good! You first taste chocolate, and then BAM! The wasabi hits your taste buds! Totally interesting. Not sure if I could handle a whole cone of that level of heat though. Next I sampled the ginger. WOH GINGER explosion! Too potent for me because of the intense spiciness of the ginger. But if you love ginger, this is for you! Last, I tried a sample of the thai chili, feeling a little uncertain as to what to expect. Will it taste like hot sauce? curry? actual chilis? Well, it felt like my mouth was full of peanut butter/chili sauce. Actually, what it really tasted like was a satay sauce (the kind you would dip chicken into). Weird. Not my thing. Couldn't finish the spoon..ew! Ok, so now I was left with a big decision...what do I actually buy after sampling those weird flavors? Ah sigh, I was gutless! I was worried about going for a bizarro flavor that I would hate and waste my money on. So, I ended up trying the blueberry basil sorbet, grapefruit tarragon sorbet, and strawberry champagne sorbet. I enjoyed the blueberry basil sorbet although you really have to like basil because it is quite prominent. The grapefruit tarragon was also delicious. The grapefruit was not too tart, light, and really refreshing. The strawberry champagne sorbet tasted like Haagen Daz strawberry sorbet with a hint of the champagne. Not terribly exciting but solid. Overall, I had a really fun experience there. I would go back for the novelty of trying more of their unusual flavors since they obviously change their flavors frequently. 

Ok, so I didn't have a good photo, so I uploaded a video...its just of the ice cream, so no point to really watching it :)

The Oxford House Inn Review - Maine

We stayed at this cute little bed and breakfast inn up in Fryeburg called the Admiral Peary House. Because we stayed there for 3 nights, we were given a complimentary dinner (appetizer and entree) at the Oxford House Inn across the street. We arrived rather late into Fryeburg so we were only able to get a very brief glimpse of the beautiful backdrop out the back window of the distant mountains.. 

For our appetizers, we shared the Curried Sweet Corn and Smoked Bacon Chowder and the Garden Tomatoes and Housemade Fresh Mozzarella with toasted garlic, basil pesto, and an aged balsamic. The chowder was absolutely delightful!!! It was a slightly thickened hot soup that stimulated all different areas of your tongue..from the saltiness of the cripsy thick cut bacon bits, the wonderful sweetness and creaminess of the corn chowder, and the spiciness/heat of the curry...I was practically in foodie heaven...We then finished with the fresh juicy tomatoes, tender mozzarella which apparently the chef makes himself, covered in this yummy sweet pesto, strips of fresh basil, and a tangy thick yet sweet balsamic. 

Then onto the entrees, we shared the Grilled Black Angus Filet Mignon and their Seared Sea Scallops. The steak was a Grilled Black Angus Filet Mignon with Roasted Shallot mashed pototoes, which was perfectly cooked to our liking.  Juicy and tender on a bed of super tasty potatoes and grilled summer veggies. The most amazing part about the dish was that it had these super thinly shaved leeks (probably grilled) on top of the steak, that tasted like crispy onion rings! We also shared the Seared Sea Scallops with Smoked Bacon and Manchego Brown Rice Risotto, Frenched Beans, and Preserved Lemon Vinagrette. This dish was solid. Sweet large juicy scallops with a nice creamy/salty risotto. 

And for dessert, we tried their Oxford House Ice Creams and Sorbets (pick 3). We tried the Belgian Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Blueberry Sorbet, and Peach Sorbet. It was served alongside peanut brittle and a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie with macadamia nuts. YUM! My favorite flavor was the blueberry sorbet. Sooo wonderful! The blueberry flavor was incredibly intense and not too sweet. Quintiessential Maine. I have to say that I did not love the peach sorbet...Kind of blah with little flavor. The chocolate ice cream was good but a little sweet for me. 

In the end, we loved this place. Amazing service. Amazing food. And above all, most of it was free! (Sort of...since we did pay for the B+B).

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

Lobster Rolls - Maine

Sorry for the short hiatus. My husband and I went to a friend's wedding out in Maine and we decided to turn it into a mini vacation. We just returned and I'm super excited to blog about our food adventures in Maine (just in case you ever visit and want to hit up the spots that we ate at. :))

On to the food....

I. Love. Lobster.rolls. After leaving the east coast for the west coast, I haven’t had the luxury of eating lobster rolls (tear drop). (Does anyone know of any places in Southern California? If so, send me a message!) The last time I was in New York City, I was able to eat at Pearl Oyster Bar, which has faaantastatic lobster rolls. In fact, it rivaled the best lobster rolls I ate in Maine, except that the price is double in NY. In my week-long stay in Maine, I had 3 lobster rolls, 1 lobster stew, and 2 full lobster meals (one courtesy of a fabulous wedding). Yum. Except for the fact that I have probably exceeded my mercury level consumption....Mercury toxicity anyone?

Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster (Freeport) was the first place and as of now, is the best place for lobster rolls on our mini lobster adventure. The place was mobbed with people. When we ordered our lobster roll, they informed us that it would take 40 minutes…wait, 40 minutes! Wah?! Well, it was worth the wait. This roll was the most generously filled with super fresh & sweet lobster, with minimal amounts of the mushy end-claw meat and scant mayo (perfect). It's like eating a whole sweet lobster on a bun, without all the work. My hubster also tried the famous lobster bisque, which he loved. I also bought a chocolate whoopie pie based on a few yelpers recommendations. It was quite generous in size, pretty good in taste, but not my favorite in terms of texture…The chocolate cake part of the whoopie pie was rather firm and dry (looked strangely like a portobello mushroom from the outside) and filled with this really sweet white cream that tasted like frosting.

Next place was called the Lobster Shack Restaurant at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. We shared a lobster roll and fried clams. Of the 3 lobster rolls we tried, this was agreeably the least favorite because the lobster was smaller in quantity compared to Harraseeket’s, a little “fishier” in taste, more of the mushy-end claw meat, and a giant dollop of mayo that infiltrated our lobster roll despite trying to scoop it off. The unbeatable feature of this site though was the location. There was a beautiful view of the ocean and lighthouse and also plenty of seating. Fried clams were good. The mini blueberry pie was quite tasty as well – a sweet cinnamon crumble topping with a not-to-sweet blueberry filling, surrounded by a basic pastry crust.

On our last day, we tried a lobster roll at Bob’s Clam Shack in Kittery off route 1. Of the three rolls, this would be number 2 in terms of taste. I somewhat regret not being able to try the two other famous lobster roll places since we drove by both but were not hungry at the time (The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport and Barnacle Bill in Ogunquit). But, Bob’s Clam Shack was good. There was a good amount of lobster meat on the bread, minimal mayo, crispy fries, and a nice giant pickle. I had quite a bit of that mushy-end claw meat throughout my roll.... But the flavor was still great and there was minimal mayo so I was overall happy with the meal.

One of these days, I’m going to have to try and make a lobster roll and take it on a picnic to the beach.