Portland, ME Trip

Rather than be a couch potato for the weekend, I decided we needed to get away.

Using some hotel points, we did an overnight to Portland, ME. After driving up and checking into the hotel, we headed to the Portland waterfront.

We started at Gritty McDuff's to kill some time before dinner with a couple beers. We both went with their Pub Style brew. Very nice, love that fresh beer taste. I've got to do more research on the "mug club" that the regulars seemed to be taking advantage of.

The Phantom Gourmet site had given me two leads for dinner in Portland. Both received a 90+ rating by the Phantom. They were Fore Street and the Back Bay Grill.

We struck out in both locations. It was Valentine's Day and both locations said they were completely full even though we walked in before the clock struck 6pm. And both stated that they had taken reservations for all seats at the bar as well. Sitting at the bar is our usual plan, so I was confident that we could get fed without reservations one way or another. But I guess the rules are different on Valentine's Day (or just in Portland).

We headed back to the busy downtown section of Fore Street near Gritty's to find another alternative. Jeanne's eyes were caught by the look of Bull Feeney's so we headed in (at this point we just wanted to sit and eat and drink). Feeney's was OK. The menu was what you might expect from an Irish bar, but fairly well done. Service was slow, we noticed many of the tables around us looking upset with the waitress. She got the job done, but dissappeared for 15 minutes at a time in the busy restaurant. We started with their roasted red pepper and artichoke dip. Jeanne had the french onion soup and a goat cheese salad for her entree. I had the fish and chips.

Driving home, we stopped at the Sylvan Street Grille in Salisbury, MA. A nice casual restaurant/bar. The type we wish we had nearby to home. We had the asian chicken fingers appetizer and a couple sandwiches (grilled chicken panni for Jeanne and a reuben for me).