I am back at the East Ender, here in downtown Portland, Maine. This trip I brought my co-worker Ray along to enjoy the food. I love how this place makes some of their own ingredients, and sends me little mid-course treats to test out. The staff is great, and very personable, which goes a long way. I thought I would format this post differently and go item-by-item.
1) The Drink – Gin cocktail: Cold River Gin, grapefruit, sauvignon blanc
Awesome. I liked it better than last week’s gypsy. Going to try and make one when I get back to Georgia.
2) Taste Tester – Beef cheek, pickled corn, egg sunny side up.
That thing was awesome. Very tender, with a barbeque sauce that was light and tender. I never eat eggs if they aren’t scrambled with cheese, so this was a opportunity to branch out. The egg was seasoned well, the yolk wasn’t runny and went great with the beef cheek. The pickled corn was a treat as well. They don’t offer that combination as a full plate, but I think it would sell if it were.
3) Appetizer – I stole some of Ray’s calamari
Another food I don’t really eat, but made another exception. They have been proving me wrong so far, right? It wasn’t chewy like I’m used to, but very tender, and the batter had a great seasoning.
4) Palette Cleanser – Peach Sorbet with peach brulee as a topper.
I wasn’t expecting dessert between meals, so this was cool… no pun intended. It reminded me of eating frozen peaches with my dad as a kid…. now I think I’ll be visiting the folks this weekend.
5) Course 1 – Mac and cheese with pork sausage and four melted cheeses.
This stuff was some kinda good. The sauce was very creamy, and the sausage was in abundance. THEY MAKE THEIR OWN SAUSAGE! The pasta was a thin spiral versus a standard elbow, and very tender. A+
6) Course 2 – Goat cheese and bacon pizza with caramelized onions.
Mmmmm bacon. I’ve also become a big fan of goat cheese lately, and this pizza just enforced my opinion. I couldn’t finish all of it unfortunately, and was about to pop. I didn’t have room for a full dessert, so the peach sorbet would have to do…
Yeah, right!
7) Dessert – Peach soup, with peach sorbet, peach brulee, and mint.
The palette cleanser was good, so I tried the full dessert. It was like a peach smoothie with sorbet and mint floating in the middle. Very good.
I’d recommend this place to anyone visiting the area, and lately this place has been crawling with tourists. So eat up!
In my last post, someone made the comment that I HAD to know the owners in order to speak so highly of the food. So on this trip I went to the kitchen and met the owner Mitch and the Sous Chef Austin. Austin turned out being friends with a mutual Facebook friend in Georgia, which is nuts. I was also served by the bartender Devin again, which can make a mean drink. So yeah, now I know the owner…
