Portland, ME Restaurants

[Katherine]

CookM--
The floating barge in Portland Harbor is DiMillo's. It's anchored off its own wharf, where you can see yachts in the marina. For a lot of people, DiMillo's is a must-eat-at place, but it's very much a tourist destination. If money is no object for someone, I would tell them to go in daylight, because at night the dining room is so dark you can't read the menu. (I was looking for an excuse to leave, anyway.) For some reason my parents come up to visit every time on Mondays, when most restaurants are closed, and in desperation we tried DiMillo's once. We left immediately after being seated and went to Boone's, two wharfs down, still touristy, but quite downscale. Chowders, fried food, homey dinners. Also, a lot of people like a similar restaurant, Gilbert's Chowder House, as well.
I took my nephew to Cap'n Newick's in South Portland, right on the other end of the new bridge. I hadn't been there in many years, but I was pleasantly surprised. They always did great fried seafood, and still do. The menu is a little limited if you want something else, but at least they don't give fake lemon juice to go with the fish like they used to back in the bad old days.

There are tons of restaurants here, some for most tastes and budgets, with a few glaring exceptions. The Chinese food is uniformly bad in that cookie-cutter Chinese restaurant way, and there are no Chinese restaurants of the sort that take pride in serving anything remotely resembling a 'Chinese cuisine'.
My daughter and I are in a downscale mode right now, as she starts college next year. But even if I had the money to eat anywhere, I'm not after a dining experience, with all the pampering that entails. I just prefer to eat in places where good unpretentious food is served.

[cookM]

Originally posted by Katherine:

I took my nephew to Cap'n Newick's in South Portland, right on the other end of the new bridge. I hadn't been there in many years, but I was pleasantly surprised. They always did great fried seafood, and still do. The menu is a little limited if you want something else, but at least they don't give fake lemon juice to go with the fish like they used to back in the bad old days.

Thanks, Katherine. I did actually eat at Cap n Newicks. I went to visit a school friend who was born and raised in Portland. It's a beautiful town, but for me, most of the restaurants leave much to be desired. My friend and her parents like The Pepper Club. I didn't like the look of the menu, so that's how we ended up at the Cap n's. Oh well.