"Portland (Maine) is the new Portland (Oregon): Abundance of great chefs, restaurants, and local foodies? Check, check, and check. Want examples? Visit Five Fifty-Five, Hugo's, and Fore Street to start."
I'm a recent transplant from Washington DC to Portland, Maine, and as much as I love Portland, Maine, and New England in general...this is where I draw the line. The last vestige of the infamous yankee provincialism takes a triumphant stand when it comes to their self aggrandizement about their stinking "food scene", what a laugh.
New England cuisine, from the best I can gather, is little more than slug stew and cold cut subs.
I don't miss the traffic, I don't miss the high cost of living, I don't miss the crime, but DAYUM I miss the food. For craps'sake, in 5 years I have yet to find a Chinese restaurant that even qualifies as edible, much less tasty. I went to one recently, asked for Cantonese Beef Chow Mein with black beans and Chinese broccoli, and what I got was room temperature spaghetti with gristly mystery meat and grey slime. I ate 2 bites, burst into tears and fled.
Has anyone in Portland ever even eaten real Bar-B-Que? That dump over on the mud flats, you know the one, with the waist high weeds in the parking lot? It needs to be declared a bio-hazard site and its cook sent to a work camp in the east. Barf.
In DC, I had a dozen different ethnic cuisines within walking distance of my overpriced house... Now THAT'S a Food town. Portland cooks need to quit patting themselves on their collective hunched backs, get out of Dodge and eat some Real Food.
Anon, I think you missed the point of the post. It wasn't a Mainer saying that's there's a great food scene it was a national food site and the point of the post by the Original Portland blogger was not to highlight that national recognition but to point out that someone in Portland Oregon had taken issue with it. No one would disagree with you about the lack of ethnic diversity or quality chinese food in the area. However, if you think that the high points of Portland dining is "slug stew and cold cut subs" then you're not eating at the right places.
Hey there! Thanks for the link to Blogtown! The post I put up was all in good fun, meant to inspire a more energetic regional food rivalry. I, in fact, no nothing of the "original" Portland food scene, but I would love to learn. At this point, I'm doing my damnedest to get airfare to Maine. I'd be very interested in doing some kind of Portland food writer exchange program. We'll see how it goes. But in the meantime, I'll raise your $5/pound lobster with fresh caught pacific King salmon.
As someone who lived in D.C. from 1996-2006, I guess I should reply to the earlier comment. Certainly there is more diversity there, especially if you go into the suburbs. But D.C. proper as a "food town" is a bit of a stretch. And of course you are comparing a area of a few million to about 100,000.
5 comments:
Don't forget Local 188, Ciaola's, Ribolata's, and so many other great places to eat.
Portland rocks when it comes to great food.
I'm a recent transplant from Washington DC to Portland, Maine, and as much as I love Portland, Maine, and New England in general...this is where I draw the line. The last vestige of the infamous yankee provincialism takes a triumphant stand when it comes to their self aggrandizement about their stinking "food scene", what a laugh.
New England cuisine, from the best I can gather, is little more than slug stew and cold cut subs.
I don't miss the traffic, I don't miss the high cost of living, I don't miss the crime, but DAYUM I miss the food. For craps'sake, in 5 years I have yet to find a Chinese restaurant that even qualifies as edible, much less tasty. I went to one recently, asked for Cantonese Beef Chow Mein with black beans and Chinese broccoli, and what I got was room temperature spaghetti with gristly mystery meat and grey slime. I ate 2 bites, burst into tears and fled.
Has anyone in Portland ever even eaten real Bar-B-Que? That dump over on the mud flats, you know the one, with the waist high weeds in the parking lot? It needs to be declared a bio-hazard site and its cook sent to a work camp in the east. Barf.
In DC, I had a dozen different ethnic cuisines within walking distance of my overpriced house... Now THAT'S a Food town. Portland cooks need to quit patting themselves on their collective hunched backs, get out of Dodge and eat some Real Food.
Anon, I think you missed the point of the post. It wasn't a Mainer saying that's there's a great food scene it was a national food site and the point of the post by the Original Portland blogger was not to highlight that national recognition but to point out that someone in Portland Oregon had taken issue with it. No one would disagree with you about the lack of ethnic diversity or quality chinese food in the area. However, if you think that the high points of Portland dining is "slug stew and cold cut subs" then you're not eating at the right places.
Hey there! Thanks for the link to Blogtown! The post I put up was all in good fun, meant to inspire a more energetic regional food rivalry. I, in fact, no nothing of the "original" Portland food scene, but I would love to learn. At this point, I'm doing my damnedest to get airfare to Maine. I'd be very interested in doing some kind of Portland food writer exchange program. We'll see how it goes. But in the meantime, I'll raise your $5/pound lobster with fresh caught pacific King salmon.
As someone who lived in D.C. from 1996-2006, I guess I should reply to the earlier comment. Certainly there is more diversity there, especially if you go into the suburbs. But D.C. proper as a "food town" is a bit of a stretch. And of course you are comparing a area of a few million to about 100,000.
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