Portland help please? Fore St. vs. Bandol
We're bringing our diesel vw up to the New England guru this weekend for some TLC. He lives outside of Portland, so we thought we would combine the trip with the opportunity to visit one of your wonderful restaurants.
Two years ago we had a dinner at Fore Street. Oh, those mussels. yum. We can't recall anything else we had, but those mussels are indelibly etched in our memories.
Since then, I've read so much about other restaurants in the area. I'd really like to try Bandol, but I fear that my husband would not enjoy it as much as a return trip to Fore Street. He tends to prefer modern American to classic French dinners.
So our quandary is whether to go back to Fore Street or try Bandol. Or is there someplace else we should be considering?
Is Fore St open for lunch?
debtslave
Feb 23, 2006 08:36AM
I don't know. I went to Bandol the year it opened -- a night after going to Fore Street, which was enjoyable beyond description (how I loved those sardines) -- and was blown away; my dining companion (also a big dining hound) and I thought it was the best meal we could remember. Maybe we just were not expecting to have something that could even reach the wonderful meal we had just had at Fore St; expectations can play tricks here.
Don't know how things stand nowadays.
My recommendation: unless it's a last meal/last chance situation, if you've been one place but not the other, it's more important to try the other than to try to recreate or reaffirm the first experience. You will then have an opportunity to judge which of the two experience merits revisiting next.
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Karl,
Thank you for the response. I tend to agree with you - it is almost always better to try new places than to go back to the same spots.
But the decision between Fore St. and Bandol might be moot. I spoke with Bandol this morning after posting, and learned that they are closing this weekend to move to another location - reopening later this spring.
Assuming we go someplace other than Fore St., what other places in Portland have blown you away?
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Well, there is the grand dame that started the Portland restaurant scene as such, Street & Co.; it's all about fish and seafood, and the key is to make sure you sit in the room that does not have the open kitchen.
Many here have lauded 555 and Hugo's, and I would trust those judgments, but I haven't been there personally.
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While the decision may be moot, its important to point out that Bandol is a very, very different dining experience compared with Fore Street - in some respects they are opposite, but for the fact that both serve food and have staffs that are (largely) beyond reproach.
Bandol is best suited to those people who would appreciate an authentic French dining experience. If you are conversant with culinary lingo and have an experienced pallette, by all means go to Bandol - you will not be disapointed. But if you are dining with someone who might be less than thrilled with a course option between poached quail eggs or escargo, then...Bandol might not be your best choice for the evening. While Bandol is a great place for a remarkable dining experience, I would suggest that Fore Street (or Hugo's, or Street & Company, Mims, the Old Port Sea Grill) are all more "accessible" to diners who want great food without pulling out a translation guide...
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A friend who lives in that area and eats out all the time and is a fabulous cook tells me that Hugo's is the best place there. I know that Hugo's also owns a more casual place called duckfat but know little about it.
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I've been to 555 and Fore St. and Cinque Terra (not mentioned, but also very good).
I'd eat at any one of them again. All three feature local products and organic produce.
http://www.forestreet.biz/
http://www.cinqueterremaine.com/
http://fivefifty-five.com/
IMO you can't go wrong at any of these, I think Bandol is a bit pricey, but then again I haven't been.
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