Category Archives: Booze

What I prefer to drink.

Boda “Very Thai” Kitchen + Bar

Boda, located on Congress Street, is the place I choose more than any other when I can’t face the prospect of my own cooking. The reasons for this go-to designation are plentiful: fantastic unpretentious food, some of the best staff on the planet, a large diverse menu that is divided equally between small plates and traditional larger offerings, and they even have parking. Even better, they are everyday-affordable and make my favorite mai tai!

While Boda offers plenty of delicious dishes large enough to share, when I dine there I almost always focus on the Thai street food that they serve tapas style. You really can’t go wrong ordering anything cooked on a stick whether it’s: shrimp, pork belly, shitakes, tofu, beef or Portobello. They are all served with yummy dipping sauces, and so good that I have a hard time not ordering them all! I love everything they make, but my absolute favorites have to be the: fried quail eggs served in a cast iron skillet (Savory Good!!), crispy fried squid (sweet and crunchy),fried sticky rice (crunchy carb joy!). And the mai tai (of course!).

Quail Eggs

Quail Eggs

Rice Ball

Rice Ball

Crispy Squid

Crispy Squid

Mai Tai

Mai Tai

Bao Boa, Bam!

Bao Bao, is award winning chef Cara Stadler’s entry into Portland’s restaurant scene. A lot has been written about Chef Stadler’s first restaurant Tao Yuan, and I am sure the accolades will continue to follow for this latest venture. The restaurant is nicely decorated and very well laid out, offering substantially more personal space than most of Portland’s newer dining options. While the prices are so reasonably, it’s hard not to stop in daily.

We have dined here several times and loved it. The purpose our latest visit was to try their highly anticipated brunch menu. We began with the excellent scorpion bowl, a very tasty drink. I can’t imagine a more festive/fun cocktail to enjoy with a meal. This happiness factor was compounded when we saw the wonderful brunch additions to the menu. Limiting our selection proved difficult and we ended up ordering quite a feast: shrimp soup dumplings, pork belly fun roll(insanely good), steamed pork bun,Asian slaw, and pan fried pork dumplings. As you will see from the photos that follow each dish was beautifully presented. I am happy to confirm that every plate tasted even better than it looked. The soup dumplings were so rich, with the wrapper having an unparalleled creamy texture. The burst of broth added a bright burst of flavor to the happy bites. The pork belly fun roll may be the most accurately named dish in Portland. It consisted of a rice/tapioca wrapping filled with the most tender flavorful slice of pork belly that I have had in recent memory. It was a welcome change to the ever present crispy fried offering that has become so commonplace. Similar for the steamed pork bun, it’s beautiful presentation made it so much more satisfying than other versions. The salad as I have mentioned was not only satisfying but served as a nice break between rounds of beautiful dumplings and buns.

Scorpion Bowl

Scorpion Bowl

Pork Belly Fun Roll

Pork Belly Fun Roll

Asian Slaw

Asian Slaw

Shrimp Soup Dumplings

Shrimp Soup Dumplings

Fried Pork Dumplings

Fried Pork Dumplings

steamed Pork Bun

steamed Pork Bun

Pocket Wedding

Do you love getting dressed up in your finest and dancing the night away? Have you ever thought that going to a wedding would be so much more fun, if you didn’t have to sit through a long ceremony,deal with unpleasant relatives, or buy an expensive gift? Then you’re sure to love Pocket Wedding!

The crew behind Pocket Brunch have prepared an evening to remember filled with some of the best food, drink, and music available. So put on your dancing shoes and purchase your tickets to this May 2nd event. If you aren’t lucky enough to get tickets, you can catch their follow up act at Flanagan’s Table for Mother’s Day Brunch. Get them while you can!

POCKET-WEDDING-PROMO-2-2 (3)

Sur Lie – Tip Top Tapas

Sur Lie is a very good new restaurant specializing in tapas. Addressing the elephant in the room, despite serving small plates, this restaurant is not trying to compete with the award winning Central Provisions. The owners recognize that Chef Chris Gould is making some of the best food in the country and that is rarified territory. What they have built is a welcoming spot to enjoy delicious food and drink with friends.

Sticking to the theme of a fun night out,the Missus and I sampled liberally from the drink menu cocktails:Midnight Manhattan, Nector of the Bogs, Made Man, and Blood Eagle. We thoroughly enjoyed them all, but the Midnight Manhattan was my stand out favorite. The Punt e Mes vermouth they use makes it delightfully bitter. It made me Happy, happy.

Standout dishes were the scallops with white sweet potato,a wonderful concoction involving plantains and chorizo, and delightful cream of white beans with pork belly. In the first dish I loved the addition of pickled vegetables. They added a delicious crunch to the savory plate. While the chorizo with plantain was a heavenly blend of salty/sweet/tangy goodness. The bean soup was comforting and flavorful, the pork belly managed the rare feat of being both crispy and tender.

Despite my sworn enmity to anything brulee, I could not resist trying the Maine Grain oatmeal pudding with brulee sugar and cranberries for dessert. This dish is based on a recipe the chef’s grandmother made him as a child and is reminiscent of warm rice pudding with a delicate candy top. Service was very,very good almost telepathic and everyone was very warm and welcoming.

Maine Oatmeal Pudding

Maine Oatmeal Pudding


Scallops with white sweet potato

Scallops with white sweet potato


Pork Belly and White beans

Pork Belly and White beans