5 Tips for 48 Hours in Portland, ME
I have dozens of friends who have been preaching the most underrated food city in New England is Portland, Maine. With only 48 hours, and some help from Visit Portland, here are some suggestions.
Get Lobster
It is not cliché. Yes, I have said a lot about lobster, including freshness and quality being more important than location. That being said, Maine does go out of their way to keep standards high. They understand it is a marketing tool and they have to deliver every time.
Featured: Lobster Roll at BluFin at the Portland Harbor Hotel & Lobster Taco at SeaGlass at Inn by the Sea.
Look To Where Friends and Locals Go
I have the luxury of being friends with many foodies who always are vocal about their suggestions. Everyone has different tastes so if you know someone is similar to yours, ask them, or see where they have gone. Two great suggestions I received from Lisa from the PorkandPintsBoston Instagram Blog.
Featured: Duck Fat Poutine with a Duck Egg at Duck Fat & Bone Marrow Toast at Central Provisions
DRINK!
From every kind of adult beverage to a surprising amount of Mocktails, Portland has a heavy focus on beverages, both making and serving them. And if the bar scene is not your forte, you can check out a tea tasting at Soakology or a tour of the facilities at Coffee by Design where source, roast and sometimes flavor everything on site to order.
Do Not Miss Out on the View
Even though my visit was in a very chilly November, the views were still stunning. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Ask What is Sourced and Made Locally
Most businesses source products as local as they can for their customers, and this can lead to learning about local tours you can take. Obviously I loved the Black Dinah Chocolate tours, but between breweries and distilleries and Farms you can really go behind the food.
MY FAVORITE BITE
Everything was excellent and I would be hard pressed to think of anything that came up short in the flavor department. I did have the luxury of a lot of advance information, and I think this helped make this such a quality trip.
But my favorite bite was the Burnt Ends Brisket from Terlingua BBQ!
Just being in Portland I received dozens of suggestions while I was there, and the drive, without traffic was less than 2 hours, which makes it an easy city to plan a day trip to if you get an early start.
