DineInPortland.com: In-depth Restaurant Reviews for Portland, Maine.

On Monday, July 5th, I approached the doors of Bubble Maineia's new store (15 Temple Street, Portland, ME); to my dismay I found them locked.  Confused, I yanked on the door a few times as I re-checked the business hours.  The lights were on, the "open" sign was bright blue and red, and a young kid inside scurried away while on his cell phone.   Perhaps it is unfair to write about Bubble Maineia's new Dessert and Noodle Bar without first tasting the food, but I have no choice since I could not get in.

Boda Kitchen Bar (645 Congress Street, Portland, ME) is located on the corner of State and Congress. It opened three months ago as a "Kitchen - Bar" concept similar to Nosh: small plates, good food, and plenty of drink choices.  The first time I ate there was one week ago Saturday, and the food was impressive enough to get me through the door the next night.  Perhaps my weakness for "tapas" style restaurants is to blame, but Boda is another gem in the Old Port.

Hugo's Restaurant (located at 88 Middle Street, Portland, ME) is often seen as a special occasion restaurant nestled just outside of the Old Port center.  Maine Restaurant Week is an opportunity for experiencing their culinary talent without that special reason;  although their Restaurant Week menu is available for the entire winter season and called "Cabin Fever".

Bar Lola (located at 100 Congress St. - Munjoy Hill) jumped to one of my favorite restaurants based on my Maine Restaurant Week visit.   My first, and only, experience with Bar Lola  several months ago left me largely disappointed.  I am happy to say that the previous time had to have been a fluke, because Bar Lola performed exquisitely last night.

Nosh Kitchen Bar (located at 551 Congress Street, Portland, Maine) is - hands down - one of the best new restaurants to open in Portland. The blogosphere has been raving about Nosh for quite a while; perhaps my rant will have its place. In the past ten days I have been to Nosh three times; ironically my first impression was that I would not be coming back.