Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [22]
In some restaurants, this arrangement might not be so appealing, but at Nunan’s Lobster Hut—which really is a hut—the sanitary accommodations are exactly right because this place is designed for serious lobster eating. Tables have easy-wipe surfaces with ribs around the edge to keep the inevitable mess from falling to the floor. The floor is painted battleship gray, which makes it easy to swab at the end of the day. Overhead lights are unadorned tubes. A touch of romance is provided in the form of a utility candle stuck in a thick cork on every table.
Lobsters are brought to tables on pizza pans, accompanied by bags of potato chips and store-bought rolls. Coffee is served in mugs. Water comes in paper cups. Bring your own wine or beer.
There are no frills at Nunan’s to distract you from the perfection of the lobster (except maybe the view, when the panels on the sides of the dining room are raised and reveal a pleasant vista of Cape Porpoise marshlands). Each lobster is steamed to order in a couple inches of salty water for exactly twenty minutes, emerging with silky tender claw meat, its knuckles and tail succulent and chewy.
The Nunan family have been lobstering for three generations, so by now they have the process of enjoying their catch down to its essence. After you’ve polished off the lobster, there are homemade brownies or a slice of pie, the recipes for which have been perfected over the last thirty years. Blueberry and apple are memorable, their subtly sweetened fruits encased in sugar-dusted crusts.
The Porthole
20 Custom House Wharf
207–780–6533
Portland, ME
BLD | $$
Nearly fifteen years ago, Portland’s Elizabeth Peavy, author of Maine and Me and Outta My Way and regular columnist for www.thebollard.com, described The Porthole as “the real thing, untouched by trends.” It has since changed hands and there is evidence of modern foodways on the menu, including breakfast sandwiches on focaccia and wrapped in tortillas, but for an excellent and authentic home-cooked breakfast on the waterfront, this old fisherman’s bar (since 1929) is still the real deal.
Corned beef hash has a soft, almost creamy consistency with only a few crusty edges, rich with the flavor of garlic and onions blended into the beef along with tender nuggets of potato. Atop it are a couple of lovely poached eggs and bread of choice (I chose sourdough). Jane had blueberry pancakes, which were great (although served without maple syrup: BYOMS).
We were smitten by the place itself with its creaky floors and seafoam green walls decorated with old posters and just the right amount of nautical bric-a-brac. It was a cold morning, but the deck outside, overlooking the water along Custom House Wharf, looked mighty inviting. Among available libations are ales brewed just yards away.
Red’s Eats
Water and Main Sts.
207–882–6128
Wiscasset, ME
LD | $$
Red’s opened in Boothbay in 1938, moved to the north end of Wiscasset in 1954, and has since become a summertime legend. Many people believe that this shack serves the best lobster roll anywhere: meat from a one-pound lobster is extracted in great hunks and piled into a toasted split-top bun that is accompanied by a cup of drawn butter or, if you wish, mayonnaise to garnish it. It is lobster-eater’s nirvana.
“Look how beautiful!” says the waitress when she presents ours through the window on its picnic tray. Her enthusiasm is that of someone who has never seen one of these amazing sandwiches ever before. In fact, she is dishing out dozens, probably hundreds on this pleasant summer day. Crowds of people line up for lobster rolls at Red’s so that the wait just to get to the window can be up to an hour.
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