# The SBHonline Community Daily > Restaurants Wine & Food Off The Island >  >  ah the smell of the ocean...

## MIke R

its been too long for me..

Portland Maine today

J's on the harbor for happy hour Oysters and beer 

Fore Street for what will undoubtedly be an amazingly good dinner like it always is

Standard Baking Company for the "best croissants south of Montreal"


details to follow....

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## amyb

Sounds like a plan..........

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## KevinS

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan.  I expect to be in Portland by 4PM.  My plan includes a Croissant from Standard Baking Company, but adds the Miss Portland Diner to tomorrow.

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## MIke R

J's and Fore Street were completely over the top this time around...I swear as good as Fore Street has been...its actually getting better...Kevin took all the pictures....but...at J's we had three dozen Oysters...two dozen raw and then a dozen split in groups of lobster stuffed, florentine, and mornay....hoisted a couple of pints of Harpoon Ale to go along  with it all....I love J's...ol school blue collar harborside bar which always has a wait for tables ......then onto Fore Street.....beet/spinach salad with endive for Wendi and I...Kate had an English pea and bib lettuce with a buttermilk/ricotta dressing ....terrific....everything in Fore Street is cooked in a huge wood fired oven or over a wood grill, so we started  with a couple of orders of local mussels which were out of this world good....Kate had more mussels for her entree....Wendi had an amazing swordfish....Kevin had day boat scallops and I had the rib eye...we ordered a broccoli rabe, and mashed parsnips and onion, and roasted fingerling yukons as sides which we all shared.....the mashed parsnips/onions was  just incredible....for dessert I had a carrot cake bread pudding with sauteed apples and vanilla ice cream...everyone else had these chocolate tarts and such that looked over the top decadent...some port wine....coffee....and then we had to leave or we would have just fallen asleep right there...back to Kevins room for  vanny rhum......

done......dont move me please til the morning

tomorrow morning on to Standard Baking Co. for croissants and coffee

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## amyb

Sounds incredible. You have painted a lovely picture, Mike.

Hello up there in Maine!

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## JEK

Love Fore Street. My son needs another gig at the Penobscot Theater again.

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## MIke R

I'm tellin you John...the joint is actually getting better  if that is all possible considering its coming from a lofty place to begin with...

anyway...just like on St Barts...the girls sleep in and I go get the bakery items....Standard Bakery is as good as it gets for this part of the world


a demi baguette, a raisin nut roll...deux plain croissant, one chocolate croissant, one ham and cheese croissant, one almond croissant...deux coffee

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## amyb

I am liking your picks almost as much as Phil's haul from Petite Colombe.

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## andynap

> I am liking your picks almost as much as Phil's haul from Petite Colombe.




No more Choisy?? A bad baguette? LOL

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## amyb

No Choisy breakfast yet,Andy. We are in Flamands with a very conveniently located Petite Colombe.

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## MIke R

> I am liking your picks almost as much as Phil's haul from Petite Colombe.





we had to go back!!!....Wendi is at a retail buyers show , they don't allow kids in this show :-(  so I am entertaining Lena....and  the first thing we said after we dropped Wendi off  was "back to the bakery!"....where we picked up another almond croissant and a walnut/cranberry scone....we need to get out of here!!!!



 


than we went down to the wharf and got some beautiful Captains Cut Codfish and some day boat scallops and and some clams...seafood risotto tonight

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## KevinS

Pictures aren't uploading for me. I'll post them when I get home. I went to Standard Baking Company for one croissant. Yeah, right. I left with a stuffed box.

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## BBT

> Originally Posted by amyb
> 
> I am liking your picks almost as much as Phil's haul from Petite Colombe.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> we had to go back!!!....Wendi is at a retail buyers show , they don't allow kids in this show :-(  so I am entertaining Lena....and  the first thing we said after we dropped Wendi off  was "back to the bakery!"....where we picked up another almond croissant and a walnut/cranberry scone....we need to get out of here!!!!
> ...




You sure its not the other way around? Lean is entertaining you since no kids (you) are allowed.

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## Grey

Those are my kind of pictures.  Looks delicious!  What was your favorite?

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## Theresa

Everything sounds incredible.  Great company, delicious food!

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## andynap

> No Choisy breakfast yet,Andy. We are in Flamands with a very conveniently located Petite Colombe.




Better yet Saint Hélène Boulangerie is closer.

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## amyb

That's what Rosemond suggested.

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## JEK

> Originally Posted by amyb
> 
> No Choisy breakfast yet,Andy. We are in Flamands with a very conveniently located Petite Colombe.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Better yet Saint *Hélène* Boulangerie is closer.



  Nice use of the acute accent and the grave accent. I sense a copy and paste :)

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## rivertrash

Where is Saint Helene?  I can't locate it on the resto map.

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## MIke R

it is on the road adjacent to Flamands beach  on the right somewhere in the middle,  between IDF and the end of the beach going towards Petit Anse...great little shop

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## JEK

Not a resto, just an infrequently opened market. On the left before you arrive at Mike R's home away from home.

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## rivertrash

Thanks.  I'll look on both sides of the road. LOL

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## andynap

> Originally Posted by Andynap
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by amyb
> ...




Yep- easier that way

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## MIke R

> Thanks.  I'll look on both sides of the road. LOL




on the right as  you are going towards petit anse....left as you are leaving to go up the hill....right past the record shop

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## andynap

It's a stand alone structure but in the middle of homes- have to look for it- past Wishing Well- they are open early in the morning and the croissants and baguettes are outstanding. Don't expect English to be spoken.  :)

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## JEK



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## MIke R

> You sure its not the other way around? Lean is entertaining you since no kids (you) are allowewed




actually Bob I am a complete PITA at buyers shows because I want everything.... and according to Wendi there is about a ten thousand dollar difference  in spending between when both of us go to a show as opposed to when she goes alone....LOL

but you see, I see it as 10K less FF miles....

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## KevinS

The 1st dozen at J's Oyster Bar:
 

The kitchen at Fore St. Restaurant:
 

The wood-oven roasted Mussels from Frenchman's Bay (Bar Harbor).  We shared an order for the table:
 

English Pea and Bibb Lettuce Salad with perfectly cooked Pancetta, Herbed Breadcrumbs, and a House-made Ricotta and Buttermilk dressing:
 

Beet and Spinach Salad with Endive, shaved Fennel and Sun-root, Candied Pecans, and a Lemon Garlic dressing:

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## JEK

That reminds me -- on Friday night the Wall House was featuring *PEI* mussels :)

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## KevinS

Day Boat Scallops from Casco Bay with Braised Parsnips, Thyme, and Butter Pastry:

 

The Standard Baking Company.  Fore Street Restaurant is on the top floor, and Standard Baking company is on the bottom floor:
 

My haul from Standard Baking Company consisted of Oatmeal Raisin cookies, Pain au Chocolate, Seasonal (Apple) Fruit Tart, Chocolate "Cork", Cranberry Walnut Scone, Sticky Bun with Nuts, and an Almond Croissant that was better than any we've found in SBH.  Most of this came home with us.
 

On the way out of town we stopped at Becky's Diner for breakfast.  There's always a line, but it's worth it.  Good, honest, diner food, $20 for breakfast for two.

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## JEK

Been to Becky's as well. The ultimate melting pot of cultures and socioeconomics.

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## KevinS

Becky's is celebrating their 20th year.  They must be doing something right...

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## MIke R

I am glad you said the almond crossiant was better than anything on SBH, because we thought the the same thing too....both are good....this one was better

Beckys rocks....if we didn't pig out on bakery goods we would have been there

the seafood risotto tonight was to die for...and the baguettes came from Standard Bakery...guess where the dessert is from?

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## Theresa

Thanks for sharing photos, Kevin.

The English pea and bibb salad sounds superb.

I am curious about the almond croissant.  Better than any on SBH?

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## MIke R

> I am curious about the almond croissant.  Better than any on SBH?



yep....and the other stuff was close to being as good..this is a pretty incredible bakery

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## KevinS

> Thanks for sharing photos, Kevin.
> 
> The English pea and bibb salad sounds superb.
> 
> I am curious about the almond croissant.  Better than any on SBH?



Kate pronounced the Salad to be one of the Best Ever.  She hopes to duplicate it.  She's also the one who ate the almond croissant.

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## amyb

You had me with the oyster shot!

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## KevinS

The verdict on the Chocolate Cork is "not worth the calories".  I wonder if the verdict would have been different if the Chocolate Cork had been eaten yesterday, instead of saved for dessert tonight.  For now, in our house, we'll forgo any future Chocolate Cork and add extra Almond Croissants (better than SBH!) instead.

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