This week Ryan and I found our way to a restaurant we've been eager to visit:
Duckfat, aptly named for their use of duck fat to fry their signature menu item, Hand Cut Belgian Fries.
Unbeknownst to us, 5 pm on Thursday is Happy Hour at Duckfat: large fries are the price of small fries, and we were dying to indulge:
 |
| Belgian fries with truffle ketchup. |
The restaurant is quite small, but I appreciated the cozy atmosphere. We also had a lot of fun playing with the magnet boards they have stretched across the back splash of their counter-style seating.
I ordered a mint-lime homemade soda and it
was fabulous tasting. As soon as my board exams are over this is the
first thing I'm setting out to re-create... I just don't know quite how
yet. Is there such a thing as mint extract? Do I have to secretly
unearth the mint plant at Ryan's house and take it back to Jersey with
me to have enough mint to make soda? Do I need a fancy bubbler
machine? Help!
 |
| Mint-lime soda. In a mason jar! |
Duckfat's menu consists of a few salads, homemade soups, and a variety of panini sandwiches. They pride themselves on using local ingredients, which gets them major points in attracting me back for a return visit. We each ordered a different panini to go along with our duck fries.
 |
| Ratatouille for me- eggplant, red pepper, fresh mozz, sundried tomato. |
 |
| Duck Confit for Ryan- w/ miso mayo, bok choy, and sweet onion. |
The paninis were served on a little wooden cutting board, which added to the rustic touch of the mason jar drinking glasses. I'm a little bit country (well, a lot country if you ask most of my friends) so again, winning points from me all around!
Dinner was delicious and just what we had wanted, and Duckfat is open for lunch as well. I recommend it to anyone visiting Portland or still hanging around Maine before rotations. The fries are a must, and you probably can't go wrong with any of the sandwiches. Do yourself a favor and order one of their homemade sodas instead of a brand name soda you can get anywhere-- you won't regret it. It seemed like they also have popular milkshakes, as several customers came in during dinner to order shakes to go. I would have jumped on that if we'd had room left for dessert. Lastly, be sure to entertain yourself with the magnet boards. Most of the phrases we dreamed up aren't blog appropriate (we had had a long day of studying) but this one just about sums up how I feel about the guy sitting next to me on our dinner date:
There IS such a thing as mint extract! I use it along with spinach, cottage cheese, protein powder, stevia, and some ice cubes (sounds weird, I know) to make my own mint flavored "milkshakes."
ReplyDeleteLove the blog, Meredith! My sister and I will be driving through Maine this fall (Portland, Bar Harbor, and Bangor) - any suggestions on things we need to do / places to eat?