Restaurant Review: Abel Blood’s, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are back in Maine…  and after a few days we decide to go with out friends and eat out, they choose a well known local place called “Abel Blood’s”  I suppose the most fitting way to introduce this place would be to simply tell you what they told us per the front of their menu:

” In 1811 Abel Blood, Dover-Foxcroft’s first pioneer, took off for reasons unknown to this day.

Was Blood a scoundrel who was run out of town?

We will never know, but one thing is certain, he was an entrepreneur.

Whilst he was here Blood felled the first trees, grew the first crops, built the first grist mill and dam and fired the first bricks.

It’s easy to imagine that if he had stuck around that Blood  would have started his own pub, a comfy place to kick back with friends and enjoy a brew and some grub after a hards day’s work.

Since he never got around to it, we decided to do it or him, and you. After all, some things never change!”

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

We find a table in one of the nooks by the window… it’s midday and with the heat of high summer but inside is cool and dark… the kind of dark that is a the bane of photographers who abhor using  the Flash. I’ll warn you in advance that some of the photos came out better than others… photographing food quickly in less than optimum conditions is hard then hungry people want their plates back so that they can start eating.  How terribly  unreasonable of them!

No, I take that back.. because in truth they are actually very accommodating  and will wait patiently whilst a mad foodie waves her camera over their food… I just try and not let it all take too long so that their patience doesn’t wear thin.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Usually I keep a note of the names of the dishes ordered… this time I failed to sort out what was what… I’ll just show you the photos and maybe you can guess what it was LOL.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The kids had Chicken Tenders…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

I had Nachos Grandes…

(photo © kiwidutch)

At the back of the restaurant hungs a magnificent Quilt.. it’s a handmade effort by several local ladies and they have even taken old photos of well known antique boats from the nearby Sebec Lake, transfered the images onto fabric and incorporated them into the quilt. Their 4-5 months of work will be raffled off for charity. Of course I buy some tickets.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © Kiwidutch)

Our hosts like this restaurant a lot, and enjoyed their meals. I thought that our meals were nice enough but I found that  for instance in my Nachos, that everything was a bit dry and bare by the time I got towards the end of the plate.

I would have happily paid for a far meatier meat sauce too. Hubby also said ” nice enough, good food, but nothing particularly outstanding”  …maybe the extensive cooking that we do at home has spoilt us.

That said, no one hated their meal, our fussy kids were happy, everyone left full and staff were friendly.

If it’s Beer you are after in this area then I think it would be rather safe to assume that this is the establishment in the region to come to to find a beer that suits your fancy. To say that the variety of Beers on offer is extensive, is an understatement. A definite  stop for anyone who likes to sample drop of the brown stuff…  Note that in the following photo there aren’t just one or two taps at the bar…

(photo © kiwidutch)

Hubby quickly ascertains that the staff  do actually know their stuff when it come to beer, and show  competence in their knowledge of the  different styles and character of  European beers, which impresses him quite a lot.

A quick look at the Beer List  tells me that ” Belgian Styles, Ale, Lager, Stout/Porter, Pilsner, Dark, Wheat, Non alcoholic  as well as Domestic and Light Beers” are all on offer here… so if you are a connaisseur  of the  Pint, then Abel Blood’s will definitely  be able to make your meal memorable.

My rating would be 6 out of 10 for the food and 9 out of 10 for beer selection and knowledge.

Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, USA.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We have been doing some errands in the small town of Dover-Foxcroft… I take my camera and take some photos while we walk. The town used to be ” the town of Dover” on the south side and the separate ” town of Foxcroft” on the north side and were separated by the Piscataquis River.

According to local history, Dover focused on industries using the Piscataquis River : timber, clothing, leather goods and iron trades resulting in it becoming the commercial and industrial center of the region,whilst Foxcroft focused on agricultural interests, and was where most of the workers and farmer resided.

For many years of the menfolk of the two towns opposed any kind of merger, as their respective political, business and financial interests differed but the ladies of both communities realised that bringing the two towns together would be very beneficial to all parties on a very practical level.

However women didn’t have the right to vote so for many years and so the politics of the two towns rambled on for many years until finally the women obtained the vote and were instrumental in swaying the balance that lead to the two towns being merged in 1922.

With the merger the newly named “Dover-Foxcroft” to become the largest town in Piscataquis County and also the county seat. One of the Dover companies was AW Gillman & Company Grist Mill & Feed Store, situated on the river…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

It’s a lovely town to walk around and I enjoy looking at an architectural style of building and open space that are very different to what I usually see at home.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Thompson Free Library…

(photo © kiwidutch)

The Post Office…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Restaurant Review: The Nor’easter in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine.

(photo © kiwidutch)

The kids are having fun at the lake with my friends and their family, we have some errands to run in town and so Hubby and I take the chance to walk a bit though the lovely town of Dover-Foxcroft and feeling peckish we stop at a restaurant called the “Nor’easter”.

The staff are friendly and our waitress didn’t mind in the least to explain the many items on the menu that we are unfamiliar with. Intrigued by our non-American accents, she inquired as to where we are from and tells us that some other Dutch people passed though here about a month ago, but that they don’t often get visitors from outside of the USA and she is delighted that we chose their restaurant to come to for a meal in town.

The menu is extensive and it takes us a while to work out what we fancy trying…

In the end I go for the Chicken Tenders, served with mashed potato and gravy, and Hubby opts for Lobster Roll served with fries and coleslaw.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

While we wait for our orders to arrive, we look at some wonderful old photographs of the town on the walls and a black and white map of the local Lake Sebek . The map has a long numbered list of all the “Camps” and the owners names in a key along the sides. It ‘s not too current but I notice that a lot of surnames repeat, sometimes on adjoining lots, sometimes in specific parts of the lake, and this tells me that many families have a deep history with the area that goes back not just one generation but many, and that this a place that they come to, and grow up with, as children, as adults and the tradition of “coming to Camp” is a very special one.

Clearly our delight in being invited here is shared with all of these people.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The glass covering the photos mean that getting a good shot of them is more difficult than I thought… oh well, so is it sometimes, you can’t always get the perfect shot. I then focus the camera on the beer that DH orders… not a really Dark Beer as he prefers but nice enough and he enjoys it with his meal.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Our meals taste great and we are seduced  by the dessert menu… Hubby thinks that the Chocolate Cream Pie looks good but I have the idea that the Icecream Pie has my name on it. The desserts arrive.. Hubby’s is buried under a lavish amount of whipped cream, not my cup of tea, but exactly as he likes it.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

I adore both the ice cream filling and pie crust is a whole new flavour to me, so I ask the waitress and she tells me that it is their own restaurant recipe and tells me all about “graham crackers” . at first I have to supress a laugh… “cracker” ? they are salty things that you put cheese onto, right? No, apparently Graham Crackers are sweet and a standard favourite in American sweet pie or cheesecake crusts.

I remark to Hubby that we will certainly be making sure that some Graham Crackers are packed into our suitcase so that I can try and attempt to make a sweet pie crust like this in The Netherlands.

We are delighted with our food, the service and the luxury of a quiet lunch together. I don’t think that the length of our trip will allow us to return to the restaurant again, but if we end up coming back in a few years time then it’s on my list for a return visit for sure. Even though I rate fairly severely and award higher grades only in truly exceptional cases, I wouldn’t hesitate to Rate this Restaurant a well earned 8 out of 10.

(photo © kiwidutch)