Restaurant & Ice Cream Guide: Portland + Acadia, Maine

Here’s a roundup of restaurants and ice cream spots I tried in Portland and around Acadia—rated with moon icons (🌕 = 1 star, up to 5 🌕) for your reference! 🦞 Seafood & Restaurants 📍 Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 You can pick your own live lobster—they’re sweet, plump, and have firm, tender meat. Their crab salad sandwich is also delicious—highly recommend this spot! The prices are pretty affordable too, making it great value for money. 📍 Eventide Oyster Co. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 A solid recommendation! If you’re not sure which oysters to order, just go for the 12-oyster sampler—it lets you try a variety. The clam bake was a nice surprise, and it comes with a savory broth that’s absolutely delicious. 📍 Havana 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 This spot was a pleasant surprise! Their “Ceido” (roasted pork with veggies and crispy rice cakes) has flavorful pork, though the portion is a bit small. The seafood paella is excellent—packed with fresh seafood. The ribeye comes with mayo sauce, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes—it’s tasty, but can feel a little heavy toward the end. 📍 Jordan's Restaurant 🌕🌕🌕🌕 Their lobster roll is good—fresh meat with nice flavor. However, the blueberry pancakes were a letdown: they had plenty of blueberries, but tasted almost bland, likely because they were served without syrup. 📍 Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro 🌕🌕🌕🌗 Located in an outlet mall. Their bolognese pasta tastes like tomato beef brisket noodles, but the pasta was overcooked and a bit mushy—overall just average. The fried calamari rings and arancini (fried mushroom-beef rice balls) are more interesting, with unique textures. 📍 Mr. Tuna 🌕🌕🌕 The kale salad is decent. I wasn’t a fan of the Kama Toro Maki—the tuna was too chewy. For handrolls, the spicy scallop one is a winner—definitely try that! The BBQ eel handroll has sweet potato strips and cucumber, which adds texture, but the eel flavor gets overshadowed. 🍦 Ice Cream & Dessert Spots 📍 Blanchard's Creamery Homemade Ice Cream and Coffee Shop 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 So good! It’s on the drive from Portland to Bar Harbor—worth making a stop for. The ube (purple yam) flavor is amazing—it tastes just like the taro ice cream I had as a kid! The blueberry flavor is also great, with fresh berry notes. 📍 Gifford's Famous Ice Cream 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 Another spot on the Portland-to-Bar Harbor route. Highly recommend the blueberry and grape nuts flavors—they’re rich, fragrant, and so satisfying! 📍 Jordan Pond Ice Cream & Fudge 🌕🌕🌕🌕 Don’t miss the peach and blueberry flavors! The blueberry one has visible chunks of blueberry—you get real fruit in every bite, which makes it extra delicious. 📍 The Gelato Fiasco Old Port 🌕🌕🌕 It’s always super crowded. The mango gelato is decent, but the blueberry one is underwhelming—the milk flavor is stronger than the blueberry, making it pretty average overall. #PortlandMaineFood #BarHarborFood #BlueberryIceCream