Boda — Restaurant in Portland

We went to Boda for a late-night dinner (after 10 PM), selecting the restaurant because of the variety of options, specifically vegetarian and vegan options. We put our names on the list and waited upwards of 40 minutes before our table was called. Our server, Max, wasted no time informing us that a number of the dishes were not vegetarian because of the fish sauce or oyster sauce used in their preparation, nor was it possible to make these dishes without the sauces, and didn’t we know they have a sister restaurant that’s all vegetarian? He claimed that Boda had limited vegetarian options because the owners did not want to cannibalise sales. This even though the Green Elephant had been closed for two hours.

As the others continued ordering, it came out that the alternative to the oyster sauce for one of the dishes he said could be made wholly vegan was a mushroom sauce, but I’m allergic to mushrooms, so I asked if it could be made with neither sauce. It couldn’t. Max was so cavalier in his dismissal of our requests to make the menu accommodating to a vegetarian with mushroom allergies - he did not suggest any alternatives other than a tofu skewer, which is hardly a meal. I ended up eating 1.5 Thai sticky rice balls...aka rice with garlic and scallions, because apparently the “side of vegetables” is actually a side of bok choy, and when I asked if they could add some vegetables to that, he didn’t even ask the kitchen or even PRETEND to ask the kitchen, he just dismissed it out of hand. Also, don’t bill it as a side of “vegetables” and charge $6 for it when it’s really ONE LEAFY GREEN. The apple salad my spouse ordered took them over a half hour to bring out, and was mostly pieces of Granny Smith apple and tossed with two shrimps served on a piece of lettuce. There were plenty of vegetables in the Kee Mao noodles ordered by others at the table, so would it have killed them to steam a few of those for me? We had to ask Max several times to bring dishes out (the salad came out 15 minutes after everything else). Ultimately, I walked out disappointed and also hungrier than when...

Boda! On a weekend trip up to Maine we stumbled upon this place…. Well we originally had added our name to a wait list at a highly reviewed restaurant across the street and told we had an hour plus wait… and what do you do while you wait.. well you sit at the bar and start enjoying your evening with drinks however, this place didn’t have a bar to sit at.. lost opportunity and missed out on extra $… Nonetheless, we venture across the street to Boda and opt to sit at the bar… because that was the whole point not to wait to be seated at yet another restaurant… we order 2 apps and 2 drinks while we wait… and OMG both apps were good but the mussels! We’re exceptional and the bartender Max gave us a tip on how he prefers to eat them… take the time to remove them all from their shell add the side of sticky rice it comes with to the pot and well, enjoy! It was soo good! We talked about just sitting there and continuing to enjoy the food but because it was our last night we decided to take advantage of being in Portland and keep our next reservation.

We left when the other restaurant said our table was ready, put our hoods and hats on walked in through the rain across the street and was seated.. we were underwhelmed by the menu and the options… before we ordered anything put our coats back on said thank you and walked back to Boda for a proper dinner!

Back at Boda we were welcomed back and seated within 10mins..We tried the wings (another great app) i had more mussels and my BF tired a crab noodle dish which he said was really good as well!

Such a great find for us and...

Boda was getting packed for dinner by 6pm on Friday night. When we left around 7:30pm, a line of 10 people were out the door! We arrived just in time to snag a nice window seat for two. Because the decor is rustic, expect to sit at big square wooden tables & chairs. I noted some of the tables had back-less benches for seating (ouch!).

Cocktails were fresh, good & strong. We started with pork belly skewers & crispy calamari tapas. The calamari was lightly breaded & tossed in a sweet chili sauce – pretty standard, but yummy! But the pork skewers were too fatty & chewy for my taste. For dinner, my friend had THE MOST DELICIOUS beef panang dish – a hearty portion of tender strips of beef, marinated in traditional Thai flavors like sweet coconut milk, basil, onions, peppers, lime. It was absolutely wonderful, and we will go back just to each order that! For my dinner, I ordered the crispy duck in sweet honey sauce. The duck was crispy & good, served with rice, sweet soy sauce & a little steamed green veg – but the meal couldn’t help but lack flavor compared with the beef penang!

The staff was very friendly & attentive enough, but as the night got busy, we saw less & less of our server. I had a hard time getting his attention for a glass of wine. They may be slightly understaffed. Our food was $18 – $20 per entrée & $7-$9 for appetizers or tapas. The place could not be more rustic, natural, minimal & fresh inside – just want Portland needed. We will definitely return to try...