Duckfat Frites Shack — Restaurant in Portland

As a group of 3 we road tripped from Halifax to Boston to watch the Jays play against the Sox. Duck Fat was #1 on our list for food on the way out. We traveled out of our way to Portland to order at the Frites Shack since it was close to a local brewery but we ended up extremely disappointed with our decision.

We all ordered the poutine with duck confit and found it had barely any gravy and literally had to dig through it to find the few tiny cheese curds mixed throughout. The consensus was that it was one of the worst poutines we have ever had. We expected the fries to be cooked in duck fat as well but they seemed plain like the kind you get at a minor hockey arena. It quite simply sucked; and for nearly $25 Canadian per poutine we expected much more.

The staff also forgot to give me a buzzer for our order so when I went to collect our food they accused me of never having ordered. I had to show the online receipt from my credit card because the guy I literally just ordered from never remembered me. Maybe we hyped it up too much or perhaps the poutine is that much better in Canada, but either way it was a disappointing experience. Also, the beer next door was not...

Ordered online for pickup, the website warns that orders will not be made until you go to pick up and that it can be a 10 minute wait. We got the poutine with added pork belly and paired it with a coffee milkshake. The milkshake was on par with the milkshake we have had at the Duckfat restaurant. It was thick and not too sweet and a delicious treat in 30 degree weather. There is outside seating: picnic tables in a plastic hut with propane heaters (which we chose) and lounge chairs by a fire pit. As for the poutine, it too was delicious on a cold winter's day. As we had ordered ahead, the gravy was in a separate container from the fries and toppings. The fries by themselves were good, but our recommendation is to pour the gravy, toss the fries around and let them sit for a few minutes to start soaking up the gravy and let the cheese curds start to melt. Overall we had a fun and tasty experience outside and look forward to...

It's fine. We're fine. Everything is fine out here.

I have been hearing about Duckfat for 5+ years now, ever since I was hired by a company in MA and everyone there seemed to know about this place. For years, I have had 2 places on the "must do" list for Portland, and this was 1 of them. And at the end of the day, this is all fine. It's good.

That said, the ultra high expectations and 5-year wait proved to be too much of a reach to meet them. At the end of the day, the fries were good, solidly crispy, and maybe a tad salty but we crushed them. The poutine was fine, but I cannot say it was out of this world. It was fine, solid 4 of 5. And the lobster roll was...I don't know, just there. It wasn't a roll so much as a patty. It was fine.

I am probably being unfair but it was good, not amazing. Solid 4 of 5 and while I would go back, I am not going to jump up & down and say you gotta do this. But sure, if you're...