Review of restaurant: Nosh (Portland, ME)

"Nosh" is a Yiddish word meaning "to snack."  This word does not easily apply to the food served for lunch at the restaurant "Nosh" in at 551 Congress Street in Portland, Maine.

I arrived a little early for a business meeting.  There is no obvious sign advertising the restaurant, but a small painted moniker on the glass door informed me I was in the right place.  After taking a table, it took 4 minutes and several passes by the sole waitress working before I was asked if I wanted something to drink or if I was meeting anyone.  After ordering a diet soda, it took another 5 minutes before I got it.

While I was waiting (for my companion and my soda), I took in the atmosphere and decor of the space.  There were several copper-topped tables inside as well as a few tables outside.  The space was utilized very well, leaving a large open area for people to file to the back to place (presumably) take-out orders or to get to the bar.  The furniture was simple, showing clean lines.  The bench that runs the length of the restaurant, though, seems to be set at a slight angle tilting back.  If you sit with your spine touching the back, you're in a semi-reclined position.

My companion arrived, and we ordered.  He had a BLT with a fried egg, and I had a roast turkey sandwich.  (Guess which of us is trying to lose weight.)  We split an order of sea salt and vinegar fries.

Half an hour after we ordered, our food arrived, delivered by someone other than our waitress.  This was not a busy lunch rush, and I was a little disconcerted about the length of time it took to make two sandwiches and some fries.

The fries were hand-cut, and fried in a nice hot oil that kept the fries from getting too oily -- a definite plus, in my book.  They were served in a small bucket, wrapped in parchment paper -- a nice (if somewhat over-used, lately) presentation.

However, the taste was WAY too much.  The sea salt was applied way too liberally, as was the vinegar.  Instead of eating fried potato wedges, it was more like biting into a sour salt-lick.  Not even the catsup or cheddar dipping sauce could cover up the overwhelming saltiness and tanginess of the fries.

My companion's BLT (or N.B.L.T., as the menu calls it), is made from house cured bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and white bread.   He spent the extra $2 to add a fried egg, bringing the sandwich's cost to $10.  It arrived on a plate with a pickle wedge, so don't expect any sides or anything when ordering here.  I tasted the bacon, which was mildly smoky.  It was cooked through, though still rather limp.  The taste was quite nice, though I prefer crispier bacon.  The egg was cooked to over-easy and had a very runny yolk, which made for quite a messy eating experience for my friend.

My roast turkey sandwich ($10) was a cold sandwich and came with a thin smear of cranberry sauce, some fairly soggy stuffing (or dressing), and havarti cheese on whole grain bread.  The taste was pleasant, and it was nice to have a roast turkey sandwich that was cold (not hot) on a warm early summer day.  I especially appreciated the fact that there was both white and dark meat in the turkey (being partial to dark meat, personally).  The turkey was not dried out, but still nice and moist.  The bread was slightly dry, showing that it had been cut for a while before the food was delivered to the table.

While the waitress did deliver a second diet soda to my table without my asking (or her asking me), the service was otherwise very lackluster.  In truth, it would have been nice for that second glass to be an ice water instead of another soda.  We did not see her otherwise until she came to clear our table and drop off the check.

Other offerings on the sandwich board are considerably less healthy than my food.  It includes a Pig Belly Reuben (roast pork belly, cheddar, carmelized onions, and russian dressing on grilled rye bread for $10.50) and a somewhat disturbing Nosh Burger (blue cheese, cured bacon, fried egg, and roast garlic jam for $8).

The prices on the sandwich board are not unreasonable for the portions you get, though the portions could easily be made a bit smaller with no ill effect.

Nosh also offers tapas-style dining in the late afternoon/evening from 4:00 PM -- 12:45 AM.  Items include tempura bacon and fried cheese curds.  Something tells me this is NOT a place to go to eat if eating healthy or losing weight is your goal.

Overall, I found my sandwich tasty (if a little too big for lunch), but the fries were almost inedible due to the over use of sea salt and vinegar.  Prices were reasonable, but the service was almost non-existant.  The lay-out is nice, and it did not get noisy even as it began to get busy.

RATING:  5.5 out of 10.