Restaurant Review: David's 388, South Portland, ME

Oh, dear.  How the mighty have fallen.  I have eaten at this restaurant twice before -- including a birthday dinner -- and the food was exquisite.  That was NOT the case last night.

David's 388 (388 Cottage Rd., South Portland, Maine) is a surprisingly up-scale restaurant in the space formerly occupied by a breakfast/lunch joint.  It has just finished its expansion into the space that was occupied for decades by a barbershop.

The decor is modern, and the open kitchen lets you watch the staff as they prepare food.   There is also a bar stocked with the usual liquors and a fairly extensive wine list for the size of the space.  There are around 8-10 choices for wine by the glass, ranging from $6.50 - $11.00 each, with many more full bottles available for purchase.  There are also some oddly-shaped trapezoidal booths near the front doors so narrow that one wonders how people can sit and eat comfortably.

However, the first thing that you notice is most likely to be the noise.  It is LOUD in this place.  My companion and I sat at the bar (which had no one sitting within 8-10 feet) and I still could not hear the specials as they were recited to me.  The music was of the Billie Holiday/classic jazz variety, and the volume was turned up so it could be heard over the cacophony of voices.  The sound bounced off of the tin ceilings and walls, with nothing dampening it at all.  I had to speak at an uncomfortably loud volume to carry on what I hoped was a private conversation with my companion.

I ordered the duck pot-stickers as an appetizer, but that's not what arrived a short while later.  Pot-stickers are Chinese dumplings that are steamed and then lightly fried/seared in the pan after the water has evaporated -- they are called pot-stickers because they literally stick to the pot they're cooked in.  These were dumplings, but they were deep-fried and crispy.  There was also no duck in my duck dumplings, though there was a little crispy duck skin in the small wilted-greens salad served with them.  The dressing was slightly tangy and spicy.  It was a tasty dish, but it was not what was on the menu.

My entree order was a ginger and scallion crusted salmon with sesame snow peas and wasabi mashed potatoes.  The presentation was attractive.  However, there was no noticeable ginger in the ginger crusted salmon (which seemed to be just coated in bread crumbs), though there were a few slices of scallion on the top.  The vegetables on the plate consisted of two asparagus spears and two snow peas.  There was a very faint taste of wasabi in the potatoes, which were not really mashed.  They had been boiled, but someone forgot to mash them very well, as there were spoon-sized pieces of unmashed root in them.  What tasted like pure hoisin sauce was drizzled over the plate, but the sweet taste of it overpowered the taste of the other items on the plate, so I avoided it as much as I could after a couple of bites.  Again, the food tasted good -- though not exceptional -- but it was not as described on the menu.

David's 388 serves smaller portions for their "main" dishes on their menu, which is something I applaud. Too often I've gone to a restaurant and ended up with a truly unholy amount of food on the plate that I then feel obligated to eat due to the fact that I'm paying for it, and some things don't "doggie bag" very well.  Oddly, though, the entree was about the same amount of food as the appetizer, though.  The major difference was the fact that the main dish was served on a plate that was much too large for the amount of food.

I was sorely disappointed.  I have had some fantastic food at David's 388 before, but this was not the case last night.  The food was acceptable, but not exceptional.  The server commented that the kitchen staff was fairly new, so perhaps some of the issues can be chalked up to them not being familiar with the items on the menu or how to steam a freaking pot-sticker.  (Not knowing the basic cooking technique kind of sticks in my craw on this one.)  The volume of the ambient noise and the music are a little overpowering.

The cost was not unreasonable.  Two appetizers, two entrees, and a beer cost $57, but this does come across as a bit pricy when you take into account the amount of food you actually get.  I mean, $14 is a lot of money for a 2-oz portion of salmon, 2 asparagus spears, 2 snow peas, and a fist-sized portion of boiled potatoes.

Based SOLELY on last night's experience, I could give David's 388 a rating no higher than 6 out of 10. Prior dinners would rank significantly higher, and I sincerely hope that last night was just an "off" night instead of an indication of how things will now be.