It’s about time that Eve’s, the dining room at the Portland Harbor Hotel, has joined the ranks of hotel and independent restaurants to contribute substantively to our dining scene.  Earlier this week I joined a small group put together by the hotel’s marketing team, Gillian and Jim Britt, for a tasting of the new menu that has debuted with some very fine dishes from chef Tim Labonte.

The dining room at Eve’s at the Garden

In the past, I’ve been critical of Eve’s, the dining room and the hotel itself.  But to stay competitive all lodging and dining operations must be top drawer in how they project themselves.  And Eve’s is stepping into the 21st century meaningfully.

As soon as I entered the dining room, I was struck by the buzz of diners and people at the bar enjoying a very popular happy hour.  I don’t remember the room being so lively and inviting, its soft light washing the walls creamily with its traditional colors.  It’s also a very comfortable room, with big tables well-spaced and the view out to the garden is as good as ever.  And a great convenience for the busy, hard-to-park Old Port is the amenity of using the hotel’s valet service in their underground garage.

Calamari

I’m told that there will be some upgrades to the dining room as well as the rooms at the hotel, a clean sweep indeed.

We didn’t have a traditional dinner but rather a taste of the menu. Six of us at table shared multi courses sent out by the dining room and passed around the table.

Duck breast carpaccio

There was a splendid seared tuna ringed with a pumpkin-seed crust.  The calamari was another fine starter with chorizo, ginger and a barrel aged chili sauce.  This is great calamari compared to the lackluster platters that dapple restaurant tables around town.

Seared tuna; pork belly and beet salad

A dazzling plate of roasted beets was highlighted with pistachio-nut crust; duck-breast carpaccio and a lively rendition of pork belly were other fine dishes.

Since I had to leave early for another event I missed these dishes:   Curried chicken with cilantro dumplings, braised lamb shank and pork tenderloin with bacon polenta—all reason enough to return here for dinner soon.