“Build it and they will come” is the loose credo of real estate development, which panned out to be so with Portland developer Jonathan Culley’s opening several months ago of the new multi-family high rise (a whopping 4 stories), at the far-flung residences at 89 Anderson St. in East Bayside. At the base of the building, now nearly fully rented, is another part of the formula, Baharat, an axiomatically hip, cool, trendy restaurant serving Middle Eastern food, which the city’s millennials are already lapping up after only 5 days in operation.
The Baharat main event at the bar
Well, this Baby Boomer popped in there the other night. I have a terrible habit of not remembering faces or names of people who know me (a senior moment?) and a lot of the staff welcomed me like an old friend.
We sat at the bar since at 6:00 PM table seating was all taken. In fact an hour later the place was at capacity, and I imagine the crowds would cram the place for the rest of the night.
Baharat is an outgrowth of the very popular food truck, CN Shawarma. When Culley was building 89 Anderson St. he thought that his 1600 square foot retail space would be the perfect spot for a restaurant, and he approached CN Shawarma’s Clay Norris and Jenna Friedman of food truck fame to move their highly popular mobile restaurant inside for a brick and mortar operation.
Baharat dining at bar and dining area
The room is a fabulous space flooded with sunlight at this time of year through the floor-to-ceiling garage-hinged windows, which open up completely to create a protected outdoor dining room in warm weather.
The semi-circular dining bar dominates the front half of the room, presaging a mix of tables in the dining area.
For a young restaurant, the kitchen kept pace beautifully. No sooner had we sat down and ordered drinks that a bowl of falafel balls set in a pool of tzatziki sauce arrived; these chick-peas filled breaded balls were delicious: great crunchy breading and well-seasoned.
Falafel balls
Another small plate of diced eggplant and turnips served with well grilled pitas was a sparkling starter to have with drinks before the main event. That was The All In, a large format sharing plate ($45) for two or more (or $75 for 4 or more). It includes wonderfully crispy sumac-dusted potato cubes along with a variety of kebabs, mezze, spreads, pickles, sauces and Iraqi flatbread.
Starters of eggplant and turnips with flatbread
There’s lots of skewered dishes of lamb and chicken on the menu and a variety of salads, lentils, chickpeas, tabbouleh, za’atar deviled eggs with smoked paprika–all of which looked thoroughly enticing as I saw them being served to others in the dining room.
The All-In plate
Baharat is the type of place that you want to drop in for a greatly satisfying casual meal with good drinks (like the charred lemon Collins with gin, vermouth, charred lemon and soda) in a smartly dressed dining room that will transform a neighborhood considered as the sticks to a mainstream vibe.
Baharat, 91 Anderson St., Portland, ME 207-613-9848 ·www.facebook.com/baharatmaine/
Rating: A great addition to Portland dining, this take on Middle Eastern street food is already a hit with the city’s dining cognoscenti in the up and coming East Bayside neighborhood with all of its breweries, coffee houses, farmer’s market and industrial holdovers
Seating: At the bar and tables
Ambiance: Cool, coolest for hipster millenialls and older-folk alike
Parking: On the street and fairly plentiful
$$$: Very moderate. Dinner for two with drinks, about $70
