Note: Because of the extended July 4th weekend, Friday Dining is appearing today.

Sometimes I feel like the churlish critic who ate Portland, Maine, or is it eating me? No matter because when you come upon such a restaurant as Tempo Dulu, in the utterly glamorous new iteration of the Danforth Inn where it’s magnificently housed, it makes nearly all other dining experiences that you thought were so good tame by comparison. That’s not to say that dinner at some of our most revered restaurants like Central Provisions, Back Bay Grill or Fore Street is not duly fabulous. But it’s a combination of the exotic blending of cuisine—Indonesian—taking place in an absolutely gorgeous setting that makes the distinctive shoals of fine dining so singularly superb here.

The waiters are all handsome with Ipana-perfect smiles and beautifully attired. The principal rooms where cocktails are served shimmer like gold dust so worldly it could host cads with escorts or dowagers in diamonds.

The double parlor where the bar is located and attended to by Trevin Hutchins, who sports the most fabulous head of jet black hair, as he shakes his beautifully crafted cocktails to help set the stage for an otherworldly evening of dining.

When you ultimately proceed to one of three dining chambers to sit on tufted sofas, the effect is like going to a swellegant private dinner party. And it’s one of the few places in Portland where dressing well is appropriate, whether black tie, evening gown or designer duds.

We arrived last Sunday, the night after their opening day. I was with my friends Annette and Rob who had no idea that we would be eating so grandly. Pretty soon, as courses progressed, our discourse was limited to reactions to the food in monosyllabic grunts and groans of oohs and ahhs over each passing dish.

The chef is Lawrence Klang who spent the last year eating his way through Southeast Asia in the far ports of Indonesia, from Bali to Sumatra. And he has brought back the magic of his culinary peregrinations to cook with authority as he assembles the intense flavors of the region.

His quest was done under the auspices of Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, the hoteliers who own the inn and restaurant as well as the Relais and Chateaux designated Camden Harbour Inn and its superb restaurant Natalie’s. (For full disclosure I negotiated the sale of the Danforth Inn as their broker, knowing that plans were underway to open this restaurant.)

Most of us think of Indonesian cuisine as street food. This is hardly the case here. The platings are works of art and the flavor profile rich with coconut, lemon grass, curry, kaffir, tamarind paste, Javen pepper, ginger, cinnamon, coconut, chilies in devises that resemble a wide swath of cooking styles spanning the region, including India and China with the archipelago of the Indonesian islands blending in perfect harmony.

Some gastronomes consider Indonesian cuisine as the finest in the world. I’m not sure that’s true. But our experience dining at Tempo Dulu loudly proclaimed this to be one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in Portland. And that’s saying a lot.

The kitchen serves an expanded 3-course and 5-course menu and a multi-course lobster tasting menu. Since we were one of a few diners in the room that evening, the kitchen sent out additional dishes not on the menu.

The Maine crab cakes were elegantly presented, and the fragrance of lemon grass enlivened the tomato confit on which they shimmered with a garnish of fried mustard and coconut butter.

The melding of courses offered stunning contrast as in the crispy duck leg enriched with curried foie gras, pickled ramps for contrast, fried garlic and fried shallots. As in the preceding dish we could have stopped there fully sated. But why when lobster meat is served with a fried egg on top, pickled vegetables and crab rice relish? My favorite two dishes were the Thai smoked sausage and the tempura of shrimp with mango lime relish. The absolute winning finale was the Balinese duck steamed in a banana leaf with coconut turmeric rice, bulbs of bok choy and lemon grass sambal.

Our party had various cocktails at the bar including Hutchins’ The Wayang—Double Cross Vodka, Domaine de Canton, Kaffir Lime and cilantro with a Mangosteen turmeric foam. Not only a beautiful looking drink but tasting like the ultimate nectar.

For dessert we had a Dutch East Indies inspired dessert called spekkoak—a luscious cake with blueberry star anise, cinnamon and coconut ice cream.

Dinner was expensive, costing an easy $100 per person but when you’re at such an establishment it doesn’t pay to pinch pennies.

Tempo Dulu, at the Danforth Inn, 163 Danforth St., Portland, ME 207-879-8755 www.tempodulu.restaurant

Rating: 5 unequivocal stars

Ambiance: posh

Tables: very spacious and beautifully set

Service: excellent

$$$: expect to pay about $100 per person including wine and cocktails: 3- to 4-course menu, $69; chef’s tasting menu, $87 and lobster 5-course menu, $109