Matt and I got back on Monday from a really fun adventure: an anniversary trip up to Maine to enjoy some fall hiking in Acadia National Park! It was gorgeous up there and a much-needed break to reset.
I have a ton of pictures from all the cool hikes we did on our trip, so stay tuned for some recaps from those next week, but here is a sneak preview. The views up there were amazing – can’t beat the beautiful fall colors + ocean combo!
I’ll share all the hiking details in upcoming posts, but first up in terms of recaps today is the food!
Read on to see what and where we ate while in Maine.
Food Highlights from Maine
Matt and I stayed at the beautiful Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor, which is a small town about 20 minutes from Bar Harbor, and about an hour and a half from Bangor, Maine, where we flew in.
It was an interesting time to be in this part of Maine, as everything was about to shut down for the season (or in some cases, already had – unfortunately Beal’s Lobster Pier which many recommended to us had JUST closed for the season the weekend prior).
Meals at The Claremont Southwest Harbor
If you’re planning a trip to Maine and looking for a cozy hotel with delicious food, The Claremont Southwest Harbor might just be your perfect choice. The hotel offers a variety of options for breakfast and dinner, all made with fresh, local ingredients.
Breakfast at The Claremont Southwest Harbor
The hotel’s breakfast menu offers a range of delicious options. One of the highlights is the avocado toast, which comes topped with lobster for an extra indulgent treat. The omelet with goat cheese, spinach, basil, and tomato is another must-try option.
Dinner at The Little Fern
For dinner, The Little Fern restaurant at the hotel offers a unique dining experience. Start your evening off in Harry’s Bar, where you can enjoy drinks and appetizers while playing board games. Then move on to the restaurant for a meal made with the freshest local ingredients.
Don’t miss the beet salad, which is packed with flavor and comes with a great dressing. For your main course, try the salmon with carrot curry, yellow split peas, bee pollen, maple mustard seed, and a “vegetable nest.” Or, opt for the filet mignon with baked sweet potatoes, confit local onion, and a local blueberry BBQ sauce for a hearty and delicious meal.
Relax and Enjoy
Aside from the delicious food, one of the best things about staying at The Claremont Southwest Harbor is the opportunity to relax and take things slow. Enjoy leisurely breakfasts on the patio when the weather permits, and take advantage of the cozy atmosphere and late dinner reservations to really unwind and savor your vacation.
Dinner at Sweet Pea’s Cafe on Sweet Pea’s Farm
This was one of our favorite meals on the trip!
We stopped at Sweet Pea’s Cafe, an adorable outdoor restaurant on-site at Sweet Pea’s Farm outside of Bar Harbor, on the way from the airport to our hotel the first night at the recommendation of an Instagram follower, Grace, and we were so pleasantly surprised by both the ambiance and the food!
We started with beers (we love the “Lunch” beer from Maine Brewing Co.) by their cozy fire, which was nice because it was getting quite chilly out!
Once we were seated (at a long table with another couple, who we had fun chatting with a bit), I enjoyed some oysters that were probably the best oysters I’ve ever had – they were so big and flavorful and the vinegar and shallot sauce they came with was super good, too.
Plus a big farm fresh salad that we shared, and some olives (that we got at the bar, hence the takeaway container).
We got two big wood-fired pizzas for dinner – a spicy one for Matt, and their roasted veggie pizza for me plus added pepperoni. 🙂
We figured we’d want the leftovers for a hiking lunch the next day, and we were right – it hit the spot out on the trails!
Dinner at Salt & Steel in Bar Harbor
One of the days after a big day of hiking in Acadia we decided to head to nearby Bar Harbor for dinner. The town was still bustling, although we heard in a couple of weeks it will also be much slower with a lot of the restaurants closed!
We decided on Salt & Steel, which was recommended to us by the couple we chatted with the previous night at Sweet Pea’s Cafe. We didn’t have a reservation, but we arrived right when they opened at 5 and could snag a seat at their bar table, which worked well! just in time – our waiter told us they were closing up for the season the following week, and by 5:30, the whole place was packed!
We started with the tuna tartare and the truffled kale Caesar salad. The tuna tartare was bland, but the kale caesar was good – loved the truffle flavor.
For my entree, I had the lobster bolognese, which was just okay – the sauce wasn’t super complex or interesting and it was SO MUCH pasta and only tiny pieces of lobster. Meh.
Matt had the ramen which was yummier – the broth was really rich and unique and super savory. Should’ve gotten that, too!
The ambiance at Salt & Steel was fun and the service was excellent, but the food was our least favorite of the trip. Especially considering how expensive that meal was, it was a bummer. Oh well! Can’t win ’em all.
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Dinner at Blaze Brewing in Camden, Maine
On our last day in Maine trip, we drove a couple of hours south to Camden, Maine, to meet Lu, one of my best friends from college, and her husband, Connor!
They live near Portland so we figured meeting in the middle made sense – plus, there was actually a marathon happening that day in our area (Bar Harbor/Acadia) that would have made meeting there and trying to hike around kind of a pain.
Camden is a really cute town right on the water, and we did a great hike in the state park there and even took a sunset boat ride – more on that in a later post! But after all that fun we had dinner together at a spot on the water called Blaze Brewing. I started with some oysters because I’m obsessed:
And then I had a great lobster roll – couldn’t leave Maine without one of those, right?! It was awesome, and the fries were delicious, too. 🙂
It was a great way to cap off our trip!
Thanks for all the deliciousness, Maine. 🙂 And next up, stay tuned for some recaps from all the hiking we did!
