Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The Maine Diner, Wells, Maine


It has been an extremely hectic and busy last few weeks, and judging by my upcoming schedule- it doesn't look like its going to calm down any time soon.  So, for my own mental sake and those of the persons around me day in and day out, I decided to escape for a day and road trip up to Ogunquit, Maine.  As you may recall, Ogunquit was my childhood beach.  It's full of happy memories of sandcastles, and sandy feet, and saltwater hair.  It is an absolutely gorgeous beach with miles of clear sand for watching, and when the tide is high, there are perfect vantage points to watch the sea roll in and out, and take all those troubles right along with it.

I realized recently that I have never, in all my years of heading up the coast to Ogunquit, visited The Maine Diner.  It has gained attention from all of the Food Network type shows and with my love of diner food (come on breakfast all day?  What can be wrong with that!) I figured it was high time to check it out.

The Maine Diner was opened in 1953 as a spot for locals to go during the off season.  Over the years though the diner has expanded its service, and is open all year long, of course booming during the summer months.  I was there on a Friday morning in early March, and the restaurant was well populated, but full of locals, some out to breakfast with family, some on business meetings, guys coming off of an overnight shift and sucking down coffees before heading home.  The waitstaff seemed to know their clientele well, and I felt that I had entered into the realm of the "regulars".
 
I settled, very quickly, on blueberry pancakes- since I was in Maine for goodness sake, and a very large cup of coffee to sip.  A few moments after I ordered my pancakes arrived, a stack of three large blueberry spotted cakes just waiting to be drizzled with maple syrup.  I was a bit disappointed however to see that as opposed to a pitcher of syrup being available, prepackaged little cartons of syrup were just balanced on the side.  The pancakes however, were delightful.  Each bite was chock full of berries and the cakes themselves were thin, yet light and perfect to sop up butter and syrup.  

I enjoyed The Maine Diner, however I felt rather disappointed that there wasn't any allusion of local syrup or that homey vibe.  However, the attitude of the establishment- warm and welcoming, with an extra dash of "hon", was exactly what I was hoping for.  

1 comment:

Michelle Collins said...

I love escaping to Maine! I don't think I've ever been to this diner - at least not in recent years, anyway - but I always see it on the "Phantom Gourmet" haha.

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