Sur Lie

Let me preface this review by saying I am not representative of the typical restaurant patron. I don’t love burgers and fried food, ciabatta bread or calamari. And of last night I am done with tapas. (Please just put some food on the plate and don’t make me order 6 different dishes!) There are many things I like about Sur LIe — the sweet pea humus, the wait staff, the atmosphere, the fact that the chef came out and spoke to us after dinner. (When does that happen anymore — not since Mary from the Pepper Club!). I can’t say I loved the other dishes — Maine Farm Salad, Fried Baked Potatoes, Fried Chicken, Fried Oysters (lots of things appear to be friend at this place), and a mushroom dish. All just a bit too greasy for me. The place even smelly greasy. Had the same thing happen to me the week before at Local 188. I may be overly sensitive to this smell. I’ll go back for a glass of wine and the humus but will probably not stay for dinner. Don’t let that stop you — as I said I am not the typical diner. Bön Appetit!

Had the 5 course tasting menu last night. Just fantastic! The chef made the ordinary (cauliflower) into the extraordinary, time after time. And don’t forget to grab a cocktail from the wonderfully creative bartenders!

Sur Lie has become my favorite nice-​meal restaurant in the city. Their menu hasn’t changed much in the last year, but there are some dishes that keep me coming back. The sweet pea hummus is always a must. They also have a cod dish which may be the most delicious fish preparation I have ever had. The cod is tender and moist and comes with with a sauce that complements it perfectly. You also get a decent size fish for only $ 11. The Made Man is still my favorite cocktail– EVER. The music continues to be excellent and the staff very friendly and engaging. The best part of Sur Lie though is the ability to pick multiple dishes to try for dinner, its just so much more fun that way.

We were in Portland just to check things out over the weekend. We had wondered around the downtown area looking for a place to sit down and have a drink and dinner. We surveyed Thai places, Steak places, Mexican places… they seemed either too loud and bar-​ish or too stale and lacked atmosphere. I saw ‘tapas’ on my map and we decided to check it out. It helps that we are big fans of this style of dish and we decided to give it a shot.
We did have reservations and got lucky to be seated when we did. The place went from half-​full to people waiting for tables in a short time. After 7pm on a Saturday seems to be when the big crowd shows up.
We weren’t sure what to expect but we were out for an adventure so figured we’d give it a shot. We quickly identified several items on the menue we wanted to try out. The opening dish was basically some cheese and apples (sorry chef for the plain description). At first I sighed at being duped by ‘apples tartar’…being simply minced apples. They worked very well for the dish but was afraid I just stepped into a ‘hipster’ restaurant where everything was deconstructed (think deconstructed BLT that turns out to be a salad with tomatoes, bacon, and croutons). We went on to order several more plates. The timing of when they arrived wasn’t always perfect (thinking one should arrive with or previous to another) but in the end it didn’t matter. Everything, and I mean Everything, was delicious. It became a matter of even perfectly wonderful dishes were deemed middle of the pack due to other dishes that were so fantastic. Thngs were so good we kept ordering more and more just to try the various flavors.
The Chef does a fabulous job of bringing out and combing flavors. The dish we talked about for days was: Seared Scallops; white sweet potato purée, pickled red onion, pineapple mojo, lime. That white sweet potato purée was just amazing and paired with the pinapple & lime… wow. I really enjoyed the Lamb shoulder and the roasted beets was also at the top. Donuts with local blueberries that filled your mouth with joy to finish off a decadent meal was just a fantastic way to end our time in town.
The Chef came out to thank us for our visit, which I thought was a nice touch. He was a very nice young man that seemed happy to see people enjoying his creations. I am certain next time we are in the area we will go out of our way to visit Sur Lie again.

Another great meal at Sur Lie. I really enjoy their small plate menu. It’s also a good place to go as they take reservations so you can go before an event (play, film etc). Highly recommended.

Dinner and atmosphere was awesome. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes Tapas style restaurants. Could not pinpoint a favorite dish because they were all very good.

What a fantastic find! The staff was so friendly & the restaurant had a cool vibe. We had six plates for the two of us — the hummus, cheese plate, lox, chicken, clams, and Brussel sprouts. The plates were evenly spaced & came out in a good order. All in all a great night out!

3 words. Sweet. Pea. Hummus. That’s what keeps me coming back. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. I could go there, get the sweet pea hummus and a drink and be totally satisfied, but the other menu options are pretty darn terrific. The menu changes but the sweet pea hummus remains a constant. The bar menu is equally as impressive as the food. The bartenders know their stuff and they make a good cocktail. Try the sloe gin fizz. It’s not on the menu, but they make a delicious one. The service is always on point. They are friendly but not overbearing, and all seem to like what they do. And they know the menu quite well. They take reservations-​you can make one on SeatMe ( Unilocal’s version of opentable). It can be quite busy on the weekend but you can usuallly get a seat at the bar if you are patient. And they are also open for brunch… but sadly, the sweet pea hummus is not on the brunch menu.

I walked into Sur Lie on a Thursday night completely naïve to the fact that bottles of wine are 20% off on Thursday nights. Call it destiny, call it fate, or you can just call it what it is– awesome. Prices on food are fair I think, especially if you’re going with more than just one other person. If you don’t like sharing, this place isn’t for you. It’s all small plates and anything that’s ordered, you’ll want to try! For four people we got about 14 small plates and a bottle of wine. The total came to over $ 100, which I thought was totally worth it. We left stuffed and completely satisfied. I still dream about the glazed pork belly donut sandwich that we ordered! It was a special, but I heard through the grape vine that they might be considering it for a regular menu item. The staff was also very friendly and attentive. My only complaint is the noise level, but that’s nothing that Sur Lie can really control.
I will definitely be back to Sur Lie in the near future!

We came for brunch, and everything we ordered unique and tasty. The staff was attentive and the chef came out and greeted us. I was very happy with my entire meal.
We ordered the Triffle, which was the first thing to come out, and despite the fact that I am generally against sweet dishes I really enjoyed this.
We got a Lox Toast, which we loved so much that we ordered another. Being from NY I am pretty picky about my lox, but this was fresh and tasty and went along well with the toast and egg salad.
The Pavo Enchilado was also very nice and added some needed spice to the meal.
Things took a unique turn with the Fat Boy Breakfast, which was decadent. It was so tasty and made me rethink my general disinclination for the sugary and fatty.
Everything we ate was yummy and left me wanting to return for a different meal.

3.5 stars
I had walked by this place several times and from the outside my impressions was very positive… looked like a nice clean tight place.
Finally got around to coming here and my outside impressions were validated. It is a very nice, clean, tight place…
Some highlights:
the service was very good. this can go a long way and make someone want to return. i consider myself somewhat of a service critic and i had no complaints about here… they were on it from the moment we sat down.
nice cocktail list, i had the turkey shoot which was excellent.
Now for the important part, the food:
it seems that the trend in Portland is to have these tapas style places that serve lots of different types of small plates that you have to order multiple plates just to fulfill your appetite and also, with each plate you order there goes the cost of your bill.
(reference:
)
i ordered the scallops and hanger steak, with the potatoes and eventually did get full. we also split a couple appetizers.
maybe this is something i have to get used to but i am more typical ²⁄₃ course person myself, with a large /​healthy style main course. this cannot be accomplished at Sur Lie. i am simply not a fan of having to order multiple small plates. my palate doesn’t like it. pocket book doesn’t like it. and its confusing. i don’t know. maybe I’m old.
3.5 stars

For my first visit, I just had a few appetizers.
Agree 100% with everyone else the Sweet Pea Hummus is to die for!
The fried cauliflower in an Asian soy glaze, was just ok.
Also had the Mussels Escabeche, was described to me as a pickled mussels dish,
turns out, I don’t like that, LOL. So next time I won’t order that :)

This update is solely for the fantastic cocktails I experienced last week. The ‘Turkey Shoot’ is honestly one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had in Portland — it’s like drinking Autumn. Also had the ‘Made Man’, which was excellent.

Walked in here already full from probably 2 meals I had eaten by 3 PM, but I wasn’t scared. I was determined to go to every restaurant on my list in my 4 days in Maine, full or hungry. Luckily, I had a friend to share things with, otherwise, I would have been in trouble. I had heard wonderful things about Sur Lie, and those wonderful things proved true. I love small plates because you can order more and share a lot with dining companions. It’s definitely my favorite way of dining and I rarely go to places with full on entrees anymore. We were the only ones in here at the time, since it was a weird hour– I think right around 3 or 3:30ish and happy hour was just nearing.
My friend and I ordered: the double cream cremont cheese, arugula salad, sweet pea hummus, and the panzanella’s doppelgänger. I wanted about 5 more things, but like I said, I was already full. I thought it was impressive I could eat this much. Everything was AWESOME, but what stood out the most was the sweet pea hummus. I’m telling you, this stuff was divine. I’m not even a huge fan of peas at all, but I could have probably eaten 6 servings of this. The mint and lemon sabayon really stood out and every bite was orgasmic. I seriously could have been happy with just this, but we try to go big or go home. That lemon sabayon was delicious. The cheese was super scrum, made from goat and cow’s milk and had some YUM lemon mustard sauce thing to accompany it. So good. We couldn’t pass by the arugula salad since it came with halloumi, and we are both equally OBSESSED with halloumi. I rarely see it and I definitely don’t buy it, so I can never say no if it is on a menu. The salad came with an apricot vinaigrette and walnuts. But the halloumi, oh the halloumi. Love that stuff. We ended with the doppelgänger which was my second favorite dish of the meal. Roasted mixed beets, balsamic, orange, and ricotta. This was definitely a win. I love beets. I love cheese. I love food. PLEASE if you come here, PLEASE order the sweet pea hummus, probably even 2 orders so you don’t have to share.
Everything was super yummie and next time I’m in town I will 100% be coming back here, on an empty stomach, and ordering a lot more. There were so many things on the menu that caught my eye. The presentation was great for all dishes and the restaurant itself was cool too. Our bartender/​server was excellent!

Crazy good. Dynamite. Other non– expletive descriptions. Sue-​Lie served us a phenomenal meal and a few glasses of shapely Malbec on a quiet Monday night.
FOOD is CREATIVE and fun. Sweet Pea Hummus had an essence of mint. Blistered and salted Shishito peppers are the best I’ve ever had. Hanger Steak was nicely served with thin bread and cheese.
As much as we savored those and others, the CLAM CHOWDER just kicks ass. Creamy base, three clams in shell with a nugget of PORK BELLY surrounds a small mound of hash brown potato.
The DECOR is bucolic French influenced. Simple and classic. Great music in the background.
Maybe we were blessed that the crowd was light. Our servers kept the food, water and wine coming and described each of the shared plates.
Outstanding
(Auto correct botched my photo description!)

If I’m being honest with myself, this is my honest review. My friend and I went to try Sur Lie after reading amazing reviews. Womp womp.
I’m going to say part of it was our fault, and some of the blame falls onto the food. We ordered four plates — an arugula salad, the sweet pea hummus, the poached chicken, and the head on shrimp with curry sauce. The salad was dainty and the hummus was good (though not life altering like some reviews suggested — too much hype)
The poached chicken was blah — a terrible consistency (I like tender, I don’t like mushy) but I should have realized that was a possibility with boiled chicken. The shrimp was okay — flavorful enough but not great.
I love this concept, though it has been overdone a bit in the recent 7 – 10 years. I might give it another try some day, but I wasn’t blown away like most reviewers.

I’m giving 3 stars but would be so easy for them to move up to 4 – 5. I went with sister at 8:45pm. Service was a bit slow from the start. Took about 15 min to get drinks from when we sat down. We each ordered 3 items. The waitress said they bring the items out as they are made. That’s fine with me… I thought. The first two items that came out were my sisters and we don’t really share. My first item came out 45 minutes after the order was placed and it was the pea hummus. The flavor was very good, only criticism would be that the flat bread for dipping was deep fried and too oily, not in a good way. Almost like the oil wasn’t hot enough. I also had Brussels sprouts and poached chicken. The sprouts were ok, the chicken was good. Nice drink selection.
I can understand small plates take a while to make but had the chef focused on food preparation instead of checking out what was on his phone and chit chat in the dinning room, I’m sure I could’ve had my food at least 30 min earlier. At one point, there was only one person in the kitchen for about 20 minutes with 20 – 30 patrons. Maybe breaks or ordering and booty shaking in the dining room should be saved for after the food is presented? Just an idea to speed up service.

Sur lie is definitely the new gem in Portland. I’ve been a couple times now and even if you’re just looking for drinks and small plates this is THE spot. The price tag is a little up there so if you’re money conscious it’s probably not the best spot. Their drinks are inventive and secretively boozy (just how I like ‘em). Their sweet pea, mint oil hummus is a must. The steak was a fantastic dish, cooked perfectly, and the fried cauliflower is just the perfect amount of brown with a savory and light sauce.
I wasn’t a big fan of the lamb but I’m picky about my lamb. Would I eat it again? Heck yes! Are there more items I should probably try before it comes to that? Heck yes!
I had one of their specials the other month and it keeps haunting me. I think it was short rib but they need to bring it back asap. It was out of this world! The servers are very knowledgeable, friendly and go out of their way to make you feel at home. I’ve had nothing but amazing service here. That alone deserves the 5 stars, cause lawd you know some service here in town could use some polishing up!
Definitely make it a point to check out Sur Lie!

Nice to sit at the bar and have some small plates. Good selection of wine and cocktails. We started with a cheese board. 2 small pieces of cheese with cubed Apple (jelly?) also served with a type of Apple butter and very thin pita cracker wisps. Very wispy, and light… In fact almost crumbled in your hand when picked up. Topped with pea shoots. This wasn’t my favorite. I was expecting the cheese to be room temperature and it was cold.
Loved the pea hummus. Delicious. Need more!!! The pasta dish with the small clams was good but had jalapeño in it that was not in the description. It was spicy and we would have preferred the dish without the jalapeño. Next was the fried chicken with an amazing slaw. This was a perfectly cooked boneless thigh, paired with a creamy buttermilk sauce to dip the chicken in. We should have ordered 2 of these! We also had fried cauliflower with a sweet and sour sauce. My daughter loved it. We had the Brussel sprouts. They were disappointing. Too salty, and lots of burned leaves. Looked very unappetizing on the plate as well.
We will definitely come back and snack at the bar. I hope they have the fried oysters on the menu when we go back, I really want to try them

Their new brunch is one of the most fun dining experiences in town. A total tapas success because of the genial and relaxed atmosphere.
We ordered 4 dishes for 3 people, plus beers and cocktails. Very reasonably just around $ 100 with gratuity. The verdict: all tied for 1^st place. Donuts, Fat Boy Breakfast, Broken Egg, and Kedgeree with trout. These merit a breakdown especially because of the – yep, I’ll go there – curated experience provided by the very thoughtful chef, Emil Rivera.
Donuts: crispy crusts, taste more akin to fried dough than a typically sweet donut. Sweetness comes in the form of a cream cheese frosting/​drizzle. I am less partial to sweets, for me this was perfect.
Fat Boy: quite sweet for me and still very enjoyable. Basically their very out-​there (I think) version of a Benedict. A sizzling skillet with a pancake, sprinkled liberally with bacon and sausage, a browned, lacy, Spanish fried egg (very into this) and a light cheddar sauce.
Broken Egg: what it sounds like, over thinly sliced homefries. There were other features I can’t recall. This was the deliriously good part of the meal to me.
Kedgeree: spectacular finish with brown rice and spinach. Light, salty, tender. Wonderful way to round out a decadent meal.
All drinks were delicious. Personally I tried the Pied Piper and the Little Bit of Lima. I am prone to like bitter and spicy and herbal cocktails and both satisfied.
The sunny dining room feels much more reclusive than its location would suggest. I do look forward to having an evening on the bar side.
Extra points: I always love when the owners are hosting, and really appreciate the fresh salt scrubs available in the powder rooms.