Restaurant Review – Batson River Brewing & Distilling – Portland, Maine

We learned about Batson River B & D from an article in the Portland Herald, and we thought we’d try it for brunch. They have a separate menu for brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Arrival

We made a reservation online through OpenTable. The reservation process was simple. We arrived shortly after their opening time of 11:30 for brunch. There was quite a line outside waiting to get in. The line moved fairly quickly, and we were seated about 15 minutes later, at our reservation time of 11:45.

Seating

As a party of two, we were directed to a table for two, next to the bar and in the flight path of the servers bringing food out to other tables. The restaurant has high ceilings with no sound suppression, so the place is boisterous with many people talking loudly, particularly so because the restaurant was filled with many groups of six or more trying to be heard.

Drinks

Cranberry Mimosa, Beer Back, &
Bloody Mary.

We started with a cranberry mimosa and a Bloody Mary. The Bloody Mary came with a snit. I hadn’t been served a snit since I left Minnesota. Some folks call it a “side beer,” “side-car,” “beer back,” or a “chaser.” My wife, a Mainer, had never even heard of it, let alone seen one. I sip my snit as I drink the Bloody Mary. (I’ve seen some people drink their Bloody Mary down part way then pour the beer into the drink. <shudder>). The Bloody Mary was excellent, full-flavored, dark and rich. I enjoyed it. The cranberry mimosa was good also.

Ordering

We ordered food when our drinks arrived. I ordered the Batson Burger with fries. I should have changed my order when I couldn’t order the burger how I like it. I was told they smash the burgers and cook them the same. (I prefer medium to medium-well.) My wife ordered the Ham Benedict. 

Food

Eggs Benedict with ham.

The Benedict was inedible. It arrived with the whites woefully undercooked. My wife sent it back. A few minutes later, the Benedict arrived again. This time cooked ultra well done. Like you would expect a hard- boiled egg to be without a shell. The English muffin was not toasted. 

My burger was a dried-out hockey puck. Typically, I expect that when I eat a burger, my hands will get greasy, and I’ll need to wipe them, and my mouth, with napkins often. Not so with this burger. The only moisture in it came from the cheese and the light dusting of lettuce. I don’t recall finding any bacon in it; there must have been some, as the menu said there should be some. I will say the fries were good. We did need to ask for salt and pepper as the tables don’t have any usual condiments. Frankly, with the problems with the Benedict, I thought we ought to have been comped for it. 

Rating 3.0

Ambiance: 3 (Clean and open, but very noisy.)

Food: 2 (Almost every food item had problems.) 

Service: 4 (Our server, Kasey, was friendly, attentive, and did well.)

Price: 3 (Bunch was $18 each, not including drinks)

Value: 3 (Maybe they’ll be better when not quite so busy, but with so many great restaurants in Portland, I don’t expect to be back anytime soon.)

Location

Batson River Brewing & Distilling, 82 Hanover Street, Portland, Maine.

On the web at: https://batsonriver.com/portland-maine/  

Yelp Reviews - Tripadvisor