The Best Dishes Eater Boston’s Editor Ate in September

Welcome to Eater Boston’s best dishes column, where we share the dishes we couldn’t stop thinking about each month. While this column usually focuses on restaurants within the Boston area; this time around, we couldn’t resist showcasing a few great dishes from an early September trip to Portland, Maine. See past installments here.

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Mee kathung at Oun Lido’s

Chef Bounahcree Kim pointed at the mee kathung on the menu and said, simply, “This is my baby,” when I asked for recommendations at Oun Lido’s, his new Cambodian restaurant in Portland’s Old Port. I could see why as soon as I started digging in. It’s easy to taste the love that has gone into developing this plate, from the tangle of wide, chewy rice noodles and tender braised beef simmering in a warming five-spice gravy, to the peppery, bright watercress strewn over top that balances out each bite. I wish I was within more regular driving distance of this extremely comforting dish, especially in preparation for the dark, cold winter days ahead. 30 Market Street

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Carne asada at Cantina Calafia

Carne asada sounds deceptively straightforward for what is a real showstopper of a plate at Cantina Calafia, a new Mexican restaurant in Portland’s West End that takes its cues from the country’s coastal Baja California state. Yes, there’s steak here — 10 ounces of expertly grilled, smoky strip steak, to be exact. But the accompanying vegetables are treated with the same level of care, with finger-length shishito peppers and potatoes charred and blistered into a wonderfully meaty state. And then, the best part: The entire plate comes absolutely showered in a nutty, rich salsa macha. 46 Pine Street

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Everything I ate at Bread & Friends

No, really. Everything I had here was just, like, a full step above expectations. I ordered the blueberry almond pop tart (pictured at the top of the story) expecting cute, candy-sweet nostalgia and instead got the best fancified version of a childhood treat that I’ve ever had. I ordered the red bliss potatoes, expecting some great smashed spuds, and got this very well-thought-out brunch plate of potatoes laid over a creamy, cilantro-spiked zhoug yogurt, plus slices of smoked salmon dusted in za’atar, a sunny-side-up egg, and a spray of bright mint leaves and other herbs over top. I know we are all well-acquainted with the “New England ingredients you know, done better” restaurant sub-genre, but Bread & Friends actually makes good on that statement. I can’t wait to go back. 505 Fore Street

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Bánh ðúc at Lê Madeline

There is some sort of magic taking place at the intersection of Hancock and Billings in Quincy, because two of the Boston area’s most exciting places to eat right now are located in this one square block. At Lê Madeline, right across the street from Rubato (Eater Boston’s Best New Restaurant in 2023), chef Peter Nguyen is helming a modern Vietnamese menu that has been consistently great since it opened in February. On a recent visit, I ended up fighting for last bites from a bowl of bánh ðúc, with piles of soft rice cakes folded around squares of fried tofu, fistfuls of herbs, and tart, cherry tomato-sized cucamelons. 409 Hancock Street