Smoked scallop cakes were more successful, if a touch too bready. The red-brown pucks looked great on top of a smear of thick green onion aioli that captured the essence of the vegetable. It came with a great pea-shoot salad that made me wish more for the salad that never arrived the other night. The braised meat in the lamb pie was just the right amount of tender, and I would have loved a little more of it on the petite puff pastry. The hanger steak was fine but unremarkable. Ordered medium-rare, each strip was rare on one side, and medium on the other. It came with fries cut so thin and cooked so crisp that they were essentially rendered a crunchy way to convey grease (their own and an iffy curry aioli or very good parmesan aioli) to your mouth. Our waiter helped us find a few very nice cheeses to end our meal.
So the strengths and weaknesses of the Point Five Lounge are typical of 555 itself. It’s a nice-looking room, warm despite cool colors. The white table clothes of the main space have been traded for copper tables that match the clipboards that hold the menus. Moving the bar into the lounge allowed 555 to gain a few tables, but that main room is less cozy now, and patrons will prefer the balcony more than ever. Moving the entrance over is also meant to help them manage the main room’s temperature. That became a big problem thanks to sub-par air conditioning during last summer’s heat wave. This is probably a wise move. When Al Gore wins the next Nobel Peace Prize it will serve as a useful reminder that there is more where that came from.
Point Five Lounge | 555 Congress Street, Portland | 207.761.0555 | Visa, MC, AmEx | Full Bar | Mon-Thurs 5-10 pm; Fri-Sat 5-10:30 pm; Sun 5-9:30 pm
Email the author
Brian Duff: bduff@une.edu
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