H50 for Portland Dining Month

H50 Bistro Bar, located the waterfront hotel of Hotel 50, was the first restaurant I’ve taken advantage of for the Portland Dining Month special of a 3 course dinner for $29. I haven’t been back for a couple years, and since then the executive chef (Nicholas Yanes) left and now a new executive chef Ron Baker is at the helms. I do like the location and hip modern atmosphere, so I gave it a try as my first Portland Dining month dinner.

If you happen to drive here, H50 and Hotel 50 generously offer FREE valet covered parking in the Hotel Fifty lot for up to two hours for H50 diners.

H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Here, the options for the meals for Dining Month included

First course

chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint OR
green salad served with basil, mint, shallots, balsamic vinaigrette and a ricotta crostini

Second course

braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes OR
fire brick-roasted half chicken served with moroccan spices, saffron hummus, grilled rapini and olive tapenade

Third course

frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup

So I picked this out especially for the first and third course. And, here’s what I got…

I started out with the Cinnamon Blood Orange Margarita, with H5O cinnamon anise tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, orange juice, blood orange puree

cocktail, Cinnamon Blood Orange Margarita, with H5O cinnamon anise tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, orange juice, blood orange pureeH50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

And then, the Portland Dining Month menu dinner. This was quite a meal, including the amuse bouche of Salt Cod Fritters with pickled pepper aioli, and even a sweet goodbye bite with the check.

H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant amuse bouche of Salt Cod Fritters with pickled pepper aioli, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

The first course was even better than I had hoped, with the chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint being such intense strawberry puree.

I was blown away by the second course of the braised brisket crepenette, all that richness of the beef topped with pork belly and roasted cauliflower and tellagio cheese balanced by the slight bitterness of the greens and pickled radishes. It was much more than the menu description had promised. Usually you might expect a crepenette to be the size of a burger patty, or come as multiple meatballs, but this was serious – steak sized!
braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Meanwhile that frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup, and bonus! also chocolate wafer, pistachio crumbles definitely had a strong current of whiskey flavor, but I appreciated all the various textures on the plate to play along with.
extra sweet bite with the check, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant