Well, I made it to the end of my culinary tour of Portland, Maine! I was stuffed! Well, after this last meal at Chaval, I was stuffed. Chaval came recommended from some friendly barkeeps at The Press Hotel as well as several a blog. I was happy to try something new, that wasn’t on every ‘must-eat’ Portland list. This was a newer find, and in my neighborhood no less. So, the perfect end to a lovely weekend. Let’s dig in, shall we?

First up, a Spanish gin and tonic. The massive ice cube was infused with grapefruit and herbs. Oh yeah.

Then, there were a few bites of fried cauliflower. Good as fried cauliflower always is.

Then, a small fall salad, because VEGETABLES.

The final small plate weirded me out a little. It was squid ink vermicelli noodles with chorizo and the richest dollop of something creamy I’ve ever had in my life. I had a few bites, but couldn’t stomach it. The noodles reminded me a bit of worms and it was just SO rich. All the better since my waiter was pushing me towards dessert. He nearly demanded I save room. And I follow rules….

Dessert was a lemon cake coated in meringue and then lit on fire by a gravy boat full of flaming gin. As you do. It was out of this world fantastic. I think about every table nabbed one and each time, the table with the dessert made friends with their neighbors.

Thank you for a great experience, Chaval! And with that, time to start Whole 30!