In my last installment I sent you to Local 188, a cool bar/restaurant hybrid in Portland frequented by 20-somethings and my mom. This week, I'm sticking closer to home with a classic Brunswick dining locale that is admittedly much less cool.
Henry and Marty has been a staple in Brunswick for many years, offering a slightly more sophisticated menu than many of its neighbors. I have had the occasion to eat there a number of times, and have had many enjoyable meals. I recently revisited Henry and Marty and experienced some major ups and downs.
Henry and Marty is, in a word, scattered. Korean, Cuban and Italian inspired dishes are featured on the menu, with varying degrees of success. The service is friendly but inconsistent. On my most recent visit, my table waited more than 30 minutes to place its order, but the service was prompt and attentive after our appetizers arrived.
The décor has some nice touches— notably, artwork by Bowdoin professors Mark Wethli and John Bisbee— and some perplexing additions, such as a free-standing ceramic column covered in ivy.
This is not to say you can't have a lovely meal at Henry and Marty. I have stumbled upon and very much enjoyed some wonderful dishes there. The nightly preparation of pan-roasted mussels, for example, was a five-star appetizer. The mussels were served in a Thai red curry and coconut sauce. The dish was spicy, though not overwhelming, and had just the right hint of coconut. It was truly the hit of the night.
The pear salad is another great appetizer choice. Served with gorgonzola, roasted pecans and a very tasty balsamic vinaigrette, it was a delicious start to the meal.
Other appetizers, though, were less successful. Henry and Marty's garlic bread, baguette style bread with melted provolone, is overpoweringly garlicky. I personally enjoyed it very much—too much garlic is never a bad thing in my book—but my tablemates did not agree.
Admittedly, the garlic bread was quite heavy and would have fit in better on the menu of a pizza joint.
Also disappointing was the mushroom and barley soup. If there were mushrooms in this vegan soup, I was hard-pressed to taste them over the powerful anise flavor that dominated the broth. In contrast to the wonderful Thai mussels, the soup deserves zero stars.
The Atlantic salmon entrée was equally unsatisfactory. The salmon is cooked in rice paper, wrapped with thinly sliced sweet potatoes and topped with a ginger tomato glaze. The salmon, a typically flavorful fish, was completely tasteless, as were the sweet potatoes that accompanied it. The tomato glaze was bland and watery; this fish was a total flop.
I tasted two other entrées, both of which I would firmly classify as mediocre. My stuffed crepes with apple, pecan and chevre seemed like the perfect fall entrée for a cheese lover like myself. However, this dish was, if possible, too cheesy. The combination of tart green apples, pecans, and tangy chevre would have been perfect had the balance of flavors been better.
As it was, the chevre dominated the other ingredients and made for a rather one-dimensional flavor profile.
The pumpkin ravioli also falls in the good-but-not-great category. Henry and Marty wins some points for the homemade pasta and the cream sauce, which is very light and makes use of some wonderful spices, like nutmeg. The ravioli filling however was slightly bland and a little too sweet.
Henry and Marty is a great dining option for vegetarians and vegans. About a third of the menu is vegetarian and there are several vegan dishes as well. I loved the maple-roasted squash, which is stuffed with quinoa, apples and pecans. The maple flavor was spot-on and the perfect complement to this fall dish. I usually find that squash is either undercooked or mushy and tasteless, but Henry and Marty did a superb job with this version.
The dessert menu at Henry and Marty is less innovative than the dinner menu and features your classic chocolate torte, crème brulée and fruit pie. I tried the maple bruléed bread pudding and, though I have never met a dessert I didn't like, was slightly disappointed. The bread pudding had no maple flavor at all and tasted more like a solid form of crème brulée. It was, however, served with fantastic vanilla ice cream. The gingerbread dessert, served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, had its flaws but was overall very good. I found it to be a little dry and not warm enough but it's a great comfort-food dessert.
Rating Henry and Marty was a difficult task. While some dishes were phenomenal, others fell completely flat. In the end, I averaged the five star dishes, like the Thai mussels and roasted squash, with the less successful ones, like the mushroom soup and salmon.
So, Henry and Marty's two stars don't reflect the potential for an absolutely delicious or displeasing dinner. Your experience there could be a great one, if you order correctly. But if you are looking for a consistently delicious meal (and who isn't?), Henry and Marty is not a safe bet.
Food: **
Atmosphere: **
Henry and Marty
61 Maine Street
Brunswick, ME
(207)-721-9141