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Portland Food Adventures: The Holy Donut and Duckfat

Published on August 10, 2014 By Emily. Updated on August 10, 2014

As you may know by now, I was in Maine with my parents last week.  I’d just come off a killer week with my summer job and I can’t remember the last time I was so excited to go on vacation.  And I’m always excited to go to Maine.  Brian and I had decided that it was time, once again, to do some exploring in Portland and check out another acclaimed restaurant.  We continue to look back fondly at our Fore Street experience, but decided to do something more casual this time around.

We headed to Portland pretty early in the day in order to browse some of the Old Port shops and arrive at Duckfat as close to 11am as possible.  Duckfat doesn’t take reservations and rumor had it that a wait was likely.  We figured going out to lunch and arriving at opening was a good way to avoid waiting for a table.

Holy Donut

Our first stop was The Holy Donut, which has two locations in the city.  I saw their ad in a tourist magazine I picked up at the Kittery rest stop and, since we were headed to Portland anyway, I couldn’t resist adding some mashed potato donuts to the itinerary.  We arrived around 10 am and the shop was still doing a decent business, but wasn’t mobbed.  We decided to avoid indecision and ordered a dozen of various flavors, including chocolate sea salt, ginger sweet potato, mojito, coffee brandy and coconut.  Before leaving the shop we consumed a Holy Cannoli donut (it didn’t seem like it would travel well); it was awesome.  I was a little concerned that the donuts would have a lot of potato flavor, like potato bread, but it was really subtle.

We arrived at Duckfat minutes after 11 am, following a trip to the car to put the other donuts in the cooler for later and stopping at a few more stores.  There were already a couple tables full, but the long bar style table that runs along one wall was empty.  We were seated immediately and provided with menus to peruse.

Duckfat

Everything on the menu looked great and we knew going in that there were a few things we wanted to try.  Brian and I both ordered craft sodas; I had grape and he had Roots, Barks, Sticks and Leaves, which was similar to root beer.  They were both good, though I’d order the Roots, Barks, Sticks and Leaves again if we get the chance to return.  We also got a small order of Duckfat’s famous french fries, which are fried in duck fat, of course.  As our entrée, we shared the sandwich board and a nectarine salad.  Duckfat’s menu is updated regularly and I neglected to take a photo of all of it, so I don’t remember everything in the salad, but it was really delicious!  On the day we were there the sandwich board included smoked country ham, grilled Thai chicken sausage, and crispy skin heritage pork belly.  This was only my second time trying pork belly and this time around I could see why people are so into it.  The sandwich board was also served with some toppings (tomatillo salsa, carrot slaw and pickles) as well as adorable tiny rolls.

We watched the small restaurant fill up as we ate our food.  The rumors were definitely true and by noon there was a line of people waiting to get in.  After consuming all that food, we really didn’t have room to eat anything else.  At the same time, we felt awfully tempted by the duck fat fried donut holes.  Apparently it was a donut filled day.  So we got an order to go and ate them a bit later, in Freeport before we started our afternoon outlet shopping.  The donuts came with little containers of caramel sauce and spicy chocolate, to dip the donuts in.  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a donut with more sugar on the outside, but they were awesome.

IMG_3634

Given the opportunity, I would definitely return to Duckfat.  It’s almost too bad that there are so many other Portland restaurants I want to try and that I only get up there a couple times a year, if I’m lucky.  I always struggle with deciding whether to go back to places I really enjoyed or try new places on my list.  As for The Holy Donut, I definitely plan on making a stop there again.  My parents enjoyed sharing the donuts with us and it’s easy to swing through Portland to pick some up.  We’re already in possession of their frequent buyer card.

Duck Fat on Urbanspoon        The Holy Donut on Urbanspoon

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Filed Under: places Tagged With: Maine, Portland, restaurants

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Comments

  1. Mom says

    August 12, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    And the donuts were just as delicious the next day!

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photo of EmilyWelcome to Relishments! Follow along with my adventures in cooking and eating in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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