The mushroom empanada at Cafe Louis. photo/Dan Zarin
Cafe Louis
173 Ocean St., South Portland
536-0169
cafelouis.me
Have you ever gone to a restaurant for the first time and eaten a meal so delicious that you started planning your next visit while you were still there? That’s what happened to my wife and me a few weeks ago at Cafe Louis.
We had heard glowing reviews of the small cafe since chef/owner Evan Richardson closed his Portland restaurant, Eaux, and moved across the bridge to South Portland’s Knightville neighborhood. Yet somehow, it took us nearly three years to get there.
We stopped in one day during happy hour and ordered the Louis Burger, a smashed brisket bacon cheeseburger that ranks among Southern Maine’s top five burgers. We paused between bites just long enough to text some friends an invitation to join us for brunch ASAP.
The following weekend, we arrived shortly after the doors opened and grabbed a table for four. We started with mugs of outstanding coffee ($3.50), freshly brewed in a French press and refilled as needed by our friendly and attentive server.
I also ordered a Spicy Margarita ($13), made with mezcal, Scotch bonnet agave, and citrus, with a chile-lime salt rim. My wife sipped a glass of bright, fruity Pullus Halozan ($12), a “skin-contact orange wine” from Slovenia. Rounding out the drinks order, our friend enjoyed the Horchata Susio ($12), a lightly sweetened combination of rice milk, spiced rum, and nutmeg.
Chef Richardson’s brunch menu includes too many tempting choices for a single visit, but we did our best to sample as many as possible.
For starters, the four of us shared a plate of Tres Leches Pancakes ($10). It would be easy todescribe these fluffy cakes, soaked in sweet dulce de leche and topped with brown rum butter and crunchy cocoa nib crumble, as divinely inspired — but honestly, that would be underselling them. As the kids say, five stars. Do not miss.
For my main course, I ordered the Media Noche ($16), a close cousin of the better-known Cubano pressed sandwich with ham, roasted mojo pork, Swiss cheese, and pickles. On the side, a crisp, tangy cabbage salad balanced the richness of the rest of the dish.
My wife’s Mushroom Empanada ($15), with yams, mild queso Chihuahua, spicy Peruvian salsa Huancaina, and a fried egg, was equally delicious. She also loved the Mizuna Salad ($14), a refreshing riff on a Caesar with lime-sourdough breadcrumbs and green peppercorns, and a side order of thin, crisp, aggressively seasoned French fries ($6).
One of our friends ordered the Benedictino ($17), featuring tender carne asada, smoked piquante sauce and sweet-spicy chilero jam under two perfectly poached eggs. Her husband chose the Casado ($20), a large plate of eggs, rice and beans, fried plantains, housemade red-corn tortillas, and a rotating protein — in this case, a deliciously crunchy cod croquette.
By now we were completely stuffed, but we still managed to find a little room for dessert. We shared an order of Rosquillas ($10): masa-flour doughnuts filled with sweet-and-sour quince jam and garnished with lime zest, olive oil, and shavings of salty, funky Manchego cheese. We were all blown away by the symphony of flavors packed into each one of these two-bite treats.
The rest of the brunch menu items, like the intriguing Oyster Cebiche and the chicken-and-waffle-esque Fried Chicken Chorreada, would have to wait for our next visit — which is already on the calendar.
Cafe Louis serves brunch Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
