BIG FLAVORS AT THE BIG BEAN KITCHEN & BAR, EXETER, NH.

We stumbled upon THE BIG BEAN KITCHEN & BAR while exploring Exeter early on the humid morning of Sunday August 4, 2024. 

The restaurant was hidden below the street level and was rather busy when we descended the stairs from Water Street. 

In fact it was so busy, we had a wait of about 20 minutes for a table, so took the opportunity to nip out the back door and take in the views of the Squamscott River. Upon our return, we took our seats at the bar alongside a courting couple (we think they were on a first date)!

The Big Bean Kitchen felt intimate and the tables and seats were quite close together. 

For Sunday brunch we ordered:

🍳 Ghost Face = $14.25

Three egg omelet, stuffed with broccoli, bacon, cheddar and home fries, topped with sour cream. 

🍳 Spock = $13.75

Three scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, sausage and cheddar topped with hollandaise, and served with home fries and toast. 

🍊 Large orange juice = $3.00

☕️ Small Americano = $3.25

😢 Tax = $2.92

💰 Total = $37.17

We waited 30 minutes for our food. 

Without any question of doubt, this was the tastiest and freshest food we enjoyed in travelling almost 1,000 miles on our ‘Navigating New England’ summer vacation!

The plates were full with generous portion sizes. All the flavors worked well together, with a good mix of proteins, vegetables and seasonings. 

Interestingly, the ‘home fries’ were diced potatoes perfectly sprinkled with herbs. 

Our only disappointment on this visit was when our meal ended! 

As we left, we spoke briefly to a gentleman, who we think was the owner, and conveyed our thanks for the tasty food as he told us the story of how the business came about. 

How lucky we were to find The Big Bean Kitchen & Bar on our brief visit to Exeter and New Hampshire. 

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📌 THE BIG BEAN KITCHEN & BAR

50 Water St., Exeter, NH 03833

🌐 www.thebigbeancafe.com/exeter

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MAINE-LY MARVELLOUS: FROM LOBSTER ROLLS TO ROLLING EYES - OUR 2 DAYS IN MAINE

MAINE was the first U.S. state I visited as a child in the 1990s. I didn’t get to see much of it, however, just the inside of Bangor Int. Airport while our airplane refuelled. 

For this trip to Maine, we initially debated whether to visit Portland or Brunswick (after a recommendation from a bartender in Florida last Christmas), but ended up adding a short stay at Old Orchard Beach, with a day trip to Portland, on our final itinerary. 

Our 2 night stay cost the equivalent, if not more, of an all inclusive trip to Ibiza in Europe. So, pricey! 

We found OLD ORCHARD BEACH to be a funny old place, probably owing to the seasonality of its appeal. A summer town for summer people - and consequently temporary staff working in many of the local businesses with quite a range in the levels of customer service:

👍 Proprietor of the Seagrass Inn - friendliest person in the USA we’ve ever met!

👎 Pier French Fries - a miserable server and disinterested.

🤔 Bill’s Pizza - a polite server but blunt and disinterested in us.

👍 Pier Pub - our server was friendly, smiling and efficient. We enjoyed the view. 

👎 Beach Bagels - server screamed at those was coming in for leaving the door open and then muttered under her breath: “Jesus Christ how many times?”

👍 West Grand Market - friendly staff who we think could have been French-speaking summer staff from Canada.

👎 Sunset Bar - the bartender refused to smile, made no eye contact and was another grumpy server, however we did see him smiling when the customers were female and buxom!

👍 Barnett Books - a brilliant store with a big range of low-priced books to buy. The bookseller was cheerful. 

👎 Walgreens - great customer service on our first visit with the associate calling us “boss” as a term of endearment, however, later, when the defective paper bag they gave us broke and damaged our groceries, the customer service was none existent. 

The coastline at Old Orchard Beach was immensely popular with day trippers, despite the breeze. The beach itself was clean and we took an enjoyable 40 minute walk up and down the section around the Pier just before the sun started to set. The warm water lapped at our toes as we sunk into the deep sand. We could fully understand why people came here for the summer. 

Our day trip to PORTLAND, for only $8.00 by public bus, was refreshing and positive and gave us the chance to see a contrasting side of Maine. Portland was picturesque compared to Old Orchard Beach’s gaudiness. 

Maine is of course known for its historic lighthouses, however owing to a busy race taking place we didn’t manage to visit the iconic Portland Head Light. The road closures and logistics of getting to and from the lighthouse from downtown Portland just wouldn’t fit with the time we had available. 

We explored the sights, sounds and smells of Portland’s harbor, walking the streets, looking in the shop windows and trying to get a feel for the place (we needed the walk after all the food we sampled)!

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Maine despite the grouchiness of Old Orchard Beach. However, we do know that the Pine Tree State is so much more than these two towns.

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📌 VISIT MAINE

Maine Office of Tourism

🌐 visitmaine.com

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See all our Maine photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA