Fuel

Having lived in many different places in my life, and having been near many big cities I am a bit picky about eating out when I want a good meal.  My parents live in a very small town just north of Maine's twin cities, Lewiston-Auburn area.  Their town has about 4 restaurants, if you can call them that.  It is not what I call fine dining.  Lewiston-Auburn has more variety but for the most part you need to go to Portland, Maine for real delicious cuisine.
That was the case till 5 years ago, when Fuel came to town.  I love this place!

"We specialize in country French cuisine, like steak frites, boeuf bourguignon, braised beef short ribs, and other traditional dishes." - Fuel Website

The meal starts out with fresh French loaf slices and real butter.  The appetizers are my favorite choice at Fuel.  There are so many delicious options, including cheese fondue.  This night we opted out of the fondue and everyone at the table ordered something different. 

I got the cream of broccoli soup with lobster.  Yum!  For a cream soup, this was light and refreshing. Of course the lump of lobster in the middle really ups the wow factor of this soup.

Mr. J got frog's legs, braised and served with house made gnocchi and parsley-lemon butter sauce.  The sauce was so good.  I made the mistake of showing my mom, the frog leg.  I have a tendency to hold it up and bounce the leg up and down.  It really leaves little to the imagination as to what you are eating.  She did end up trying some in the end.

As for the main course, the whole table ordered the same thing excpet for my dad.  We are a family who loves steak.  The Steak Au Poivre at Fuel is one of the best I have ever had.  It is a pepper-crusted 12 oz. NY Strip with cream, Cognac and veal reduction served with arugula salad and rosemary roasted red potatoes.  We switched out the red potatoes for fries to make it a classic steak frites meal.  The fries here are too good not to have. 

My dad ordered Beef Short Rib Stroganoff, a house made pappardelle pasta tossed in a cream sauce with mushrooms and Dijon mustard. Topped with a fork tender Braised beef short rib from a local farm.  I have had this before and it is absolutely delicious too.  The homemade pappardelle noodles soak up all of the wonderful juices.  Yum!

Fuel also has a bar and it can get quite lively on a Friday night.  Fuel revolutionized the dinning scene in Lewiston, Maine.  And I am so glad it did. You can make reservations at OpenTable.com