The Norumbega Inn was a stone castle by the sea that was converted into a boutique hotel in 1984. Built in 1885 the building has had several owners, most recently William Tims and Brett Haynie who purchased it in 2022 and finished the beautiful restoration. The restaurant opened this month and will continue through October run by Peruvian Chef Marymarcel Densmore. In addition they have a cute bar area run by Steel Kilgore who directs the beverage program as well as makes fine cocktails. The bar and restaurant are both open to the public Saturday through Tuesday from 4:30 to 8:00 but other days the bar opens in the afternoon and serves snacks with drinks around 4-6. There were a number of dining options with 2 indoor dining room and a large outdoor patio. The small tables were set with comfortable armless chairs while the lights were dimmed and music was in the background. Service was efficient and friendly but the food was mixed. We started the evening on one of the 4 bar stools where we met Steel and enjoyed his drinks and menu suggestions before heading into the dining area. This was a highlight of the evening so make sure to include this when you visit. I also would recommend staying in one of the 11 guest rooms. They serve some really tasty breakfasts that are only available to guests.
Set-up
Food and Drink
We started with drinks in the bar. The Norumbega Martini was made with Navy Strength gin, pernod, cocchi and castelvetrano. It was nice.
The Pacha Mama was with pisco,, yuzu, beet and aji amarillo. It was even better. I loved the way the extra bit was in a carafe on ice.
The Letters from an Orange Mailbox contained beeswax gin, orange, beebalm, birch and honey. It was also tasty.
Ceviche was fresh local halibut in leche de tigre with avocado, red onion and Chulpe corn nuts. There was a ton of the tasty fish in the center pile surrounded by nicely ripened avocados (color in the photo seems a bit off due to sun shine in the room). I wasn’t wild about the corn nuts but they blended in.
Corn chips were fried to order and came with a fire-roasted salsa roja. Steel suggested getting this to go with the ceviche and it was a good plan. The chips were mostly crisp and added a nice textural contrast to the other soft dish. Also they came with a really tasty salsa, only mildly spicy but very tasty.
The Grilled Peruvian Salad contained charred Romaine topped with queso fresco, olive, lima beans, Peruvian corn, tomato, and red onion, all dressed with a parsley lime vinaigrette. This dish had very mild flavor and minimal smokiness to the leaves or other ingredients. The dressing was more the dominant flavor than grilled flavor, with the various ingredients nicely prepared, but overall this was fairly bland.
Andean Sea Locro was seared Maine sea scallops on kabocha squash locro with aji amarillo, fresh cheese, fava beans, grilled corn and red onion salad. The 3 scallops were nicely cooked but dwarfed by the large portion of squash. The other ingredients tried to give it spark but mis-matched proportions and dull flavors prevailed.
Lomo Saltado was pan seared hanger steak with sauteed onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy and dark beer. This dish had excellent flavor with the tender meat chunks in a very tasty sauce and then topped with cooked-to-tender vegetables. This dish was very good and sadly small in proportion to the scallop dish.
We added a side of hand-cut French fries to go with the steak bits. They were a small cut very crisp fry, almost like a potato stick. They needed a bit of salt but came with a side of rocoto mayo. This went well with them but the potato flavor was then lost in that mix.
Tres Leches Cake was made with a vanilla sponge cake topped with tres lechese Italian port meringue. The moist cake was sitting in the sauce and the meringue was heavily dusted with cinnamon. A sugar tuile was on top to add texture and a design element. It was superfluous. I would have liked a bit less cinnamon but overall the dessert provided the necessary sweet flavor for a good ending.
