Michelle’s on Market Square

When our husbands are away, my friend Rosalie and I get together for a day of fun and this day could not have been a more beautiful day to spend in Portsmouth NH. We started our morning off with brunch at Michelle’s on Market Square. If you have never been to Michelle’s it is open for Brunch Friday through Sunday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday from 5:00 pm to close. Closed Monday and Tuesday.  Michelle’s is a family owned and operated restaurant that is a mix of French country and Mediterranean cuisine. When you walk into Michelle’s you walk right into the open kitchen area, I loved that! We could see and talk to the owner and chefs! We sat upstairs in the bar area by a window overlooking the hustle and bustle of Portsmouth! It did not take Rosalie and I long to know exactly what we wanted.  Although the brunch menu had some of the typical brunch items they had some with a twist too! I had the Lobster benedict ($15.00) and Rosalie had the seafood crepes.($20.00)
The lobster benedict is your typical Benedict with a toasted English muffin, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce with huge pieces of lobster. This was served with pan roasted fingerling potatoes. I can’t believe I am saying this, as I have had my share of Lobster over the years but this was hands down the best lobster I have ever had. The lobster was so tender, juicy and full of flavor. My dish was seasoned perfectly, eggs poached just right! This dish alone will bring me back time and time again!

Rosalie enjoyed her seafood crepes as much as I loved my lobster Benedict !
Her crepes were filled with lobster, scallops and shrimp. The crepes were finished with a wild mushroom sherry sauce. Rosalie and I are good friends and we share all our food, so needless to say this day was no different and her seafood crepes were incredible. Lots of seafood and the sauce…..oh, the sauce…so good!!  That sauce brought that dish together and gave the dish a nice sweetness. We were thrilled with our brunch experience and I am sure you will be too.
I took a little time to look over the dinner menu and they have some great looking menu items! For their appetizers they had soups, salads, a cheese board made with seasonal produce, and another item that caught my attention was the steak tartar.  The steak tartar is minced filet, seasoned with red onion, capers, Dijon, worcestershire,  parsley, Manchego cheese and served with a raw egg yolk and a warm baguette! How good does that sound?
On to the small plate section, they have a burger with bacon and cheese, four cheese Mac and cheese, and also have poutine! My son loves poutine so this is right up his ally! Their poutine is served with pulled pork, cheese curd and a Demi glacé . Another menu item on the small plate section is a salmon BLT! I really liked the sound of this! Salmon with tomatoes, fresh artisan greens with lemon herb aioli served on a croissant! YUM!
On to the Entrees! They have house made pasta, roasted half chicken and a seafood Provencal that I know my husband Jim would love!  The seafood Provencal has lobster, shrimp, scallops and mussels tossed with fresh Bucatini pasta in white wine, lemon butter and parsley sauce. Everything looked and sounded delicious.  Although we went for brunch, you can see I already have some favorites on the dinner menu and we will be going back for those.  You can find Michelle’s on Market Square at 10 Market Square in Portsmouth N.H. After our brunch we went to the Portsmouth farmers market! More about that next week!

Enjoy!